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By BARRY BURLESON
Editor

Things got off to a bad start Friday night for the Byhalia High School Indians in their home opener.

A fumble on Byhalia’s first offensive play was scooped up by Ackerman and returned 40 yards for a touchdown.

The visitors, also called Indians, scored three more times in the first half en route to a 41-14 win over Marshall County’s version of the Indians.

“We gave up some cheap scores early,” said head coach Gaylon Jones.

Ackerman added more points with 3:30 to go in the first quarter on a 12-yard run. The extra point try was blocked by Byhalia.

The Byhalia defense stiffened later in the first, forcing a punt.

But on first down, Byhalia fumbled again, and Ackerman recovered. The visitors scored on first down via a 23-yard run up the middle. They also added the two-point conversion on a successful pass play and were up 21-0 with 9:25 to go in the second quarter.

Ackerman added one more touchdown and extra point before the halftime recess.

“They went for it on fourth down a couple of times and kept drives alive,” Coach Jones said, “and they took advantage of our fumbles.”

In the second half, he said Ackerman got its option working.

“We got so concerned about stopping them inside and the quarterback, they got a lot of mileage out of the option,” Jones said.

The visitors tacked on two more touchdowns – one late in the third quarter and another early in the fourth.

“We had a big letdown at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth,” Jones said. “We couldn’t get anything going right, and when we did, we made mistakes.”

Byhalia did bounce back for two scores of its own – one on Jerry Selvy’s 60-yard run and the other on quarterback Montrell Hardaway’s 5-yard keeper. Hardaway threw to Warren Taylor for a two-point conversion after the second touchdown.

“We picked up a fumble after that, and on the last play of the game we threw an incompletion in the end zone,” Jones said.

“We fought hard. We didn’t quit.”

The Indians, due to schedule changes caused by Hurricane Katrina, will have an open date this week. They will travel to M.S. Palmer on Friday night, Sept. 16, for a division battle.

“We have to get better,” Jones said. “That’s all there is to it.”

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