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When Linden played Southern Choctaw earlier this season, the game was decided by only two points. The second time around, it wasn’t that close.

The Patriots took control of the game from the start and cruised to a 63-14 win on Thursday night. The win improves Linden’s record to 9-2 while Southern Choctaw fell to 5-6.

Head coach Travis Lockett said his made some adjustments in the second meeting that helped the Patriots take control early.

“In the last game, we had some misalignments, but we got that corrected last week,” Lockett said. “Offensively, we jumped on them early and took control of the game. I am very proud of the team for improving and taking care of business.”

Keilyn Edwards accounted fro 322 yards of offense with 219 yards rushing on 16 carries and a touchdown and 103 yards passing completing five of six passes for a pair of touchdowns.

Isaiah Brown and Kareem Rembert also ran for touchdowns. Junior Ja’marion Adams had three catches for 47 yards and a touchdown while senior Kendrick McDougle had one catch for 10 yards.

Maurice Chaney had nine tackles while Winston Wolf had six tackles followed by Edwards with five tackles and Brent Curtis, Alex White Jr, Tyshaun Jacobs  and Quay Howard with four tackles each.

Adams also had two interception returns for 75 yards while Edwards also had an interception.

Elba (9-2) at Linden (9-2)

The Linden Patriots will now be tasked with defending Alvin Henderson, the state’s all-time leading rusher and Auburn commit.

Henderson is averaging 260.5 yards per game and now has more than 10,000 yards and 183 rushing touchdowns for his career.

Lockett said the game plan will be simple on both sides of the ball.

“It basically comes down to blocking and tackling,” Lockett said. “I don’t think there will be any smoke and mirrors. We know what they are going to do. They’ll know what we want to do. So, it just comes down to making sure we are properly aligned and execution.”