It was homecoming at Locust Fork Friday night and the home team had to fight through the usual homecoming distractions as well as a feisty Holly Pond football team by using a powerful second half performance for a come from behind 37-31 Class 3A Region 6 victory over the Broncos.

The first half featured a back and forth scoring contest punctuated with big passing plays by the visitors from Cullman County versus the rushing attack of Locust Fork’s fullback Drew Rogers. Holly Pond quarterback Michael Lambert tossed scoring passes of 69 and 22 yards to receiver Dylan Morton and added a 17 yard run from running back Caleb Jones while Rogers tallied twice for the Hornets on runs of 24 and 19 yards. The Broncos Todd Schwab and the Hornets Jose Hernandez followed their team’s scores with PAT kicks which left Holly Pond leading 21-14 at halftime.

The first of two pivotal moments in the game occurred four minutes into the third quarter when Holly Pond’s Lambert was tackled in his own endzone for a safety narrowing the Hornet deficit to 21-16. Following the Broncos free kick, Locust Fork took to the air as quarterback Tyler Clevenger found receiver Laine Terry all alone behind the Broncos secondary for a 63 yard pass and run touchdown. Hernandez PAT gave the Hornets a 23-21 lead.

The second pivotal moment occurred when Locust Fork’s defense saved four points by holding Holly Pond to a field goal instead of allowing a touchdown after the Broncos drove inside the Hornet 20 yard line. Schwab made a 36 yard field goal which gave the lead back to Holly Pond at 24-23 with 3:27 remaining in the third period.

From there the Hornet offense did what they do best, mount two long sustained drives which eat up clock and wear down opposing defenses. The first drive used six minutes of the game clock before Rogers tallied his third touchdown of the night from five yards out. He then ran for the two point conversion to give Locust Fork a 31-24 advantage. Following a Broncos punt, it was another drive using 4 minutes and 32 seconds of game clock before Rogers got his fourth touchdown of the game on a six yard run. After a penalty forced a 35 yard extra point attempt that was partially blocked, Locust Fork led 37-24 with only 2:22 left in the game. It took nearly all of that time for the Broncos to tally a score to make it a close game as Lambert ran six yards for a touchdown to make the final score 37-31. Rogers was the star of the game for the Hornets with 148 rushing yards on 18 carries to go along with his four touchdowns and a two point conversion run. He also led the Hornet defense with 15 tackles from his linebacker post. Daniel Goss and Clevenger each tallied an interception for the Hornet secondary. Chase Rice added 96 rushing yards for Locust Fork as they move to 5-2, 3-1 on the season. A win on October 14th at Hanceville would clinch a playoff spot for the Hornets as well as set up a potential region championship game against Fultondale on October 21st. Next week they travel to Cleveland for a non-region contest.