From staff reports

Terrence Deloney ran for three of his four touchdowns in the second half and East Lawrence High’s defense shined in a 50-14 win over Hatton on Thursday night.

After an almost even first half, East Lawrence’s defense adjusted and shut down the Hatton offense, holding the Hornets to negative total yards after intermission. Carrington Coffey recorded three quarterback sacks, keeping Hatton from getting any kind of offense going.

“Our defense really stepped up tonight in the second half,” East Lawrence head coach Ernie Ferguson said. “We made some adjustments at halftime and our kids stuck to the game plan.”

Deloney finished with 141 rushing yards rushing and 173 through the air, completing 7 of 10 passes. He accounted for five touchdowns — four rushing and one scoring throw. Dakota Millwood added 95 yards on the ground for the Eagles.

“This season could have gone the other way after starting 0-4, but our kids showed their heart by playing the whole season,” said Ferguson, whose team finished the year 4-6.

During the first half, Hatton ran the ball at will, scoring on the game’s first possession when Laron Cooper capped a nine-play drive with a 5-yard touchdown run.

East Lawrence answered quickly with a nine-play drive of its own, finished with a Millwood run to tie the game 6-6.

The Eagles forced a punt and then drove 65 yards in 12 plays before Deloney found the end zone from 5 yards away. His 2-point conversion run put the Eagles ahead 14-6.

Hatton tied the game, methodically driving down the field, running 13 times and covering 68 yards. Shadoe Stephenson ended the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run to even the game 14-14 after the 2-point conversion by Cooper.

Just two plays later, however, Deloney orchestrated the two-minute offense to perfection as he completed two passes, the second finding Malik Garth, who took a short throw and turned it into a 57-yard touchdown. With the Deloney 2-point conversion, the Eagles were ahead for good, taking a 22-14 lead into halftime.

Coming out after the break, Hatton forced a punt by East Lawrence, but could do nothing on offense.

The Eagles then used its quick-strike offense again as Deloney covered all 43 yards of the drive on two plays, finishing with a 27-yard run to the end zone.

Deloney scored on runs of 4 and 15 yards later in the half, and Allen West added the final touchdown on the Eagles’ last drive from 5 yards out.

Hanceville 40, West Morgan 0: The Rebels ended their season at 1-9 as Hanceville delivered a stifling defensive effort.

West Morgan managed 94 yards against Hanceville, which rolled up 263 rushing yards.

Hanceville scored three first-quarter touchdowns for a 19-0 lead and cruised from there. Shelton Lewis had three touchdown runs of 11,52 and 5 yards, while Caleb Hurt rushed a yard for the first touchdown of the night and threw a 17-yard scoring pass to Dante Reese.

Torrey Green added a late touchdown on a 2-yard run.