Fairview’s Noah Garnett scampers for yards during the Aggies’ 34-12 win against county-rival Hanceville last Friday evening.

HANCEVILLE — If the Hanceville Bulldogs didn’t know who Austin Harris was prior to Friday night’s season opener,they certainly do now.

In fact, the Fairview senior made very sure Hanceville wouldn’t leave its home stadium without a curt reminder.

Just in case.

Harris ran for 180 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries and added an electric 39-yard catch and scamper for a score in the third quarter to help the Aggies grab a dominant 34-12 victory against their county rival.

Fairview (1-0) amassed 449 yards of total offense — most coming in an exceptional first half — while holding Hanceville (0-1) to only 44 rushing yards and 166 overall.

Those numbers couldn’t keep the smile off George Redding’s face.

“I really am pleased with how we played tonight,” the Aggie coach said. “We played with some passion and looked like we really enjoyed it today. That was great to see. We got some work in, and it was a lot of fun.”

Redding’s group wasted no time going to work, collecting a quick 7-0 lead on a nine-play, 75-yard drive punctuated by a 6-yard score by Harris.

The Aggies were again in business shortly thereafter following an interception by Antonio Taylor at their 26-yard line.

While that possession stalled out with a turnover, the next three did not.

Harris quickly found the end zone from 5 yards out before fellow stud Logan Brooks rolled away on a 49-yard screen pass after a Bulldog fumble to hand the visiting squad a 21-0 cushion.

Hanceville responded on a 40-yard scoring toss from Branen Hurst to Jose Orozco later in the second quarter to cut the deficit back to 14.

Unfortunately for the Dawgs, that was as close as it would get.

Four plays later, Harris made end zone reservations for one once again, breaking numerous tackles and sidestepping a host of defenders en route to an exquisite 49-yard touchdown trek.

“I don’t think I’ve been hit in the backfield since spring jamboree,” the playmaker said. “My offensive line has just dominated. They’ll get better, too. It’s a good win, but we’ve already forgotten about it. Randolph is up next, and that’s who we’ll be looking to beat next week. I’m ready for it.”

Although the offense made its fair share of plays, it was Fairview’s D that stole the show.

The unit shut down a potent Hanceville rushing attack, making several tackles for loss and forcing a pair of turnovers.

Senior linebacker Caleb Chambers didn’t pull any punches following a performance like that.

“We’re happy for sure,” he said. “We knew they had speed, but I think we thought we could handle it. We prepare every week for the team that we play on Friday. We got plenty of prep, studied film and accomplished our goals tonight. It was awesome.”

Redding backed up his player’s sentiments to the letter.

“It’s always a hard test because of how physical Hanceville is,” he said. “But our guys answered the bell. We were great with our run fits and we played more physical. The only big play we gave up was one their player just went up and made an outstanding play on.”

Ragan Ashley completed his wonderful debut under center 8 of 14 passing for 210 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Brooks was good for 86 total yards, while Taylor, Sambo Woods and Noah Garnett each had multiple receptions for the Aggies.

For Hanceville coach Danny Miller, Friday’s outcome was anything but the welcome home he was expecting.

All he could do afterward was shower Fairview with kudos and respect.

“Credit to them,” Miller said. “They whipped us up front. I don’t really think we gave too much effort, though. We’re going to fix that. But those guys were obviously better than we were. We’ve got our work cut out.”

Hurst started off his junior campaign completing 6 of 12 passes for 122 yards and an interception. He made several good throws on the run, too. Orozco caught three passes for 77 yards and a score and also had a huge 65-yard kickoff return to set his squad up in good field position. Running back B.J. Smalls was limited to 52 yards on 12 carries.

The Bulldogs will attempt to recover when they trek to Winston County next Friday for their Class 3A, Region 5 opener.

Meanwhile, the Aggies take on Randolph in their 5A, Region 7 debut in hopes of washing away last year’s bitter defeat.

“They took it to us in 2014,” Redding said. “The only thing we can try and control is what we do and how well we do it. We’ve got to clean up some penalties.”

Added Chambers: “Tonight was great. We love proving people wrong. That’s what we did. Can’t wait to do it again next week.”