Three Oaks hammers Halls to open 2-0

Three Oaks defenders Crawford Childress (middle) and Ryder Korn (right) pressure the Halls quarterback during the Choctaws win over the Tigers on Thursday night in Lauderdale County.

Photo/Jason Peevyhouse

By JASON PEEVYHOUSE

Sports Editor

Coming off a big win at home last week to open the regular season, Three Oaks continued its strong start to its 2024 campaign with a 44-8 win over Halls on the Tigers' home field on Thursday night.

“First conference game, we wanted to make a statement with our defense,” Three Oaks Head Coach Chris Eaves explained. “I believe we did tonight.”

Three Oaks jumped on the Tigers early, getting back-to-back touchdowns to open the scoring before a Halls score cut the Choctaws' lead in half.

But, from there, the orange and white controlled the scoring, answering with 28 unanswered points. An 85-yard touchdown run by Xaveon Bowen ended the first half and helped give the Choctaws a commanding 36-8 lead at halftime after Brylan Hatch hit an open Landon Todd for the two-point conversion.

Three Oaks sealed the win with the only score of the second half midway through the third quarter. Hatch found an open Nason Dycus for a three-yard touchdown pass with 4:40 left in the frame to put the mercy rule into play. Hatch then hooked up with Todd for the two-pointer to extend the Choctaw lead to 44-8.

Eaves said he saw his defense improve in their ability to stop certain aspects of Halls' attack through the course of the game.

“Early on, they were able to get outside of us,” the Three Oaks head coach said. “We were able to get some things figured out and adjusted. We were able to keep the to one score from there.”

Three Oaks will look to keep their unbeaten start going next week when the Choctaws travel to Humbolt on Thursday, Aug. 29 at 6:30 p.m.