Leesburg, Fla. — The Villages High School football team couldn't keep up with an improved Leesburg on Friday night, suffering a 55-14 loss on the road at Hubert O. Dabney Stadium.

VHS (1-3 overall) surrendered touchdowns on the Yellow Jackets' first four possessions and committed four turnovers itself, as the Buffalo fell to Leesburg (4-1) for the first time in three meetings between the neighboring schools.

"The kids never stopped fighting for us tonight," said VHS head coach Richard Pettus. "There's no quit in any of them. They continue to put the work in and our locker room has been great.

"And at some point in time, something has to break for the Buffalo — and hopefully it's sooner than later."

Leesburg opened the scoring with a long opening possession, finding the end zone on fourth down when quarterback Salomon Georges called his own number on a 6-yard keeper for the 7-0 lead.

The Yellow Jackets tacked on three more scores in the final 1:53 of the first quarter, aided by an interception and a lost fumble by the Buffalo offense.

Georges hit Evan James for a 7-yard touchdown pass and a 14-0 lead, before Dakiren Glover scampered through the VHS defense on a 28-yard run with :48 seconds remaining in the opening period for a 21-0 advantage.

A bobbled snap by VHS led to one more first-quarter opportunity for Leesburg, who cashed in on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Georges to Armon Varner as time expired for a 28-0 lead. 

The Buffalo would finally get on the board midway through the second quarter, as tight end Jonathan Harding lined up behind center and took a direct snap, before plowing his way into the end zone from three yards out. The score, which cut the VHS deficit to 28-7 with 8:12 left in the half, was set up by a 45-yard pass down the sideline from Patrick Harding to Ryan Wilkins.

"I know Coach Pettus has a lot of confidence in me," Jonathan Harding said. "In a goal-line situation like that, I have a lot of confidence in myself that I'm going to punch it in every time, too. The offensive line did a great job blocking and hopefully it's something we can come back to in future situations."

The VHS sideline was energized by its defense after forcing a turnover on downs following the score, only to see a fourth-down try of its own go awry on the ensuing possession.

That led to another Yellow Jackets touchdown — their fifth of the first half — as Glover scored again on a physical 3-yard run for a 35-7 lead at halftime.

VHS pulled within 35-14 at the 8:28 mark of the third quarter, as Cliff Bridges hauled in a 9-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Harding on a wheel route to the corner of the end zone.

That'd be as close as the Buffalo would get, however, as Leesburg added three more touchdowns on its final three drives of the night to coast to a home victory.

"We're continuing to fight and we're continuing to slowly get better," Jonathan Harding said. "We're playing really good competition — (Leesburg) is obviously really good — but I felt we still battled tonight."

Now, VHS will turn its focus toward Class 2S-District 10 play, as the Buffalo travel to Eustis next Friday night for a 7 p.m. kick against the Panthers.

"All games count, but those (district) games are the ones that get you to the postseason," Pettus said. "We've got to be ready to go and I think we will be."


Cody Hills can be reached for questions or comment at cody.hills@tvcs.org or by calling (352) 259-6890.