With a spot in the playoffs out of reach, the East Hall Vikings wanted to send their seniors out as winners in front of their home crowd on Friday night.

The Vikings did so, defeating the Fannin County Rebels 55-20 at East Hall Stadium.

“We struggled early but our kids got refocused and persevered, and we played well,” East Hall coach Bryan Gray said. “We sent the seniors out the way they should be sent out. We’re very proud of our kids. We couldn’t be prouder to end their career at East Hall High School than this way.”

East Hall (5-5, 2-5 Region 7-AAA) ends its season at .500 for the third consecutive season.

“We’re trying to get better every day,” Gray said.

“We played a lot of the big boys, but we showed up and competed every day. Our kids our just competitors and we couldn’t be more proud of them.”

The Vikings were led by junior quarterback Devin Watson, who was 13-of-26 passing for 181 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 150 yards on nine carries.

East Hall senior running back Dre Brawner rushed for two touchdowns. He also hauled in three catches for 30 yards.

His senior counterpart, Edward Vergara rushed for 47 yards on five carries. Senior tight end Travis Foster hauled in two catches, both for touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Junior Lee hauled in four catches for 109 yards and one touchdown. Senior Milton Whelchel caught three passes for 30 yards.

“We’re trying to get better every day,” Gray said. “We played a lot of the big boys, but we showed up and competed every day. Our kids our just competitors and we couldn’t be more proud of them.”

The Rebels (2-8, 1-6) were led by running back Peyton Satterfield who carried the ball 19 times for 97 yards and one touchdown. He also caught two passes for 26 yards and one touchdown.

Jerod Petty added 47 yards and one touchdown on the ground.

The Rebels struck first when quarterback Trevor Stone connected with Satterfield on a 20-yard touchdown strike for a 6-0 lead with 2:08 left in the first.

The Vikings’ offense responded quickly, going eight plays in less than two minutes, capped by a Brawner 2-yard touchdown run to give the Vikings a 7-6 lead with 22 seconds left in the first.

In the second quarter, the Vikings’ special teams became an offensive weapon as senior Quay Jarrells returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown to give the Vikings a 14-6 lead with 10:13 left in the half.

After forcing a Rebels’ three-and-out, the Vikings’ offense went 74 yards in 11 plays, ending with Watson 20-yard touchdown pass to junior Jacques Ash on third-and-goal to give the Vikings a 21-6 lead with 5:57 left.

The Rebels responded by putting together a 14-play, 60-yard drive resulting in a Satterfield 2-yard touchdown run to cut the Vikings’ lead to 21-14 going into halftime.

After halftime, Brawner scored his second touchdown, scoring from 4 yards away with 11:27 left in the third.

On the Vikings’ next possession, Watson threw his second touchdown, connecting with Foster on a 6-yard strike with 4:50 left in the third to give the Vikings a 35-14 lead.

With 2:21 left in the third, Watson found Foster for a 7-yard touchdown to extend the Vikings’ lead to 42-14.

The Vikings extended the lead to 49-14 early in the fourth quarter after Darius Turner pounded his way into the end zone on a 2-yard run.

The Rebels got back on the board when running back Jerod Petty scored on a 4-yard run, cutting the Vikings’ lead down to 49-20.

The Vikings put up one more score in the fourth as quarterback Thaddeus Webb connected with Lee for a 49-yard score to give the Vikings the final lead at 55-20.