High School Sports

ALEXANDRIA — Alexandria made easy work of Locust Fork on Friday night, blanking the Hornets 31-0 on its Homecoming crowd.

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The Valley Cubs (5-1, 3-1) dominated every aspect of the game in the first half.

The duo of Terrell Stewart and Quindarius Mitchell led an Alexandria rushing attack that gained 199 yards during the first two quarters, but it was the Valley Cub defense that set the tone.

"The offense played well. We were able to run and throw a pretty good bit, but that defense kept giving us the ball. Them getting a shutout tonight was very big," Alexandria coach Frank Tucker said.

Locust Fork was only able to gain 33 total yards during the first half, as Alexandria used its speed on defense to swarm the Hornet ball carriers.

Locust Fork managed to cross mid-field only twice during the first two quarters, but both times, Ethan Vinyard came up with clutch interceptions, giving the ball back to the Valley Cubs.

"We work a lot on defense," Tucker said. "Our coaching staff does a good job with preparations, and it turns out that we just played a good game tonight."

Alexandria's offense was also impressive, putting up 24 points in the first half. After their first offensive possession ended in an interception, the Valley Cubs could not be stopped.

Mitchell put Alexandria on the board, taking a pitch from Vinyard and carrying the ball in from 3 yards out.

On the Valley Cubs' next possession, Mitchell struck again on a similar play call, scampering 25 yards into the end zone.

With a 14-0 lead, Vinyard went to the air, leading Alexandria to its final touchdown of the first half. The Valley Cub quarterback was perfect on the drive, completing all three of his passes for 53 yards.

Vinyard's final throw of the possession put Alexandria put by 21 as he lofted a beautiful 21-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Kelley in the back of the end zone.

The Valley Cubs added three points on a Rogelio Ortega 29-yard field goal as the buzzer sounded to end the first half.

Alexandria's offense was very conservative in the second half — going to the air only once — but the Valley Cub defense continued to dominate.

The Hornets put together some nice drives but never threatened to score, failing to reach the red zone throughout the contest. The Valley Cubs held Locust Fork to only 98 yards of total offense for the game.

Alexandria's final score of the night came early in the fourth quarter on a 16-yard run by Travis Harper.

With the win over Locust Fork, Alexandria improved to 3-1 in Class 4A, Region 6.

"Any region game is important," Tucker said. "Anytime we win a region game that's very important."