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The Huntland Middle School Hornets and the South Trojans competed in the Elk Valley Conference’s Lion’s Club football jamboree Saturday at Lincoln County High School.

Each of the exhibition contests for the event featured teams from the EVC playing each other in two eight-minute halves with the Hornets matching up against South Lincoln while the Trojans played Flintville.

The Hornets were the first of the Franklin County teams to take the field as they lost to the South Lincoln Eagles by a score of 22-8.

Huntland Middle head football coach Mike Jernigan said that the scrimmage was an overall positive outing for his team as a final tune-up before the start of the regular season.

 “I thought our backs ran the ball hard. I thought we took care of the ball pretty well. We did have a couple of fumbles and some miscues there, but up front, I thought we did OK,” he said. “Defensively, I thought we flowed to the ball well at the line of scrimmage, but we also have to do a little better job in space and in being able to contain.”

The Hornets picked up a first down on their opening drive, but a fumble a few plays later gave the ball to the Eagles.

The Eagles broke off a touchdown run a few plays later and added a two-point conversion to make it an 8-0 game with 4:22 left in the first period.

The next two drives for the Hornets ended in turnovers on downs with the Eagles striking for quick touchdowns shortly afterward both times to grow the deficit to 22-0 with 6:54 remaining in the second period.

The Hornets put together their longest drive on their fourth and final possession as Bryant Mooney capped off the 70-yard series with a touchdown run to get the Hornets on the board.

Adon Bass carried the ball across the goal line on the ensuing two-point conversion to put the score at 22-8 with 2:25 to go.

The Eagles appeared to add one more touchdown to their tally on the final play of the scrimmage, but the score was nullified by a block-in-the-back penalty to keep the final deficit at 14.

The Trojans took the field about an hour later and beat the Flintville Bobcats by a score of 30-0.

South head football coach Jermaine Johnson said that his team still has plenty of work to do, but he saw plenty of things for him and his players to build off of going forward.

“We saw a lot of physicality that I wasn’t expecting from both the first team and the second team which is great to have moving forward because we’re getting everybody better,” he said. “That’s one thing that I want to do in this program is make sure that we’re developing everybody so that everybody has a chance to play at that next level and they know the fundamentals and how to play the game right.”

The Trojans stood tall on defense early as they forced a turnover on downs to open the scrimmage.

The first South score then came one play later as Kaveon Sutton spun out of a tackle attempt in the backfield and carried the ball 39 yards for a touchdown about two minutes into the contest. Odeviyon Poe added a two-point conversion to give the Trojans an early 8-0 edge.

Following a simulated punt to end Flintville’s second possession, the Trojans put together another scoring drive with Sutton scoring another rushing touchdown to make it a 14-0 game with 34 seconds left in the first period.

Sutton scored his third touchdown of the day on South’s next possession as he carried the ball 34 yards for a score, and Poe added another two-point conversion to put the score at 22-0 with seven minutes remaining for the scrimmage.

The final score for the Trojans came with about four minutes left in the contest as Jonah Holt broke free for a 54-yard touchdown run, and Jacoba Fells carried the ball in on the two-point conversion to make it a 30-point game.

The Bobcats brought the ball to midfield on their last possession, but the Trojans ultimately forced a turnover on downs to secure the shutout victory.

The Hornets will open their 2023 season on Tuesday at Moore County Middle School. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

The Trojans will begin their 2023 season on Tuesday at home against South Giles Middle School. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.