By By David Snow
When longhorns stampede, they don’t leave much in their wake, and that was the case last night when the Marengo Academy Longhorns totaled 366 yards of offense en route to their 54-7 Homecoming win over Escambia Academy.
The Orange Herd ran roughshod, tracking 316 rushing yards on 31 carries and scoring seven touchdowns on the hoof.
Josh Montee led Marengo Academy (4-3) with 96 yards on eight carries, scoring three TDs. Jesse Morgan had one run, a 71-yard touchdown jaunt, while Rabe Hale had 65 rushing yards on seven carries with two TDs. Matthew Sellers scored on a three-yard run for MA.
Wood Collins took in both MA pass attempts, each for 50 yards for a total of 100. Morgan completed one of those passes for a touchdown, while Matt Wallace completed the other.
The defense held Escambia’s Cougars (0-6) to 57 rushing yards. Nick Carlin led the way with 24 yards on eight carries, while Kawetta Coon had 13 yards on 20 carries, being held to minus-14 yards on 10 carries in the first half.
EA quarterback Jeff Price was 1-for-6 through the air for 71 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Blake Kirk hauled in a 71-yard TD pass for the Cougars.
Marengo Academy took the opening kickoff, which went only a few inches, giving the Longhorns the ball on the EA 40-yard line. It took nine plays, but Sellers punched the ball across the goal line to give MA a 7-0 lead with 7:28 left in the first quarter.
Escambia was forced to punt the ball away, and Marengo began anew from midfield. Montee took a 40-yard run through the Cougar secondary for the Longhorns’ second score of the game, and MA led 13-0 with 3:06 remaining in the first quarter.
The Cougars again had to punt the ball away, and the Longhorns started another scoring drive. A 37-yard run by Montee set up a 38-yard TD run by Hale. The two-point conversion gave MA a 21-0 lead with 11:20 left in the second quarter.
Sellers picked off an Escambia pass and returned it 31 yards to the EA 11-yard line, setting up a brief scoring drive. Montee scored his second touchdown of the half when he took a five-yard run into the endzone with 7:56 left in the first half. The extra-point kick failed, but the Longhorns took a 27-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Cougars head coach Heath Gibson said his team just could not be as physical as the Longhorns.
On the Longhorns’ first drive of the second half, Morgan made his only run of the night count, a 71-yard burst through the line for another Marengo touchdown with 6:04 left in the third quarter, giving MA a 34-0 lead.
Escambia finally got on the scoreboard when Price found Kirk behind the Longhorn secondary, a 71-yard touchdown pass to cut the MA lead to 34-7 with 4:03 left in the third period.
Marengo Academy wasted no time to respond, taking the onside kick at the 50. Morgan then found Collins on a 50-yard toss for another Longhorn score, giving MA a 40-7 lead with 3:48 left in the third quarter.
Wallace found Collins for his second 50-yard reception of the night, bringing the ball to the EA 2-yard line. Montee ran the rest of the way for his third TD of the night, giving Marengo Academy a 47-0 lead with 8.7 seconds left in the third quarter.
The final score of the night came when Hale made a three-yard run into the endzone with 56.9 seconds left in the game.
Escambia Academy travels again next week. The Cougars visit Clarke Preparatory Academy.
Check Wednesday’s Atmore Advance for kickoff time.