Linden plunders Pirates in 61-0 skunking

LINDEN, Ala.—Just about everybody in a Linden Patriot jersey got on the field Friday night as the perennial 1A powerhouse wasted little time dispatching of Fruitdale in a 61-0 romp.

The Patriots hung 33 points one the board in the second quarter to runs to a 47-0 halftime lead. Davontae Poole opened the scoring by returning a blocked punt 35 yards for a touchdown with 4:06 to play in the first quarter. Deauris Jones then punched it in from two yards out with 13.8 second to play to stretch the advantage to 14-0.

Linden scored five times in the second quarter as C.J. Robinson hit Isiah Scott for touchdown passes of 32 and 15 yards respectively. Scott also scooped a fumble and returned it for a touchdown. Jones added an 18-yard touchdown run while Charles Blackmon had a 9-yard scoring run.

The third quarter saw Eric Jenkins score on a 15-yard run while Timothy Thurman got his first varsity touchdown with a fourth quarter sprint of 15 yards.

The Patriots held Fruitdale to 70 yards on 42 snaps. The Pirates fumbled the ball seven times but were fortunate to only lose two. Linden managed 266 yards on the ground and 62 more through the air on 37 snaps.

Jones led the ground game with 45 yards on six carries. Justin Jenkins had 10 tackles on defense. Graderius Brown had a pair of sacks. Chris Virgess forced two fumbles.

Despite the offensive and defensive numbers, it was another component of the game that most impressed Linden coach Andro Williams.

“I thought our special teams was solid tonight. Defensively, for the most part, we got off the field. That’s what you want. We got better from last week to this week. I know we got better this week on special teams. We moved the ball offensively and we were explosive when we did it,” Williams said. “I was real pleased with our younger guys when they came in the game. I thought we moved the ball with those guys as well. I was real proud of my defense too.”

Linden (2-0, 1-0) is set to travel to McIntosh next week.