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The Huntland High School Hornets beat the Lookout Valley Yellowjackets 42-7 on the road Friday for their second win of the season.

The Hornets opened up a double-digit lead early in the contest and never looked back as they recorded a blowout victory for the day.

Huntland head football coach Kermit Reed said that penalties continued to be an issue for his team, and it will be something that will need to be worked on as the Hornets prepare to play three straight regional games to close out the season.

“Tonight, we had a bunch of penalties for a lack of focus yet again. We are a young team, but that’s still no excuse. We’ve been preaching this for weeks, and we’ve got to clean it up if we’re going to be a good football team,” he said before referring to preparations for a key regional contest next Friday against Moore County. “We’ve got to bring the focus, bring the energy and physicality in practice all of next week because you win games in the week, not on Friday nights.”

The Hornets quickly forced a turnover on Lookout Valley’s opening drive as Trace Kilpatrick stepped in front of a pass for an interception.

The turnover gave the Hornets the ball at Lookout Valley’s 18-yard line on their first drive, and Jarren Kinslow carried the ball into the end zone a few plays later for a touchdown.

Grant Morris added a successful point-after attempt to make it a 7-0 game about three minutes after the opening kickoff.

Following a turnover on downs by the Yellowjackets, BJ Summers broke off a 29-yard touchdown run for the Hornets to put the early lead at 14-0 with 5:45 remaining in the opening period.

A 28-yard touchdown pass from Evan Keller to Lashawn Kimmons was erased by a penalty on Huntland’s next drive with the possession ultimately resulting in a turnover on downs.

The Hornets made another trip into enemy territory after forcing a punt, but the drive ended in another turnover on downs to keep the score at 14-0.

After the Yellowjackets punted for a third drive in a row, the Hornets put together another scoring drive as Kinslow found the end zone on a short run to make it a 21-0 game with three minutes left in the first half.

The Yellowjackets returned the ensuing kickoff to Huntland’s 34-yard line, and a touchdown pass a few plays later got them on the board and put the score at 21-7 with 2:08 to go in the half.

The Hornets were able to add to their lead just before the end of the half as they concluded a quick 58-yard drive with another touchdown run from Kinslow to pull back ahead by 21 points with 15 seconds to play in the period.

They led 28-7 at halftime.

The first three drives of the second half ended in punts as the ball remained on Huntland’s side of the field throughout.

The next touchdown for Huntland came on a defensive score as Kinslow scooped up a Lookout Valley fumble at midfield and ran it back for a score to grow the deficit to 35-7 with 4:30 left in the third quarter.

The Yellowjackets turned the ball over again a few plays later as Kimmons intercepted a long pass to give the Hornets the ball in enemy territory. A personal foul against the Yellowjackets after the play was over moved the ball down to their 20-yard line.

However, the Hornets weren’t able to capitalize on the great field position as they turned the ball over on downs after rotating some starters out of the game.

Huntland’s defense then forced its fourth turnover of the day and ended a third consecutive opposing drive with a takeaway as Grant Jernigan intercepted a pass over the middle of the field.

The Hornets had another touchdown taken off the board due to a penalty on their next drive as a 34-yard scoring pass from Jernigan to Kannon Lafevers got voided, but Jernigan called his own number for a rushing touchdown later in the same possession to make it a 42-7 game with 7:06 remaining.

The Hornets then got the ball right back as an onside kick was bobbled by the Yellowjackets and recovered by Kimmons.

The Hornets turned the ball over on downs, but not before running off most of the remaining clock to secure the victory by 35.

With the win, the Hornets improved to 2-5 on the season.

They will next play Friday at Moore County High School. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.