COLLINS – Detric Hawthorn passed for 232 yards, two touchdowns and rushed for another 117 yards as the Collins Tigers defeated the Lawrence County Cougars 24-6 Friday night. Collins grabbed a 6-0 lead within seconds and never trailed.

With the win, Collins, coached by Ryan Earnest, improved to 3-2 on the season. Lawrence County, under first-year coach Jaymie Palmer, fell to 3-2.

“We didn’t play a great game,” Palmer said, “but I thought our guys played very hard. We had a tough time moving the football. Collins is so fast and athletic on defense. I thought our defense gave it a very good fight.”

Coming into the game as a considerable underdog-the Cougars lost 36-0 to Collins last Fall-Lawrence County did not get the start they needed. LCHS sophomore Quentin Brown bobbled the opening kickoff, and was never able to cleanly pick it up.

Collins recovered on the 11-yard line, and sat up a touchdown run by junior speedster Calvin Keys. Collins led 6-0 before many fans even reached their seats.

With 4:23 left in the first quarter, Hawthorn hit Mississippi State commit Mark McLaurin for 50 yards and a touchdown, making it a 12-0 game.

Down 12-0, the Cougar offense having a tough time of it against the lightening-quick Collins defense, the LCHS defense kept Lawrence County in the game for the rest of the half. Five more first-half Collins possessions resulted in no points. Twice, Collins turned the football over on downs, and twice the Tigers punted.

On the Tigers’ final possession of the half, they got as deep as the Lawrence County 23-yard line. There, Cougar defensive lineman, Paul Carter, picked up an errant lateral, tossed by quarterback Hawthorn, and returned it 50 yards before being chased down from behind. Collins led 12-0 at the half.

Collins added two third-quarter touchdowns. The first came at the end of an 8-play, 62-yard drive. Hawthorn passed 10 yards to Keys for the score. On the Tigers’ next series, Hawthorn’s spectacular 69-yard run set up a four-yard run by Timothy Durr that gave Collins a commanding 24-0 lead.

Lawrence County’s lone touchdown came in the waning minutes of the game. The Cougars drove 81 yards in seven plays, all of them on the legs of Quitten Brown, T-Tez Cole, and Jarius Snell. Cole scored on a six-yard run with 1:34 left in the game.

Cole and Brown each rushed for 73 yards to lead LCHS. Cole carried 13 times and Brown had 11 attempts. Snell rushed for 42 yards on seven carries. Cole and Charl’Tez Nunnery combined to complete four of 13 passes for 32 yards.

Hawthorn completed 14 of 30 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns. Keys caught six passes for 82 yards. John McInnis and Dorrean McLaurin each caught three passes.

Lawrence County will travel to Mendenhall this Friday.