VIDALIA — The (2-6) Vidalia Vikings fell to the Marksville Tigers 43-0 Friday night, but Vidalia head coach Jeff Hancock said the game was more competitive than the final score indicates.

“Our defense played really well,” Hancock said. “We had an injury with Zach Nelson out with a broken bone in his foot. So we shifted our ends to tackles, and we were able to make some stops.”

While the defense came to play for the Vikings, special teams miscues opened the door for Marksville to take advantage. A blocked punt sailed in the back of the end zone in the first quarter to give the Tigers a 10-0 lead before Marksville started mounting drives with its quickness on offense.

“They’re not as fast as Ferriday, but their quarterback might be a little bit faster than Ferriday’s,” Hancock said. “They were quick and made some scores, but it wasn’t easy for them to score on us.”

On offense, Hancock said Marksville played man and stuffed the Vikings screen game. Vidalia had trouble moving linemen off of the ball and creating running lanes for running back Julian Wilson to run through.

“We had a tough time upfront,” Hancock said. “We couldn’t protect long enough to throw the football and they had some big guys upfront.”

Following the loss, Vidalia will play at Wingfield Friday.