Some enterprising Mortimer Jordan students greeted visiting Lawrence County with a hand-painted sign at Thursday’s AHSAA Class 5A first-round playoff battle.

The message: “Tell Your Girlfriend You’ll Be Free Next Friday Night.”

Whether the trash talk had any effect or not, the homestanding eighth-ranked Blue Devils never trailed and comfortably handled the visiting Red Devils 46-20.

On the Blue Devils opening possession, they set the tone for the night by using their bruising ground game to drive 59 yards for the first touchdown of the night. Kalin Stringer carried the football five consecutive times on the drive, picking up 40 yards before his running mate Spencer Brown found paydirt from 14 yards away. Brown then scampered in for the 2-point conversion and the Blue Devils led 8-0 early.

Shortly afterwards, Jordan squandered an opportunity to expand their lead when they partially blocked a Red Devil punt, but they could not convert and turned the ball over on downs at the Lawrence County 23.

The Red Devils then mounted their only scoring drive of the first half, covering 77 yards in six plays capped off by a 49 yard scoring pass from quarterback Dallas Keenum to receiver Trey Hutto on the first play of the second quarter. Hutto literally took the ball away from a Blue Devil defender who thought he had an interception. The Blue Devils led 8-7 with 11:50 remaining in the first half.

Jordan would strike twice more before intermission. Three plays after the Lawrence County score, running back Julius Washington took a pitchout from quarterback Duncan Hodges and raced 56 yards for a touchdown. Stringer ran for the 2-point conversion and Jordan had regained the momentum at 16-7.

The Red Devils then consumed over six minutes of clock in moving to the Jordan 20, before giving the ball over on downs on a quarterback sack by Blue Devil defender Jonathan Finney.

Jordan started goalward once again, highlighted by a pass from Hodges to Jacob Dean of 14 yards and a Brown run of 28 yards to the Red Devils’ 1-yard line. Stringer got the ball and the score from there, and following Brown’s run for the conversion, Jordan carried a 24-7 lead to the break.

The early portion of the third period featured back-to-back fumbles by both teams. After the Blue Devil miscue, Hutto burst over left tackle and rambled 32 yards to the end zone. Ford missed the extra point but Lawrence County had narrowed their deficit to 24-13 at the 6:29 mark of the third period.

But Jordan wasted no time responding to the challenge, moving 62 yards in only five plays with Nicholas Mann scoring the touchdown from three yards out. Hodges then added the 2-point conversion with a run of his own, and Jordan had once again stretched the lead back to 32-13 with 4:23 left in the third period.

Early in the fourth quarter, both teams again swapped turnovers this time via interceptions. After the Jordan turnover, Lawrence County mounted their last scoring drive of the night as running back Jakob Terry burst 25 yards for the touchdown. Ford’s point-after kick made it 32-20 Jordan with 7:11 left in the game.

An onside kick attempt by the Red Devils failed, and Jordan would convert the short field into another touchdown as Mann’s 28 yard run set up Brown’s second touchdown of the game from three yards away. Brown’s run for the onversion was successful, and Jordan led 40-20 with 6:13 left.

On Jordan’s final scoring drive, Brown and Mann alternated running the football against the tiring Red Devil defense. Brown then covered the final 15 yards for his third score of the game.

Jordan’s offense plowed through the Lawrence County defense for 443 yards of total offense while holding the visitors to only 243 yards, most of it in the second half.

The Blue Devil running game was balanced among seven different ball carriers, led by Hodges with 72 yards on 11 trips. Washington picked up 74 yards on only two calls, Brown added 63 on five carries with three scores, while Mann picked up 59 yards along with his one touchdown.

Dean caught five passes for 55 yards while Washington added 27 yards on six catches, most of those via forward lateral handoffs that are recorded as forward passes.

The Jordan defense had five quarterback sacks for the game and were led by Hunter Willis, Levi Faucett, Brown, and Finney. Washington had a fumble recovery and Kyle Elsberry an interception for the Blue Devils.

Jordan moves to 10-1 on the season, and will travel to face seventh-ranked Wenonah next week. The Dragons are 10-0 after beating Randolph 48-0 in their first round contest Thursday.