The Villa Rica football team held on for the first victory of the year Friday night as it defeated Chapel Hill, 17-14.

The start of the game was delayed 1 hour and 15 minutes due to sharp lightning. Once the game begin, the Wildcats came to play.

Then, in the last two minutes, the Panthers (0-1) decided it was time to try and pull the upset.

Leading 17-0 with 2:46 left, the Panthers started from their own 31 and scored their first touchdown with just a 1:12 left in the game. The extra point was no good.

The Panthers then recovered an onside kick attempt and found themselves in Wildcat territory. In five plays, the Panthers were in the end zone again with 17 seconds left in the game. Panther junior quarterback Rodney Castlin then converted the 2-point conversion make the score 17-14. The next onside kick was recovered by Villa Rica and it ran the clock out for the victory.

Wildcat coach Rob Cleveland stated following the game he was glad to get the win, but said the team has to finish its drives.

“Five times in the first half the Wildcats got in the red zone and came away with no points. But we will definitely take the win,” Cleveland said.

Cleveland’s team drove the ball 62 yards to pay dirt on its first possession. The 5-yard touchdown run by Everett Hickman capped off an 11-play drive that took four minutes, 27 seconds.

Will Carden added the extra point and Villa Rica led 7-0. The Wildcats would take that 7-0 lead into the locker room at halftime even though they completely controlled every facet of the game. The offense rolled up a total of 259 yards of offense and was never able to score again.

A missed field goal in the second quarter and a interception with less than a minute in the half kept the score the same. Villa Rica’s defense held the Panthers to only one first down in the first half they came with four seconds left in the half.

The Wildcats scored on their first possession of the second half after the Chapel Hill punt attempt was snapped over the punter’s head. The Wildcats then took over on the 7-yard line and after three failed attempts to find the end zone, Carden booted the 21-yard field goal to give Villa Rica a 10-0 with 8:32 left in the third quarter.

The Panthers then put together their best drive of the night, moving the ball from their own 36 to the Villa Rica 34 before a fumble with 4:34 left in the third quarter.

After the next Panther drive stalled after three plays, Villa Rica put together another impressive drive of 12 plays covering 55 yards. Hickman capped the drive with a 1-yard plunge with 6:59 left in the fourth quarter. Carden added the extra point to give Villa Rica a 17-0 lead.