VINEMONT —

Hunter Hensley accounted for five touchdowns, West Point’s defense dominated the second half, and the Warriors knocked off Vinemont 44-12 on Friday night to earn their first win of the season.

“I’m proud of these guys, and I’m proud for these guys,” West Point coach Don Farley said. “They came to work this week, and they handled adversity. We talk about overcoming that all the time, and I’m proud of our guys for doing that. Heck, they played tonight and played hard. It was a great week of practice with a lot of crazy things going on. But they stayed focused and true to themselves and earned this win.”

Hensley recorded touchdown runs of 2, 19 and 20 yards, respectively, and connected with teammate Parker Marks twice through the air — 18 and 43 yards — for another pair of scores to lead the way offensively. The 43-yarder came on a 4th-and-14 early in the second quarter that jumpstarted the Maroon and White sideline.

Defensively, the Warriors yielded less than 30 yards in the final two quarters after giving up nearly 200 yards in a back-and-forth first half.

An impassioned Farley, though, was quick to single out his offensive line.

“Those guys are the most unselfish guys on the field,” he said. “They reject any selfish behavior and go out and block — no matter who’s carrying the football. Parker brings energy. Hunter comes to work every day. Our defense rallied all night, and those guys are extremely excited. I’m super proud of everybody. Vinemont has been a big-play team, especially on special teams. But I thought we swallowed up a lot of that tonight.”

Hensley finished with more than 200 yards of total offense — 130 passing and 72 rushing — to go along with his five-score performance. Marks hauled in nine receptions for 112 yards and two TDs.

Freshman Carter Rutherford delivered the final touchdown of the matchup for West Point, a 31-yard dash late in the fourth quarter.

Vinemont’s Brody Speer provided both touchdowns for the Eagles. The senior finished the game with 163 yards on 20 carries, including 4- and 53-yard end zone scampers in the first half.

West Point opens region play next week at home against Russellville. Vinemont, meanwhile, heads to Brindlee Mountain for its region opener.