By DAN BISER

VINEGAR HILL – Having to play the South Columbus Stallions right after they have suffered a devastating loss is a tough assignment for any team.

For a rebuilding team like the West Columbus Vikings, it can be doubly tough.

Showing no signs of their of 42-7 whipping at the hands of East Bladen a week earlier, the Stallions used a strong, steady ground game and a dominating defensive effort to bump the visiting Vikings 47-7 at Civitan Stadium.

South Columbus, which held a 34-7 halftime lead, gave Coach Joey Price his 99th career win in his 10th season as Stallion head coach. It was South Columbus’ 13th consecutive win over the West Columbus squad as it put its season record at 3-1.

The Stallions will be out to put Price on the 100-victory pedestal Friday when they open Waccamaw 1A-2A Conference play against North Brunswick at Leland.

West Columbus closed its non-conference schedule with its fourth straight loss. The Vikings, now 1-4 overall, have an open date this week before stepping in Southeastern 1A-2A Conference play with a Sept. 22 home game against Fairmont.

Running backs Dakota Piver and James Vereen and fullback Andrae Jacobs led the SCHS offensive charge. Piver rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries while Vereen carried seven times for 76 yards and two touchdowns. Vereen also returned a Viking kickoff 80 yards for another TD, and Piver added another six-pointer when he returned a punt 38 yards to the end zone and also added a two-point conversion run. Jacobs added scoring runs of four and one yards while carrying five times for 22 yards.

West Columbus’ only score of the night came in the second quarter when junior back Travis Leggett dashed 70 yards for a touchdown to cut the Stallion lead to 20-7 following Dylan Floyd’s PAT kick.

The SCHS defense held the Vikings to less than 90 yards of total offense with Leggett’s TD run the only significant gainer of the night.

“We played hard,” Price said. “It was the kind of game we needed coming off the loss. Our defensive secondary did a particularly good job for us and several people ran the ball pretty well for us.”

Senior Michael Hewitt and sophomore Justin Duncan split quarterbacking duties for the Stallions, combining for four completions for 76 yards.

A nine-yard touchdown run by Piver with less than four minutes gone in the game and a four-yard run by Jacobs with less than a minute left in the first quarter gave the Stallions a 12-0 lead.

Three touchdowns were put on the board in less than a minute of the first quarter. Vereen ripped off a 47-yard scoring run before Leggett came back with his long TD run on the Vikings’ next play from scrimmage. Vereen then broke free on his dazzling kickoff return and Duncan passed to Jeffrey Singletary for a two-point conversion. SCHS added its fifth TD of the game when Jacobs crashed over from a yard out with just over a minute left in the half.

A nine-yard run by Vereen in the third quarter and Piver’s 38-yard punt return were the only scores of the second half.

South Columbus is the two-time defending Waccamaw Conference champion. The Stallions have won eight of the last 10 conference championships.

Coach Vernon Brigman’s West Columbus squad finished second in the Southeastern Conference last season and advanced to the second round of the state 1AA playoffs, finishing 8-5.

Leggett is one of only a few Viking players returning this season who saw regular duty last fall.

SC – Dakota Piver 9 run (kick failed).

SC – Andrae Jacobs 4 run (run failed).

SC - James Vereen 47 run (Piver run).

WC – Travis Leggett 70 run (Dylan Floyd kick).

SC – Vereen 80 kickoff return (Jeffrey Singletary pass from Justin Duncan).

SC - Jacobs 1 run (kick failed).

SC – Vereen 9 run (Donovan Watts kick).

SC – Piver 38 punt return (kick failed).