LINDEN — Linden was on the Fritts Friday night – the Kendarius Fritts.

Visiting Wadley scored the first touchdown of the game early in the first quarter, but the Patriots responded, using five touchdown runs by Kendarius Fritts to take a 40-10 first-round playoff win.

“I thought our kids played hard,” LHS head coach Andro Williams said. “I will do a better job of coaching the first half than I did tonight. We’re glad to move on to the next round. We got off to a slow start, but we did what we had to do in the second half.”

Once Wadley (4-7) had put some points on the scoreboard, Linden’s Kendarius Fritts struck first, taking a 70-yard run into the end zone with 4:52 left in the first quarter. The point-after kick was blocked, but Linden had narrowed the gap to 7-6.

On the Patriots’ next drive, it was all Fritts, taking four runs for a total of 53 yards, including a 15-yard TD run that gave Linden a 14-7 lead with 22.9 seconds left in the first period.

A 31-yard Fritts run started the Patriots’ next drive, and a five-yard TD run by Fritts ended it, giving LHS a 21-7 lead with 6:32 left in the second quarter.

Wadley punted the ball away on its next drive, but the ball brushed a Linden player, and the Bulldogs got the ball back near midfield. Several plays later, Kristian Humphries booted a 28-yard field goal as time expired to make the halftime score 21-10.

The third quarter was a little rough, but a 26-yard run by Rashad Hollins set up a 12-yard TD run by Fritts, giving the Patriots a 27-7 lead with 2:24 left in the third period.

Fritts scored his fifth and final TD of the night on a 40-yard run, giving LHS a 34-7 lead with 9:24 left in regulation.

Not to be outdone, the Linden defense got on the board, as Anthony Robinson picked off a Wadley pass and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown with 7:28 remaining.

The Patriots (11-0) will host Winterboro (8-3) this Friday at 7 p.m.