Cardinals run past Rebels

The scoreboard at Potts Camp rang up 82 points in only three quarters Friday night, and the home team had the bulk of those.

Coach Darrow Anderson’s Cardinals racked up 444 yards of total offense in a 60-22 win over Hickory Flat.

“We got a win under our belts and I saw a lot of good things,” said Anderson, whose team evened its early season record at 1-1.

At the top of those good things was the performance of Jabryan Pegues. He scored six touchdowns, five running and one receiving. He carried the ball nine times for 334 yards.

Anderson, in his first season at Potts Camp, said he once had a player rush for more yards but not on just nine carries.

“He had an outstanding game,” Anderson said.

The Cards went up 21-0 on touchdown runs of 8 and 38 yards by Pegues and a 20-yard carry to the end zone by Jeremiah Scott. Shun Gardner hit one extra-point kick, and Scott carried for a two-point conversion.

C.J. McKinney was the sparkplug for the Rebels’ offense. He had 19 carries for 115 yards and also 50 yards receiving on two catches.

“He made some great runs on us,” Anderson said.

McKinney got Hickory Flat on the scoreboard via a 50-yard run with 9:34 left in the second quarter. He also carried for the two.

Two minutes later, Potts Camp’s Randy Cross carried 10 yards for a touchdown. Javion Walton ran for the conversion.

The Cardinals led 29-8.

“I think then we thought we were going to coast,” Anderson said. “But Hickory Flat kept battling; they fought hard.”

The Rebels cut their deficit to 29-22 with back-to-back touchdowns – a 46-yard pass from Chris Smith to McKinney and a 10-yard pass from Smith to Dontavious Judge. They got a two-point conversion on a toss from Smith to Tyler Bryant.

“We still have a lot of things to work on,” Anderson said. “Defensively, we played good in three quarters, but in that second quarter, we did not play as well as we should have.”

But Pegues lit the spark just when the Cardinals needed it. He ended the first half with touchdown carries of 48 and 76 yards. He and Scott cashed in the two-point conversions for a 45-22 lead at the intermission.

Pegues started the third quarter with more electricity. He got loose for 83 yards and six points. Scott added the two-pointer.

Potts Camp wrapped up its scoring on a 10-yard pass from Ryan Baldwyn to Pegues with 2:25 to go in the third and an extra-point kick by Gardner.

Leading the Cardinals’ defense were Dakota Moore with four solo tackles and two assists, Detrez Marion with two solos and four assists and Walton with two solos and three assists. Top tacklers for Hickory Flat were Justin Carter with four solos and three assists and Judge with three solos and three assists.

“I thought we improved Friday night for sure, but we have to get better,” Anderson said.

The Cardinals (1-1) host Myrtle Friday night. The Hawks are also 1-1, coming off a 38-26 win last week over H.W. Byers.