Linden tallies 843 yards in 73-0 victory

Virtually everything went right for Linden Friday night when it renewed hostilities with long-time rival A.L. Johnson. The Patriots pulled their starters early in the second quarter and cruised to a 73-0 victory with each of the final two periods coming in the on a four-minute clock.

Linden only ran 37 offensive plays but amassed 843 yards of total offense. The Patriots hung 41 points on the board in the first quarter and led 67-0 at half.

“I thought we came out of the gate and had a little success early and it went from there,” Linden coach Andro Williams said. “And I thought our starting guys showed some character in the way they handled being in a game like that.”

The Patriots countered by limiting ALJ to 86 yards of offense and nine total turnovers.

“I thought we jumped on them early and we came out of the gate like we needed to in an atmosphere like that,” Williams said.

Dequan Charleston opened the scoring with a 75-yard kickoff return touchdown. DeAntonio Williams then scored from a yard out before adding a 20-yard touchdown sprint. Xavier McIntosh scored on an 8-yardrun before DeAntonio Williams found the end zone again on a 13-yard carry.

Charleston added on a 32-yard touchdown run to cap the first quarter scoring. Isaiah Scott scored on a 34-yard pitch-and-catch from C.J. Robinson in the second quarter before Charles Blackmon broke a 75-yard sprint for a TD. Eric Jenkins scored on a 70-yard run and Graderius Brown added touchdown runs of 50 and 22 yards respectively.

Charleston led the way with 258 yards on six carries in addition to his kickoff return score.

Kevin Green, Justin Jenkins and Blackmon each had interceptions on defense. Tyrik Daniels, Jason Presswood, Brandon Bates and Davontae Pools each recovered a fumble in the game.

Linden (7-0, 5-0) moves on to face Marengo (5-2, 4-1) next Friday night in a game that could clinch the Class 1A, Region 1 championship.