PRENTISS – The Lawrence County Cougars defeated the Prentiss Bulldogs 34-0 in high school football action Friday night at Prentiss High School. Hayden Davis passed for three touchdowns, and Tony Maye caught two touchdown passes and ran for another score, as the Cougars rolled to their third win of the season.

With the win, Herbert Davis’ Cougars improved to 3-1 on the season, after LCHS struggled through a 1-10 campaign last fall. Prentiss, under third-year coach Tim McNair, fell to 1-3 on the year.

“It wasn’t real pretty,” Davis said. “I didn’t think we played at a very high level tonight, but we’re proud to be 3-1. We’ll keep working, trying to get better. We’ve still got a long way to go.”

Davis completed 13 of 23 passes for 194 yards and three touchdowns. Maye hauled in two 12-yard touchdown passes, along with a five-yard touchdown run. T-Tez Cole and Kody Smith also had big offensive nights for the Cougars. Cole rushed 17 times for 181 yards, while Smith caught three passes for 99 yards, including a 75-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown.

Lawrence County took the opening kickoff and drove 65 yards in nine plays to grab an early lead. A Cole 43-yard run set up Maye’s five-yard scoring run, on a reverse play. Prentiss’ first possession ended with an errant snap over the head of the Bulldogs’ punter. That set the Cougars up at the Prentiss 12-yard line, and Hayden Davis immediately cashed in, throwing the first of his TD tosses, a 12-yarder to Maye. It was 14-0, just six minutes into the game.

The next three possessions produced no points. The LCHS defense forced two Prentiss punts, and Davis was intercepted for the first time this season, by the Bulldogs’ Donta Ford.

Early in the second quarter, following a Prentiss punt, Lawrence County drove 54 yards in eight plays. Cole’s 32-yard run was the big play, setting up Davis’ three-yard scoring jaunt. Joshua Stephens’ third straight extra-point kick made it a 21-0 game at halftime.

On the second play of the third quarter, a Prentiss fumble was recovered by LCHS defensive tackle Michael Polk. Four plays after that, Hayden Davis threw another 12-yard scoring pass to Tony Maye, making it a 28-0 game.

On the final play of the third quarter, Davis threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Kody Smith. Smith wrestled the football away from two defenders near midfield, then broke away and outraced them to the end zone, capping the scoring for the night.

While the LCHS defense was racking up 397 yards of offense and 34 points, the Cougar defense was limiting Prentiss to just 131 yards. The Bulldogs twice got inside the Lawrence County 30-yard line in the second half, but turned the football over on downs both times. Prentiss quarterbacks Deanyte Crockett and Donta Ford combined to complete seven of 12 passes for 56 yards. Cameron Carter caught five of those passes, for 49 yards.

Unofficially, Michael Polk, O’Cean Smith, and Demarcus Bridges were among the leading tacklers for the LCHS defense. Polk’s fumble recovery was the Cougars’ lone takeaway.

This Friday, Lawrence County will host Collins in the first of four straight LCHS home games. Also, on Monday, the Cougars will take on Wesson in junior varsity action. The junior varsity game will follow Rod Paige seventh and eighth-grade games. The seventh-grade game will begin at 5 p.m.