The Vidor Pirates needed some late game heroics to secure its second win of the season on Thursday night.
Vidor traveled to Louisiana on Thursday night for some interstate football and made the most of the opportunity. The Pirates defeated the St. Louis Catholic Saints of Lake Charles 21-17 at Matt Walker Memorial Stadium in Sulphur, La.
The Saints opened the scoring on its second drive of the game. Quarterback Luke Pierson pitched the ball to Graham Montet, who continued to run to the right. He then looked downfield and found receiver Trey Tate one step ahead of the Pirates defense for a 41 yard touchdown strike and a 7-0 lead.
The Pirates responded on the next possession with a six-play, 80-yard scoring drive, which was capped off with a 40-yard run by quarterback Daigan Venable. Following the Rui Correia extra point, the score was 7-7.
After both teams traded possessions, Vidor began a time consuming 11-play, 66-yard drive. Facing third and goal at the Saints 7-yard line, running back Dane Villadsen scampered for the touchdown to put the Pirates ahead 14-7 at halftime.
St. Louis Catholic evened the score, 14-14, midway through the third quarter as running back Graham Montet zipped through the Pirates defense for a 39-yard touchdown.
The Saints added a 45-yard field goal, courtesy of kicker Landon Daughdril, to take a 17-14 lead with 11:07 remaining in the game.
The Pirates offense found yardage hard to come by in the second-half, and the Saints defense was very opportunistic throughout the contest with four takeaways, which included three interceptions and one fumble recovery.
Following a Pirates fumble deep in Saints territory, St. Louis Catholic looked to put the game away. However, facing third and 7 at midfield, Saints quarterback had the ball knocked from his grasp and the Pirates defense came up big with its first takeaway of the night at the St. Louis 47-yard line.
On the very next play, Villadsen took the pitch to the right sideline and roared 47-yards for the touchdown to put Vidor back on top, 21-17, with under four minutes to play in the game.
St. Louis (2-1) began its next drive at its own 22-yard line and slowly began moving the ball downfield with Montet carrying the bulk of the load on the possession. Facing fourth and 6 at the Pirates 41-yard line, Pierson connected with receiver B.J. Willis on a 13-yard sideline pass to the Vidor 28 and another Saints first down with 47 seconds remaining.
After two incompletions, the Saints had third down and 10 to go from the Vidor 28. Pierson dropped back and heaved the ball down the middle of the field but the pass was picked off by defender Aiden Villafano to secure the Pirates victory.
Vidor finished with 259 total yards and four turnovers, while the Saints had 251 total yards and three turnovers, along with 100 yards in penalties.
Vidor (2-2) returns home next Friday for its final non-district contest as the Pirates face Trinity Christian from Dallas. Vidor will travel to LC-M (2-2) on Oct. 6 to open its district schedule.
-Tommy Mann, KOGT-
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