VIDALIA, La. &045; In 24 minutes of play, neither Vidalia or Ferriday could manage to punch the ball in.

Then, just after the clock expired, Vidalia’s Demack Bates juggled and caught a pass from quarterback Brett Hinson, giving the Vikings a 6-0 win over their rivals at the Vidalia jamboree.

For much of the game, Ferriday seemed to have the better of play. The Trojan defense held stout, preventing Vidalia from mounting a serious scoring try until the final drive of the game. On offense, Ferriday went all the way to the Vidalia 17-yard line only to turn the ball over on downs as Trojan quarterback Scotty Cage was sacked on fourth down.

But Vidalia’s inability to move the ball against Ferriday for most of the game didn’t get the Vikings down. With less than a minute to go, Ken Johnson intercepted a Scotty Cage pass and ran it back 51 yards to the Ferriday 14-yard line.

Hinson threw two consecutive incompletions, but with four seconds left in the game, he took the snap, dropped back and threw a high pass toward the back corner of the end zone. There Bates fought off a defender to secure the catch, the touchdown and the victory.

&uot;You never know, you just have to keep plugging,&uot; Vidalia head coach Dee Faircloth said. &uot;We felt like we were outmanned. They have a tremendous ball club, they’re going to be tough.&uot;

The game could be a preview of what to expect later this fall when Ferriday hosts Vidalia in the regular season.

&uot;The showdown will be in 10 weeks over there in Ferriday,&uot; Faircloth said. &uot;That’ll make the pot full of money.&uot;

For his part, Ferriday head coach James McFarland seemed pleased with his team’s performance after the game, particularly on defense.

&uot;We moved the ball, we just didn’t score, and I think that was pretty much the key to the game,&uot; McFarland said. &uot;We can’t be mad and blame just one guy or one play. We moved the ball all night, we just didn’t get it in.&uot;

Block 36, Cathedral 6

Cathedral fell to Block High on a night when nothing seemed to go right for the Green Wave.

Block scored easily on its first drive as Johnny Lee broke a 55-yard run for a touchdown, giving the Bears a 8-0 lead.

Then on the first play of the next Cathedral drive, Green Wave quarterback Preston Hicks was injured as he attempted to scramble out of the pocket.

Hicks was taken away in an ambulance with what appeared to be lower leg or ankle injury. Matthew Hall came in to replace Hicks and could not seem to find a groove in the game.

Hall fumbled snaps or was sacked six times in the game and completed just four of his 12 pass attempts with two interceptions.

Cathedral had just 19 yards of offense in the game and lost 26 yards rushing the ball.

In stark contrast to Cathedral’s inability to move the ball was the quick-strike attack of the Bears. Block had five plays of 28 or more yards in the game, running over the Green Wave defense or throwing over it with ease.

&uot;We couldn’t really match up with them. They have a good ballclub, and basically we have a lot of young guys playing for the first time,&uot; Cathedral head coach Ken Beesley Sr. said. &uot;We were using this game to see who we can count on and if we’re going to have make changes before next week.&uot;

The Green Wave got on the board when Daniel Hollowell broke a 4-yard run with 6:31 in the second half.

LaSalle beat Jena 21-18 in the third contest of the jamboree. In the opening game, the Vidalia junior varsity tied Newellton’s varsity, 6-6.