McARTHUR -- Only one of the two new coaches could have a successful debut. Unfortunately for South Point's Dan McDavid, it was his counterpart Jeff Downs with the Vinton County

Vikings who enjoyed his first game.

Vinton County got a fourth quarter touchdown to slip past the Pointers 12-7 Friday night in the season opener for both teams.

The Pointers were unable to generate an offense. They managed just 21 net yards on the ground and 44 through the air while committing four turnovers.

"Needless to say, we didn't play well," said McDavid who was making his debut with the Pointers and 12th overall.

"Defensively we did petty well, we just made some first game mistakes. Offensively, we didn't block well. We just weren't very aggressive."

Vinton County struck first when Chris Bethel hit Josh Ousley with a 29-yard touchdown pass along the left sidelines. The conversion kick failed and it was 6-0 with 4:57 left in the first quarter.

But South Point answered in lightning fashion as Justin Workman took the ensuing kickoff and race 90 yards for a touchdown. Zane Joy cranked the extra point kick and the Pointers led 7-6 with 4:40 on the clock.

The Vikings had another chance to score before the half after recovering a fumble in South Point territory, but the Pointers defense held and it was 7-6 at the half.

Following a scoreless third quarter, Vinton County used a 43-yard scoring burst by Wes Harkins with 9:46 to play to take the lead for good.

Harkins finished with 97 yards on 13 carries.

Caleb Copley ran 11 times for 27 yards and Chris Chapman carried seven times for 22 yards to lead the Pointers. Quarterback Tommy Hayner was 5 of 11 for 44 yards and Workman caught three passes for 20 yards. Tyler Staten had one catch for 19.

"We played well in our scrimmages, then we go (to Vinton County) and play like this. I'm waiting to see the real Pointer team stand up. We can play better than we did," McDavid.

South Point7000--7

Vinton Co.6006--12

First Quarter

VC -- Josh Ousley 29 pass from Chris Bethel (kick failed) 4:57

SP -- Justin Workman 90 punt return (Zane Joy kick) 4:40

Fourth Quarter

VC -- Wes Harkins 43 run (pass failed) 9:46

First downs: South Point3, Vinton Co.8

Rushes-yards: South Point27-21, Vinton Co.40-114

Passing yards:South Point45, Vinton Co.44

Totals yards: South Point66, Vinton Co.158

Cmp-Att-Int:South Point5-11-2, Vinton Co.3-7-1

Punts-average: South Point7-31.4, Vinton Co.8-35.8

Fumbles-lost: South Point5-2, Vinton Co.3-1

Penalties-yards: South Point6-27, Vinton Co.5-51

Individual Leaders

RUSHING – South Point: Caleb Copley 11-27, Chris Chapman 7-22, Justin Workman 1-7, ; Vinton County: Wes Harkins 13-97, Michael Barney 9-23, Chris Bethel 11-19.

PASSING – South Point: Tommy Hayner 5-11-2

43; Vinton County: Chris Bethel 3-7-1

45.

RECEIVING – South Point: Justin Workman 3-19, Tyler Staten 1-21, Chris Chapman 1-5; Vinton County: Josh Ousley 1-29, Curtis Moore 2-16.