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VIDOR – The Vidor Pirates celebrated its homecoming with a 55-17 pummeling of the Liberty Panthers on Friday night at Pirates Stadium.

Liberty received the opening kickoff and, after a teammate dropped the kickoff, return man Cameron Harper picked up the ball and rumbled down the right sideline for a touchdown, or so the Panthers thought. Unfortunately a block in the back penalty brought the ball back to the Vidor 25-yard line.

The Pirates defense held firm and the Panthers settled for a 43-yard field goal by kicker Diego Diaz-Ramirez and a quick 3-0 lead over Vidor.

From there it was all Vidor. The Pirates received the kickoff and moved the ball 75-yards four plays as quarterback Daigan Venable rumbled down the left sideline for a 31-yard touchdown run to put Vidor ahead for good, 7-3, following the J.R. Howard extra point.

Vidor scored again on its next possession as fullback Riley Marlow scored on a 3-yard plunge up the middle and a 13-3 advantage for the Pirates.

Liberty took to the air on its next possession and on the second play of the drive, Vidor defensive back Layden Sanders picked off Panthers quarterback Frankie Marez and dashed down the sideline 36-yards for the pick six touchdown. Vidor lead 20-3 after the first quarter.

Liberty missed a 46-yard field goal wide-left on its next possession and Vidor answered again. This time the Pirates marched the ball 72-yards in eight plays, while chewing up five minutes of the clock as Marlow scored on a 2-yard run. Following the two point run by Dallas Pachuca, Vidor lead 28-3 at halftime.

Vidor kept the momentum rolling in the third quarter as running back Landon Jones capped off another scoring drive with a 3-yard run. Venable added a 2-yard score on a quarterback sneak to make the score 42-3 at the end of the third quarter.

Liberty found some momentum as a big kickoff return gave the Panthers the ball at the Pirates 34-yard line. Two plays later Jason Wickliff scored a 1-yard touchdown run to cut the score to 48-10 Pirates early in the fourth quarter.

The teams traded scores on back-to-back possessions as Vidor running back Kolt Holden found the end zone on a 1-yard run, which put Vidor ahead, 55-10. Liberty added another touchdown as Wickliff fought off a horde of Pirates defenders on a 6-yard scoring run to make the final score, 55-17 for Vidor.

The Pirates had 476 yards of total offense on the night with the bulk of it generated courtesy of Vidor’s Slot-T rushing attack as the ground game generated 452 rushing yards.

Venable led all rushers for the game with 156 yards on seven carries with huge runs of 31 yards and 87 yards in the first quarter. He had two rushing touchdowns.

Marlow added 61 yards on the ground on 11 totes and two touchdowns, while Pachuca added 60 yards on two carries. Jones added 48 yards rushing and a touchdown, and Brody Bloss carried the ball 11 times for 36 yards and a score.

The Pirates defense, led by Skylar Stankovich and Dallas Pachuca, controlled the tempo of the game and held Liberty to 112 yards of total offense on the night, all of it on the ground.

Marez did not complete a pass on the night in four attempts and had one interception. Marez led the Liberty offense with 63 yards rushing on 15 attempts.

Vidor (3-5, 2-3) will host the Hardin-Jefferson Hawks for a senior night celebration next Friday at Pirates Stadium. Hardin-Jefferson (3-5, 1-4) lost to the Lumberton Raiders, 24-14, on Friday night.

The win gives the Pirates a two-game winning streak and, most importantly, leaves Vidor in control of its own destiny regarding the post-season with two games remaining. If the Pirates can win next week against Hardin-Jefferson and on Nov. 8 against Livingston, they will secure a birth to the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.