Vigor ruins Opelika homecoming

Big plays.

Big boys.

Big win for Class 5A Vigor over Class 6A Opelika, 34-28, on Friday night at Bulldog Stadium.

“They made more big plays than we did,” Opelika head coach Spence McCracken said. “That’s what it came down to. They made the big plays when they had to.”

With an offensive line that averages 311 pounds across the front, No. 4 Vigor (5-0) used its size to lean on No. 5 Opelika (4-1), finally pushing its way to a big out-of-classification win.

“Whoooo,” Vigor head coach Kerry Stevenson said. “To come up here to a program like Opelika, on homecoming, and pull that off ... it was a heck of a ballgame.”

Oh yeah, it was homecoming, too — McCracken’s final one as the Bulldogs’ head coach.

Just another factor in the big win.

“Those were the difference in the game,” Stevenson said of the big plays.

Indeed.

Big Play No. 1: With the game tied at 28 with less than six minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Opelika quarterback David Thomas hit Javious Hughley down the sideline for a 45-yard gain. However, as Hughley headed out of bounds at the Vigor 10, he was hit and fumbled the ball.

Eric Dixon recovered it for Vigor and returned it to the 14, where he was ripped down by his facemask. Add 15 yards, and the Wolves had the ball first-and-10 from their own 29 with 4:55 to play.

Big Play No. 2: On the first play after the fumble, Vigor running back Kendall Houston went 59 yards, breaking five tackles, down to the Opelika 12-yard line. Two plays later, fullback Jalston Fowler crashed into the end zone from 10 yards out.

Vigor’s 2-point conversion failed, but the touchdown was enough for a 34-28 lead.

After a key return by the Bulldogs, and back-to-back Vigor penalties, Opelika had the ball first-and-5 from the Wolves’ 39-yard line with just over two minutes to play.

Which brings us to Big Play No. 3: Opelika’s Thomas threw a short pass in the flat, close to the Bulldog sideline, when Fowler, who also plays defensive end, jumped up and snagged the pass for an interception. Five plays later — including four handoffs to Houston — the clock expired.

Houston finished the night with 249 yards on 28 carries. The Wolves’ offense gobbled up 495 yards on the Opelika defense, 315 of it in the second half, with 269 of that coming on the ground.

“They were a lot better than I thought they were,” McCracken said. “They were a lot better in person.

“I think (the size of the offensive line) wore on us. We couldn’t hold them.”

Opelika had its chances, however. But the fumble on the long pass play, plus not being able to slow down Houston and the Wolves’ line took its toll.

Thomas led Opelika with 105 rushing yards on eight carries and a touchdown.

Thomas also threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Corey Grant. The senior quarterback also finished 9-for-13 passing for 196 yards. Thomas was a perfect 5-for-5 in the second half until throwing the interception with 2:28 to play in the game.

Dae Spence finished with 14 carries for 56 yards and two first-half touchdowns in the loss.

Opelika hosts Central next Friday in a key Class 6A-Region 3 showdown.

mszvetitz@oanow.com | 737-2513