Longhorns score 5 touchdowns in first quarter to trample Abbeville

ABBEVILLE — Marengo Academy (7-1) had little trouble dispatching of Abbeville Christian (6-4) Friday night, scoring five first-quarter touchdowns en route to a 59-12 road win.

Hayden Huckabee opened the scoring with 10:22 left in the first quarter when he found the end zone at the end of a 44-yard run. Less than two minutes later, Shade Pritchett scored on an 11-yard run.

Huckabee got into the end zone again at the 5:01 mark on a 13-yard sprint to up the advantage to 19-0.

Abbeville popped a 77-yard pass play at the 3:35 mark to get onto the scoreboard but the narrowed deficit was short-lived as Huckabee scored his third touchdown of the first quarter on a 12-yard run with 1:00 left. Tyler Barkley then found Landon Houlditch for the conversion pass to put MA up 27-6.

Andrew Martin stretched it to 33-6 with 23 seconds left in the first quarter when he scored on a 44-yard run.

The Longhorns added to the lead with 8:39 left in the second when Huckabee scored on a 1-yard run, his fourth and final end zone visit of the night.

Ralph Langley added a 2-yard touchdown plunge and Weldon Aydelott scored from a yard out to leave the Longhorns up 52-6. Abbeville answered the Aydelott score with an 85-yard kickoff return touchdown.

Cason Cook scored the final points of the night late in the fourth quarter when he returned a fumble 20 yards for a touchdown.

Cook finished with seven tackles, a fumble recovery and a touchdown. Hayden Hall had seven tackles and a fumble recovery. Houlditch also recovered a fumble in the game for the Longhorns.

Marengo ran the ball 32 times for 269 yards while holding Abbeville to four yards on 21 carries. Abbeville connected on five of its 15 pass attempts for 134 yards, accounting for nearly all of its 138 yards of total offense.

Josh Holifield punted only once for the Longhorns, booting that ball 45 yards.

The Longhorns are set to host Jackson Academy (4-5) for the regular season finale Friday night. Marengo Academy will host Springwood in the first round of the AISA state playoffs in two weeks.