Patriots amass 558 yards of offense in 53-16 win

September 4, 2014 Jeremy D. Smith AHSAA, Alabama, Demopolis, football, LHS, Linden, Linden High School, prep sports

LINDEN — Prentiss McQuiston carried the ball four times for 4 yards on Linden’s opening drive, breaking a 31-yard scoring run that set the tone for a 53-16 Patriot victory over Keith Thursday night.

The Patriots reeled off an eye-popping 284 rushing yards in the first half, scoring 22 points in the game’s opening quarter and 36 in first 24 minutes.

McQuiston gave way to Charles Blackmon during Linden’s second drive before coming back in to finish off the 59-yard march with a 12-yard touchdown run.

Linden’s third score of its Region 4 opener with the Bears came on a one-play drive that saw D.J. Charleston go over the top to Devonta Poole for a 44-yard touchdown pass. Charleston added the PAT for the commanding 22-0 lead.

“Linden runs hard. They block hard. They fight hard,” Keith coach Harry Crum said. “Everything they do, they do it hard.”

Early in the second quarter, Poole hauled in what appeared to be an 84-yard touchdown pass until the play was called back for a blocking infraction. One snap later, Davontae Knox finished put the Pats back in the end zone with a 55-yard touchdown run.

Linden’s fifth ball carrier of the first half, Cordarius Scruggs ran straight up the middle and over a handful of Keith defenders for a 22-yard scoring run and a 36-0 Linden lead.

“We just weren’t consistent,” Linden coach Andro Williams said. “We executed in spurts. We’ve just got to be more consistent.”

Domonique Jones then began taking snaps in Keith’s version of the wildcat offense, stringing together consecutive runs of 14 and 13 yards before scoring on a 27-yard sprint with 3:21 left in the half. Lamar Crumpton added the conversion run to cut the deficit to 36-8.

Blackmon opened the scoring in the third quarter when he punched it in from a yard out after Keith had a punt of only two yards that left the Patriots three yards from paydirt.

His team down 43-8, Keith’s Jeremiah Campbell scooped up the ensuing kickoff at his own 8 and darted 92 yards down his own sideline for a touchdown. Ja’Quan Lipscomb added the conversion run cut the Keith deficit to 43-16.

“Speed alone doesn’t win,” Crum said. “You’ve got to have effort out of all 11 kids and that’s something we’re not getting right now.”

Linden scored its final touchdown of the night with 7:13 left in the third quarter when C.J. Robinson went over the top to Poole for a 36-yard touchdown pass that left the score at 50-16. Charleston later added a 30-yard field goal to set the game at its final tally.

Linden incurred 15 penalties for 130 yards on the night, a total that left Williams less than satisfied with where his team sits.

“It starts with me first,” Williams said, pointing to a number of substitution infractions that were called against his team. “A couple of those penalties are things we’re learning as we go. A couple of those things are things we’re trying to do that, I guess, are against the rules, so I guess I’ve got to learn the rules and do a better job.”

Linden tallied 558 yards of total offense while limiting Keith to 68 yards on the night.

McQuiston finished with 10 carries for 110 yards and a pair of scores. Blackmon toted seven times for 79 yards. Knox had two carries for 63 yards. Poole caught three passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns.

Isaiah Scott caught a two-point conversion pass for Linden. Jarrius Williams had a fumble recovery for the Patriots.

Jones paced Keith with 85 yards and a score on 13 carries. Keishon Simmons recovered a fumble for the Bears.

Keith is set to tangle with Maplesville next week while Linden takes a bye week to prepare for Maplesville.

LINDEN/KEITH BOX SCORE

KEITH

First Downs – 4

Rushing – 32-68

Passing – 0-2-0

Total – 68

Fumbles/Lost – 2/1

INTs thrown – 0

Punts/Avg. – 6/30.6