Good Hope's middle school football team is all smiles following Tuesday's win.

GOOD HOPE — The Raiders chose the perfect time to deliver their best performance of the season.

And Good Hope’s best was far more than Hanceville could handle Tuesday night at James W. Shabel Stadium.

Ethan Anderson and Kaleb Jones combined for 350 rushing yards and four touchdowns, the Raiders forced three turnovers and recovered two onside kicks, and coach Tyler Hudson’s squad picked up a superb 50-16 win versus the Bulldogs en route to the program’s second straight Cullman County middle school title.

Good Hope, which is 41-2 against county competition since 2012, wrapped up its latest campaign with a fantastic 6-1 record and its fifth county crown in six years.

“I’m extremely proud of all of them,” Hudson said following the outcome. “They played their best game of the year when it mattered most. They executed really well. Our guys have bought into what we’re doing here. It’s definitely something that Good Hope should be proud of.”

The Raiders stormed out to a 6-0 lead on a 46-yard touchdown run by Jones early in the first quarter before Jager Burns intercepted Hanceville’s Zachary Campbell to set up an eventual 96-yard scoring scamper — Good Hope had three penalties on its second possession — by Anderson to make it 14-0 after a successful 2-point attempt from the aforementioned Burns.

The Red and White nabbed their third touchdown — a 3-yard pass from Tanner Malin to Burns — after Eli Collum gobbled up an onside kick and their fourth touchdown — an 11-yard strike from Malin to Collin Speegle — after Jacob Kicker fell on a fumble by Campbell. Their first score was also set up with a fumble recovery by Burns.

A 35-yard touchdown connection from Malin to Anderson — set up once again with an onside kick recovery by Kicker — gifted the home team a 36-0 lead at halftime after a 2-point conversion by Jones.

“It was great,” said Jones of the win. “I was a little nervous before the game, but we got settled down. Then I kind of felt better as the game went on. We played great. There was a lot of excitement on our sideline. Everyone was jumping around and excited to win again.”

Added Anderson: “We wanted to run the offense we were coached to run. We did that with our teamwork and our great sportsmanship. I didn’t get to play last season, because I was injured. So it’s amazing to be out here. There really is no feeling like it in the world. We wanted to continue what we’ve been doing.”

Anderson capped off his five-carry, 162-yard performance with a 23-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter, while teammate Paydon Bagwell rounded out the overall effort with a 9-yard scoring jaunt.

Hanceville’s two scores came from Taejon Jones (14 and 62 yards), who finished his game with 97 rushing yards on just seven carries. The Bulldogs had just 141 yards of total offense.

Jones, meanwhile, had 188 yards on 11 carries. Malin completed 3-of-4 passes for 47 yards and three scores for the Raiders, who also received 58 rushing yards from Bagwell.

“Our offense is our defense,” Hudson said. “That’s our MO. Everybody knows we’re going to run power plays right at them. I’m proud of the offensive line for getting after it and of the running backs for finding the holes. But I really have some great kids, too. (Jacob) Kicker has played fullback all season and scored a lot of touchdowns doing that. But I needed him to play offensive line tonight, and he did it. Our quarterback Tanner (Malin) is a great passer. He can throw the ball. But he’s our leading blocker on over half of our plays, and he never questions it. That’s kind of symbolic for this whole team.”

Hudson also offered his best to Hanceville and Fairview, the only team to beat the Raiders this season.

“It was a three-way tie,” he added. “All three of those teams deserved to be playing tonight. We have nothing but respect for those programs, their coaches and what they’ve done.”