By T.K. Edwards/Sports Correspodent

VANCLEAVE — Vancleave celebrated Senior night with its first win of the season Friday night.
The Bulldogs held off an unbeaten Forrest County AHS squad 17-14 to move to 1-2 on the season and drop the Aggies to 2-1.
Forrest County AHS entered the game after an impressive 2-0 start reeling off a home win over St Stanislaus 34-10 followed by another home win over Long Beach 21-9.
Vancleave would be looking to halt an 0-2 start with their first win after losing at St Martin 24-14 and last week at home to Gulfport 35-0.

Vancleave’s Junior Harris thwarted an early FCAHS threat with an interception in the first period.
With less than two minutes remaining in the opening quarter, the Aggies would complete a fourth and 15 pass from the Vancleave 40 to inside the Vancleave 10. On the first play of the second quarter, FCAHS would cap off that drive with a one yard scoring plunge by fullback Ethan Norman to make it 7-0.
Following a long 41-yard rumble earlier in the possession by Vancleave running back Hunter Harper, VHS Head Coach Kevin Fant would call Harper’s number again for a one-yard scoring dash at 8:27 mark of the second quarter. Jordyn Raynor’s point-after knotted the game up at 7-7. FCAHS would answer on the ensuing possession with a 12-yard touchdown run by running back Terrence Horne with 5:58 remaining in the second quarter.

But the Bulldogs bounced back, as Raynor nailed a 30 -yard field goal as time expired in the first half to cut the deficit to 14-10 at halftime.
The only scoring of the second half came from Bulldog fullback Harper, when he scored on a 3-yard dive into the end zone at the 7:11 mark of the third quarter. Raynor’s PAT would result in the final 17-14 count.
During the fourth quarter, the Vancleave defense would make several big defensive stops with multiple Aggie turnovers on downs after forcing the Aggies to lean heavily on the passing game.
Vancleave will travel to Lucedale next week game four of the 2024 season to take on the George County Rebels.