Vina falls narrowly to Brilliant

By Bart Moss for the FCT

The Vina Red Devils couldn’t hold on to a 12-0 first half lead Friday night, falling to the Brilliant Tigers 14-12.

Vina got on the board first. Blake Hardin connected with Braden Moomaw in the back of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown pass to give the Red Devils a 6-0 lead.

Vina extended the lead to 12-0 later in the first half when Jacob Lewis stripped the ball from a Brilliant runner and returned the ball 60 yards inside the 10-yard line. Timmy Joe Sexton later ran the ball into the end zone for the score.

Brilliant rolled off two scores in the second half to complete the comeback. Vina had a crucial interception on the last drive of the game that prevented the Red Devils from having a chance to regain the lead.

“We turned the ball over too much,” said Vina coach Jason Harris. “You can’t do that and win.”

“I thought we played better along the offensive line, and our defense ran to the ball better,” Harris added. “I think the poor field conditions led us to drop a lot of passes.”

Harris said his team will be focused on correcting mistakes this week and getting in better condition for the long haul of the season.
“We are nowhere near where we need to be from a conditioning standpoint,” said Harris. “We are going to fix that this week. We need some of our younger guys to step up and be able to play some and give our older guys a chance to rest.”

Vina will host Waterloo Friday night in the Red Devils’ region opener.