Locust Fork’s football team harkened the days of old-time football Friday night, as they ran the ball 63 times against North Jackson in a 32-14 Class 4A, Region 7 victory at Locust Fork.

Quarterback Todd Goodwin ran for 158 yards on 17 carries and three touchdowns, but he had a supporting cast – Shiloh Biles, with 22 carries for 123 yards and a score; and Micah Stephens, 13 carries for 88 yards.

An axiom of the 2014 version of Hornet football is a “we’re gonna line up and run at you until you stop us” mentality. It worked again against the Chiefs, as Locust Fork rushed for 382 yards and passed for zero.

Another bit of football wisdom is, “You can’t score if you don’t have the ball.” The Hornets kept the football for 30 minutes and 29 seconds of the 48-minute contest, including more than 17 minutes of the second half.

Locust Fork set the tone of the game with the opening possession by driving 77 yards in 10 snaps before fullback Biles crashed over from four yards out. Reserve quarterback Michael Reid took a direct snap on a fake point-after kick attempt, and ran over the goal line for the 2-point conversion.

North Jackson mounted a drive that ended with Jonathan Marmolejo missing a 30-yard field goal attempt late in the first quarter. The Hornets took over at their own 20 and marched to the Chiefs’ 6-yard line, before Dakota Karluk came on to kick a 23-yard field goal, bumping the Locust Fork lead to 11-0 with 10:22 remaining in the first half.

North Jackson struck back quickly, as quarterback Logan Walters hit C.J. Cobb with a 47-yard aerial to set up a 12-yard scoring run by Walters with 8:04 left in the first half.

Locust Fork would score twice more before intermission, as Goodwin turned the end for a 6-yard scoring jaunt, followed by another Reid 2-point conversion off of a fake kick attempt.

Then Hornet kicker Preston Broadhead squibbed a short kick that was fumbled into the hands of Locust Fork’s Jake Branham at the Chiefs 29. Two plays later, Goodwin turned the end on an option play for a 30-yard touchdown run. This time, Dakota Karluk kicked the extra point and the Hornets led 26-7 with 3:35 still remaining in the half.

After a quick three-and-out by North Jackson to begin the second half, Locust Fork mounted a long, slow, backbreaking drive to ice the game. A 71-yard march taking 19 plays and consuming over nine minutes of the game clock resulted in a Goodwin quarterback sneak from a yard out. Karluk’s kick was missed, but Locust Fork was in total command at 32-7 with a minute left in the third quarter.

North Jackson added a late score from running back Octavius Matthews.

The Hornets move to 3-0 overall for the season and 1-0 in Class 4A Region 7. They’ll face their third road game in four weeks next Friday at Westminster-Huntsville in another region game.