Fans buying tickets to the Pisgah Eagles versus Locust Fork Hornets football game Friday night got a bonus. They saw two football games for the price of one.

The first game lasted for three quarters and Locust Fork won by a rather pedestrian 7-0 score. The second game featured big scoring plays and two very tired defenses as the Hornets and Eagles combined for 47 fourth quarter points with Locust Fork hanging on for a 30-24 home victory.

The Hornets took the opening kickoff and marched 78 yards in 17 plays with running back Tyler Clevenger circling left end from seven yards away for the touchdown. Jose Hernandez added the point after and the Hornets led 7-0 late in the first period. The remainder of the first half saw Hernandez miss a 41-yard field goal attempt for Locust Fork while Pisgah had two promising drives end on fumbles, the last one recovered by Hornet linebacker Drew Rogers at the Locust Fork 10-yard line just before halftime.

The second half began as if it would be a carbon copy of the first half as Pisgah once again had a promising drive stall at the Hornet 19 when Locust Fork quarterback turned linebacker Chase Rice knocked away a fourth down pass in the end zone. After a Hornet punt, the Eagles surrendered their third lost fumble of the night when Preston Castleberry fell on an errant handoff at the Hornet 46 near the end of the third quarter.

Locust Fork then drove 54 yards in four plays to paydirt as Rogers took a handoff up the middle, found some running room on the sideline and raced 34 yards into the end zone for what appeared to be a game sealing touchdown with 10:39 left in the game. Tyler Clevenger ran for a two-point conversion from a fake kick formation to give the Hornets a seemingly insurmountable 15-0 lead.

What happened next was totally unexpected by most observers as both teams combined for 39 points in the next five minutes of game action. Pisgah struck first with Landon Hawkins running 46 yards for a score and Levi Ellis adding a two-point conversion to make it a 15-8 game. Not to be outdone, Locust Fork moved to a quick touchdown after Jarrett Peeples 41-yard run set up a 6-yard scamper by Rice for the touchdown. Hernandez extra point made it 22-8 Hornets.

Before anyone could catch their breath, Pisgah reached the end zone with Hawkins once again getting the scoring honors from 10 yards away. Ellis again scampered in for the two-point conversion making it a 22-16 game. Following the Eagles kickoff, the Hornets faced a third-and-five situation from their own 30-yard line. Rice took the snap and ran a quarterback sweep around left end for 70 yards and another Locust Fork touchdown. Rice ran for the two-point conversion once again giving Locust Fork a seemingly comfortable margin of 14 point at 30-16.

However, the Eagles quickly responded as Hawkins scored again from 16 yards out and quarterback Austin Smothers ran for the two-point conversion to make it 30-24 with 2:54 left in the game.

Pisgah chose not to try an onside kick and instead backed up the Hornets at their own 11-yard line. The game then boiled down to a third-and-nine situation from their own 12-yard line. If the Hornets could not convert, Pisgah would get great field position following a Hornet punt and with an exhausted defense the chances of stopping the Eagle attack were slim. Rice handed the ball to his fullback Rogers and after breaking away from two defenders who had him stopped for a short gain he rambled all the way to the Hornet 38 for a game clinching first down.

The Hornets amassed 402 total offensive yards for the game with 353 of it coming on the ground. Rice led the way with 153 yards rushing on 12 carries and two touchdowns. Rogers added 85 yards and a score on 9 attempts. Clevenger and Peeples added another 68 and 53 yards respectively.

Next Friday the Hornets (2-0) open Class 3A Region 6 play with a road game at Vinemont. The home win over Pisgah marked the first time since 1982 that Locust Fork has won a season opener on the road and followed it up the next week with a home win.