The Linden Patriots routed the Sunshine Tigers 52-12 Thursday night in their final region contest of the season.

The Patriots tallied 376 rushing yards in the game while holding Sunshine to just 45 yards of total offense.

“I’m pleased with the way our defense played tonight,” Linden head coach Andro Williams said. “We’ve got to be more stingy and fight for the ball more in the secondary, but overall it was a good effort out of our guys tonight.”

Linden struck first early in the game on a 20-yard touchdown run by Prentiss McCuiston.

With 3:13 to play in the first quarter, Keishaun Scott scored for Linden on an 11-yard touchdown run to put his team ahead 14-0.

On the ensuing kickoff, Sunshine’s Eddie Fikes Jr. returned the kickoff 76 yards for a score to pull his team closer at 14-6 following a failed two-point conversion.

Early in the second quarter, Linden extended their lead on a 30-yard Cordarius Scruggs touchdown run, which gave the Patriots a 21-6 lead.

Stevie Edwards scored next for the Patriots, this time on a 17-yard run, to put Linden ahead 28-6. Dewayne Charleston was four-of-four on extra points at this juncture in the game.

On Sunshine’s next drive, the Tigers fumbled in the endzone and Jalen Bell landed on it for the score. After a missed extra point, the Patriots led 34-6, which held until halftime.

At the half, Linden had held Sunshine to a total of negative 11 total yards of offense.

The Patriots extended their lead with 9:54 to play in the third quarter on a 35-yard McCuiston touchdown run.

One minute later, the Patriots were on the board again, this time on a 42-yard Scruggs run, giving Linden a 46-6 lead.

Linden’s final score of the night came with 2:11 to go in the third quarter on a 33-yard run by Henry Lee.

The fourth quarter was shortened to four minutes, but Sunshine was able to get on the board again before time expired. The Tigers put together a drive with five first downs that ended in a 1-yard touchdown run by Jesse Jackson to make the score 52-12.

“The main thing is we’re still learning how to be even-keeled the whole game,” Williams said. “We need to learn our situation. We can’t control our situation, but we can handle it, and that’s something we need to work on.”

Scruggs ended the game with 108 yards rushing and two touchdowns on eight carries. Scott had seven carries for 57 yards and a score, while McCuiston had four carries for 51 yards and two touchdowns.