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During the offseason, Flomaton running back Jax Fillmore put in the work.

Fillmore’s hard work paid off tonight as the senior rushed for 344 yards on 32 carries and scored five touchdowns to help lead the Hurricanes to a 35-14 season-opening victory over Northview tonight at home.

“I just want to thank my (offensive) linemen and my team,” Fillmore said. “I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Fillmore scored from 52, 4, 17, 43 and 51 yards during the contest, which saw both teams notched at 7-all at halftime. Four of his scores – three in the fourth quarter – came in the second half.

For the game, FHS had 393 total rushing yards.

Hurricanes head football coach Doug Vickery said Fillmore worked hard in the weight room during the offseason.

“He was a beast in the weight room,” Vickery said. “He squats 550 pounds. He’s just an animal. He worked like a dog in the summer and winter workouts. This is just what he prepared for. If he gets serious about it and focuses more, his game can be off the charts.”

Fillmore helped give the Hurricanes their lead they wouldn’t give up early in the fourth on a 17-yard scamper. FHS converted a key third down, which led to the scoring play.

He went on to add his second and third scores within 2 minutes of each other to help put the game away.

Next week, Flomaton hosts Walton, Fla.

Fillmore said next week’s game is going to be another game, another day in the office.

Chiefs head football coach Wes Summerford said going into halftime, he felt pretty good about the game.

“I think in the third quarter, we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit,” Summerford said. “Credit goes to Flomaton. They played a good game, and we went against a good team. We made some mistakes, and they knew what to do with it.”

Both teams established their run games from the start of the game.

During the second half, NHS went more to a passing attack.

Summerford said he believes the heat go to the players as some personnel cramped up a bit.

“I would’ve loved to have seen the running attack, but we just ran short on running backs,” he said. “

Vickery said he thought the kids played well in the first half.

“In the first half, we missed a few passes, but they did a good job in some things they did against us,” he said. “We felt like in the second half, we were going to be more physical. I thought our offensive line and defense played well in the second half.”

The Chiefs went ahead 14-7 with more than 6 minutes left in the third quarter on a 20-yard scoring rush from Northview’s Wyatt Scruggs.

Vickery said at that point, the team didn’t panic.

“We knew it was going to be a long time until the fat lady sings,” he said. “I’m just proud of them. Proud of the effort. They have a good football team down there. Coach Summerford is a good football coach. Proud of my guys. Our defensive coordinator Scott Robinson made some adjustments in the second half, and I’m proud of him.”

Vickery said this win was big for the team.

“We beat them three in a row, and they beat us last year,” he said. “We’re now 4-1. We lost last year, but it was a good game.”

Defensively, Bodie Phillips led FHS with 11 tackles and one tackle for a loss.

Summerford said the players know what needs to be corrected, and they’ll make good decisions going forward.

“You’re coming to a two-way stop,” he said. “There are really two ways here. You can take this as a lesson learned and build from it, or we can shut it down. I think the kids are going to do the right thing. I heard a lot of positive things from our leaders after the game. If the kids attack the right way, and move on from here the right way, it may be blessing.”

NHS visits Escambia County (Ala.). The Blue Devils defeated Cottage Hill 20-9 tonight in their opener.