Linden plunders Pirates, moves to round three

MONTGOMERY — Linden trounced St. Jude 46-0 Friday night in the second round of the Class 1A state playoffs.

“The main thing we wanted to do was go in and play a sound game, play fast and play physical, do the fundamentals, blocking and tackling,” Linden head coach Andro Williams said of the win. “I thought our guys played with a little more energy, played with a little more swagger about them and played with a little more purpose. I thought we played sound and fundamental all night for the most part. We had some 12-play drives during the course of the game and I was real pleased with that. I thought we put our complete game together tonight.”

The Patriots rushed for 369 yards in the contest, getting 101 of that from the legs of Marquise Shelton.

Prentiss McQuiston opened the scoring with a three-yard touchdown run with 6:38 to play in the first quarter. He added another score with 6:30 to go in the second frame when he found the end zone from four yards out.

Shlelton stretched the Patriot lead to 20-0 just before half when he scored on a nine-yard scamper.

After a Jalen Lewis 57-yard kickoff return in the third quarter, Anthony Robinson hit paydirt on a 28-yard run.

Jamal Lewis got in on the act with a six-yard run with 6:20 to go in the third quarter, stretching the lead to 33-0.

Terrance Sanders scored on a 23-yard run with 6:04 to play in the game, moving Linden’s lead to 39-0. Demarcus Gilmore capped the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run with 2:35 to play.

The Patriots used 11 different ball carriers on the night.

Linden (11-1) will host Brantley (12-0) next week in the third round after the Bulldogs thumped Billingsley Friday night.