VINEMONT, Ala. – The Eagles hosted the Oakman Wildcats Friday night and came away with a thrilling 20-17 overtime victory, sending Vinemont to the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
“We are playing better and better each week,” said Eagles coach Stephen Robinson. “After the Pennington game the guys decided that’s not good enough and all bought in and responded.”
Oakman was forced to punt on its first possession, and the Eagles came up short on fourth down. Vinemont perked up, however, and the stingy Eagle defense of late stepped up to force a three-and-out. On their ensuing possession, the Eagles flew down the field on a 14-play drive capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by Brodie Speer to put Vinemont up 7-0 with 6:07 remaining until halftime.
Oakman was able to find the end zone late in the first half to pull within 1 at 7-6, the score at the break.
On the third play of the second half, Colby Miller found his way to the end zone from 86 yards out to put the Eagles ahead 14-6. The Eagles defense forced another three-and-out, but Vinemont couldn’t find a rhythm and was forced to punt. After a big pass play for the Wildcats set them up first-and-goal, the Eagle defense was having none of that, and on four straight plays kept Oakman out of the end zone.
The teams swapped punts until late in the game when Oakman tied it up at 14 with just under three minutes to play in regulation. Vinemont was forced to punt the ball back to give Oakman time for a potential game-winning drive, but the Eagle defense didn’t let that happen.
Heading into overtime, Oakman was unable to gain a single yard, settling for a field goal to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game at 17-14.
Knowing the only thing that stood in the way of a huge playoff clinching victory was finding the end zone, the Eagles wasted no time, taking just two plays before Brodie Curvin muscled his way in, giving the Eagles a 20-17 victory and propelling them into the post season for the first time in six years.
Vinemont will head to Holly Pond next week to take on the Broncos.
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