VINEMONT – Admission may be going up for Vinemont football games.

Eagles coach William Norris joked about that after yet another nail-biter involving his team, as they recorded a come-from-behind 35-28 win over Priceville on Friday night at Mark Smothers Stadium.

It was Vinemont’s third game of the season to be decided by a single possession and improved the Class 3A Eagles to 2-4 on the year.

“We need to start charging double for tickets to our games,” Norris said with a laugh. “Every game we’ve played with the exception of one has been tight, close-knit, entertaining games. Hopefully the lessons we’ve learned from being in these types of games will serve us down the road as we get back into region play.”

Coming off a heartbreaking 43-36 loss to Addison last week, the Eagles looked to be heading toward another defeat – and this time on homecoming night. But Vinemont scored three unanswered touchdowns after falling behind 28-14 to keep 4A Priceville (0-6) winless on the season.

The victory was especially sweet for senior quarterback Garrett Boland.

“Any game is important and winning is always important,” Boland said. “But homecoming, it means a lot to not only me but everybody on this team.”

Boland ran for 142 yards and three touchdowns and went 6 of 17 through the air for 138 yards and another score. His 23-yard jaunt through the Bulldog defense with 4:02 remaining capped the comeback.

But things looked bleak for the Eagles coming out of halftime. They trailed by a touchdown at the break and allowed an 11-play, 62-yard drive by Priceville that culminated in a score by quarterback David Strunk III to give the Bulldogs a 28-14 advantage in the third quarter.

Vinemont then failed to convert a fourth-and-goal on its next possession and still trailed by two touchdowns entering the fourth quarter.

Boland and Deke Wright then took over, alternating runs until Wright rumbled into the end zone for a 2-yard score with 9:33 to go in the game. That cut the deficit to 28-20 as the PAT failed.

Then the defense made the first of two big plays in the fourth quarter, as Carl Price recovered a Priceville fumble at the Bulldog 46. Six plays later, Boland plunged in from the 1-yard line before adding the 2-point conversion on a run to tie the game at 28-28.

On the Bulldogs’ ensuing drive, they faced fourth-and-3 from their own 43. After calling a timeout, they decided to go for it.

It turned out to be the wrong call.

Running back Steven Vo was stuffed behind the line of scrimmage by the Vinemont defense, setting up what would be the game-winning drive.

“I’m not surprised they went for it,” Norris said. “We were prepared either way. I probably would’ve gone for it in the same scenario. It’s a tough spot, tough call … It’s almost one of those coin-flip situations. I’m just happy we stopped them short.”

Vinemont needed five plays for the game-winner, getting three runs from Wright – who ended the night with 79 yards on 18 carries – before two more from Boland, his final being the go-ahead 23-yarder.

Priceville reached the Vinemont 49 before being pushed back and falling short on fourth down.

While fans celebrated following the game, Norris tried to look back at the entire game – which he called “a tale of two halves.”

“We did not execute very well in the first half,” he said. “We adjusted some stuff at halftime and played better in the second half. I’m not excited about how we played in the first half but I knew our guys wouldn’t give up and would continue to fight because we’ve been doing that for weeks now.”

Priceville got on the board first. Nathan Shear took an end around untouched for a 22-yard touchdown. It was the Bulldogs’ first trip to the end zone since Week 3 after being outscored 107-0 in the last two games.

Vinemont wasted little time putting two straight scores on the board to take the lead. Boland played a part in both, running 32 yards for a score and finding Nate England for a 52-yard touchdown on Vinemont’s next drive to give the Eagles a 14-7 advantage early in the second quarter.

But Vinemont couldn’t capitalize on the ensuing onside kick recovery, and Priceville needed just five plays for Strunk to scamper 41 yards into the end zone to tie the contest.

Then, with just seconds before halftime, Strunk threw a jump ball into the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown to Landon Flaherty to give the Bulldogs a 21-14 lead.

“At halftime, we realized how bad we were playing on defense and we knew we needed to step it up on offense,” Boland said. “Our defense really stepped up in the second half and I’m proud of the way offensively we carried ourselves.”

Vinemont outgained Priceville 359-281 for the game. Strunk led the Bulldogs with 102 yards on the ground, while Vo ended the night with 21 carries for 86 yards.