PORT GIBSON – The Lawrence County Cougars defeated Port Gibson42-21 in Region 6-4A football action Friday night. The Cougarsscored on their first three possession s to grab a 20-0 lead andnever looked back in gaining the important division win. LCHSrushed for a whopping 477 yards on 45 carries, an average ofslightly more than 10 yards per carry.

With the win, Lawrence County improved to 3-1 on the season and2-1 in region play. Port Gibson fell to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in thedivision. First-year Lawrence County coach Trent Hammond was happyto get out of Claiborne County with a win.

“Did we play a great game? No, especially not defensively,”Hammond said. “But was it a great win? Definitely. Any road win inthis division is a great win.

“Port Gibson is bigger than we are, faster than we are, and theycan really throw the football,” Hammond pointed out. “We’re verypleased to come way off over here and get a relatively comfortablewin. Our kids did a good job as they have all season.”

Lawrence County was buoyed by the rushing efforts of Wayne Hardyand Johnathan Eley. Hardy rushed for an incredible 165 yards onjust six carries. His shortest carry was 17 yards. All six of hisattempts came in the first half.

Eley bruised his way along for 148 yards and four touchdowns on16 attempts. It was his best night of the season so far. CharlesBarnes (6-89) and Kevin Wallace (6-54, TD) also had productiverushing nights.

“Offensively, we had a pretty good night,” Hammond said. “We putthe ball on the ground too many times and we had a few penaltiesthat could have hurt us in a tighter game. But, generally, ouroffensive team was much more physical than their defensive team andthat’s the way we expect our kids to play.”

It didn’t take long for the Cougars to get started. On the fifthplay of the game, LCHS nose tackle David Ball recovered a PortGibson fumble at the Cougar 41. Wayne Hardy immediately ripped offruns of 17 and 36 yards, setting up a five-yard Johnathan Eleytouchdown run. The PAT kick was wide, but Lawrence County led 6-0just three minutes into the game.

Following a Port Gibson punt, Hardy needed just one play to bolt58 yards for a touchdown. Charles Barnes ran for two points to makeit a 14-0 game.

After another Blue Wave punt, the Cougars had to travel a longfield, starting at their own 16. That proved to be no problem. Eleyhad runs of 20 and 11 yards and Hardy enjoyed 19 and 18-yard jauntsto set up Eley’s one-yard touchdown plunge. The Cougars led20-0.

Lawrence County’s next possession ended in a minor disaster. Anerrant pitchout was recovered by Port Gibson and raced all the wayto the LCHS four-yard line. Five plays later, after a Jason Snellpass-interception was negated by an interference call, Port Gibsonquarterback Ocie Brown hit Deriation Turner for two yards and atouchdown, cutting the Lawrence County lead to 20-7. The Blue Wavequarterback gave it one heck of a fight, completing 13 of 26 passesfor 191 yards despite taking an unmerciful beating from the LCHSpass rushers.

Taking over with just over three minutes to play in the half,the Lawrence County offense wanted to make up for its big miscue.The Cougars did so effectively, going 66 yards in just four runningplays. Charles Barnes had a 34-yarder and sophomore Kevin Wallaceran three times for 37 yards and a touchdown, the first of hisvarsity career.

“We’re a very young team, but not in the offensive backfield,”Hammond said. “We’re graduating all of those guys so Mike(offensive assistant Mike Davis) has been wanting to get Kevin andCasey (quarterback Casey Williams) some work. We had a fewsophomore bobbles and sophomore penalties, but they did a goodjob.”

In this case they did too good a job, moving downfield soquickly that Port Gibson was left with two minutes on the clock.Brown completed four straight passes for 90 yards, including a45-yarder and an eight-yard touchdown toss to Turner. It was stilla competitive game, 26-13, at the half.

Lawrence County ended any hopes of a Port Gibson upset bymarching straight down the field for another quick score on theopening possession of the second. In a downpour, the Cougars went60 yards in six plays with Eley going the final six yards. Hardy’stwo-point run made it a 34-13 game.

Right at the start of the fourth quarter, Eley ran 32 yards forhis fourth touchdown of the night, equaling his career best. Withjust over a minute to play, Brown snuck in from the one for PortGibson’s final score.

Lawrence County steps out of division play for one week, hostingAmite County this Friday.