Linden dominates Houston County; looks to Notasulga next week

11-4-16 -- Linden, Ala. -- Linden's Makahi Williams stiff-arms a Houston County defender during the Patriots' 77-7 win over the Lions.
11-4-16 — Linden, Ala. — Linden’s Makahi Williams stiff-arms a Houston County defender during the Patriots’ 77-7 win over the Lions.

It was business as usual Friday night as the Linden High School Patriots tallied 599 yards of offense against Houston County, outpacing the Lions and closing out the night with a 77-7 win.

“We did what we had to do, and I’m proud of our guys for sticking through it the way they did. We always talk about finding ways to score on defense, and we were able to do that tonight again,” said Linden head coach Andro Williams.

The Pats hit the ground running when Charles Blackmon found the end zone from 10 yards out at the 7:57 mark in the first quarter. A failed PAT gave Linden a 6-0 lead.

11-4-16 -- Linden, Ala. -- Linden's C.J. Robinson throws a pass during the Patriots' 77-7 win over the Lions.
11-4-16 — Linden, Ala. — Linden’s C.J. Robinson throws a pass during the Patriots’ 77-7 win over the Lions.

Linden’s next scoring would come late in the first, when C.J. Robinson hooked up with Dequan Charleston on a 13-yard pass. A two-point conversion converted by Xavier McIntosh made it 14-0 with 2:55 to remaining in the first quarter.

Linden tallied 28 points in the second quarter alone on a 1-yard rush by Deauris Jones with a successful PAT, a 43-yard pass from Robinson to Charleston with a successful PAT, an 8-yard rush by Jones with a successful tw0-point conversion from McIntosh, and a 71-yard pass from Robinson to Charleston, with an unsuccessful PAT attempt.

Houston County’s only score of the night came at the 5:57 mark in the second, when Trevell Smith took it 81 yards for six. The PAT was good, and at the half, Linden had the Lions by the tail, 42-7.

The second half was all about the Patriots as they racked up 21 and 14 points in the third and fourth periods, respectively.

The first strike in the third came at the 8:41 mark with DeAntonio Williams hit the open field for a 40-yard touchdown gallop. Scott’s PAT put them up 49-7.

Blackmon then took it in from 11 yards out, with another Scott PAT making it 56-7 at the 3:29 mark.

The only non-offensive touchdown of the night came with Blackmon returned an interception 33 yards for six, and a Scott PAT gave the Patriots a solid lead, 63-7, with 2:00 to play in the third.

Linden closed out their scoring with two touchdowns in the fourth period. Timothy Thurman scored on a

11-4-16 -- Linden, Ala. -- Linden's Dequan Charleston attempts to break the tackle of a Houston County defender during the Patriots' 77-7 win over the Lions.
11-4-16 — Linden, Ala. — Linden’s Dequan Charleston attempts to break the tackle of a Houston County defender during the Patriots’ 77-7 win over the Lions.

22-yard run with 6:13 to play, and Jonathan Biggs’ PAT made it 70-7. Freshman Douglas Johnson also saw action Friday, when he took it in from 34 yards out. Another Biggs PAT closed out scoring for the night.

“We got a little slow start tonight, and we weren’t as physical as I thought we should have been early on,” said Williams. “But we came out and handled business and I’m proud of our guys for finding their stride and hitting it to close out the game.”

Linden put up 599 yards of offense on the night with 398 of it coming on 39 rush attempts, and another 201 yards through the air thanks to Robinson, who went 7 of 8 and accounted for three touchdowns.

Jones led the ground attack with nine carries for 90 yards and two touchdowns. Williams touched the ball four times for 80 yards and a touchdown, and Blackmon carried it six times for 51 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The Pats had 19 first downs on the night to Houston County’s four, and only allowed the Lions 113 yards of offense with 100 yards coming via ground and 15 via air. Linden was penalized seven times for 50 yards.

The Patriots (12-0, 7-0) travel next week to face a Notasulga (7-4, 4-2) team that came back to beat Ragland Friday with a 37-36 win.

“We’re looking for a real physical game next week at Notasulga,” said Williams. “Those guys trailed big at the half tonight (against Ragland) and came back to beat them by a point, and we remember last year too when we went over there and jumped out to a quick 20-0 lead. All of a sudden, those guys made it 20-6 or so by the half and we had a ballgame again.”

Linden went on to beat Notasulga last year, 26-14.

Kickoff for Friday is set for 7 p.m.

11-4-16 -- Linden, Ala. -- Linden's Charles Blackmon, Jr. looks for running room during the Patriots' 77-7 win over the Lions.
11-4-16 — Linden, Ala. — Linden’s Charles Blackmon, Jr. looks for running room during the Patriots’ 77-7 win over the Lions.
11-4-16 -- Linden, Ala. -- Linden's Xavier McIntosh makes a cut to the open field during the Patriots' 77-7 win over the Lions.
11-4-16 — Linden, Ala. — Linden’s Xavier McIntosh makes a cut to the open field during the Patriots’ 77-7 win over the Lions.