LINDEN —The Community Vikings scored touchdowns off two fumble recoveries during a 28-point second quarter to take control and went on to defeat Perry County 50-14 in a non-region football tilt Friday night.
Community (1-2) scored on every possession but one in the first half to gain the upper hand.
The Vikings took the opening kickoff and used a 19-yard run by Ramon Hernandez to drive deep in Perry County territory. 
Hernandez followed his long run with an eight-yard scamper into the end zone to put Community on the board. 
A Cole Crockett reception of a pass from Dallas Grooms for the two-point conversion gave the Vikings an 8-0 lead with 9:33 remaining in the opening quarter.
Perry County was not deterred and scored on its first possession as Levi Rosson raced 10 yards for the score. 
Rosson's run for two knotted the game at 8-8 with 5:51 left.
Community appeared to retake the lead as Maki Fleming took the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, but a penalty nullified the score. 
The Vikings could not convert a fourth down conversion attempt as the game went to the second quarter.  
The Vikings did not allow Perry County to capitalize on its momentum as Community recovered a fumble at midfield. 
A 14-yard pass play from Dallas Grooms to Fleming followed by a 14-yard run by Grooms set up another 14-yard run by Grooms for the score as Community took the lead. 
A run for two by J. J. Jacobs gave the Vikings a 16-8 lead with 8:01 remaining.
Perry County fought back as quarterback Josh Warren scored from two yards out. 
The conversion was unsuccessful as the Vikings maintained a 16-14 lead with 5:24 left.  
It was deja vu as Fleming muffed the bouncing ball on the kickoff but recovered to race 89 yards for the touchdown. This time, there were no flags as the score stood. The run failed, leaving the Vikings with a 22-14 lead.
"He's a magic eraser. He can make a lot of mistakes look like they weren't mistakes," Coach Luke Bowling of the Vikings said. "He's a special guy." 
The Viking defense came up big again as another fumble recovery gave Community good field position. The Vikings took advantage on fourth down as Fleming twisted to avoid several Perry County tacklers and darted 36 yards to pay dirt. The try was no good as Community led 28-14 with 2:22 remaining.
Fleming was not through as the Vikings took possession with 40 seconds left in the half.  On the second play from scrimmage, Fleming took the ball 59 yards to the house to extend the Community lead.  The run by Grooms for two ended the first half scoring and gave the Vikings a 36-14 lead heading into the intermission.
"We talked all week about executing the little things, doing the fundamentals right, knowing who we were suppose to block, knowing where we were supposed to be, knowing what our assignment was," Bowling said. "When we do that, we're a great football team."
"When we execute fundamentally sound football plays, that's the kind of stuff we know we're capable of and we've been hoping to see all season that we finally got to see tonight," Bowling added.
After the teams traded possessions to start the second half, Perry County could not convert a fourth down conversion attempt, setting up the next Viking score. 
Hernandez followed with his second touchdown of the night on a 37-yard run to extend the Viking lead. 
Grooms followed with a run for two, giving Community a 44-14 lead with 5:06 left.
From that point, the game sped through as the Viking 30-point margin necessitated a running clock.
After a Braxtin Landers interception gave the Vikings the ball with 4:30 left in the third quarter, Community was able to put together a drive that extended all the way to the final seconds of the fourth quarter as several new faces saw action for the Vikings.
A Jacob Harden three-yard reception of a pass from Grooms with 29 seconds left ended the drive and the scoring for the night.    
"We wanted to let some of these younger guys get a chance to get some game experience," Bowling said.  "Next year, maybe when they're the guy, they're not out here shell-shocked."               
Community will host Giles County in its first Region 4-3A game next Friday night.  Game time is 7 p.m.           
             
Community   8 28  8  6 — 50  
Perry Co.      8   6  0  0 — 14
              
First Quarter
C – Ramon Hernandez 8-yard run (Cole Crockett pass from Dallas Grooms) 9:33
P – Levi Rosson 10-yard run (Rosson run) 5:51
 
Second Quarter
C – Grooms 14 run, (J.J. Jacobs 2pt. run), 8:01.
P – Josh Warren 2 run, (2pt. run failed), 5:24.
C – Maki Fleming 89 kickoff return, (2pt. run failed), 5:01.
C – Fleming 36 run, (2pt. pass failed), 2:22.
C – Fleming 59 run, (Grooms 2pt. run), 0:16.
 
Third Quarter
C – Hernandez 37 run, (Grooms 2pt. run), 5:06.

Fourth Quarter
C – Jacob Harden 3 pass from Grooms, (2pt. run failed), 0:29.