TIFTON — At one point, if you looked at the scoreboard Friday, you may have thought you had snuck into a baseball game between the Fitzgerald Purple Hurricanes and the Pelham Hornets, and the Pelham pitcher was throwing a shutout. That was because it was 5-0, Pelham.
However, it was football and the Purple Hurricanes answered strongly after being down early, outscoring the Hornets, 40-6, the rest of the way to take a 40-11 win over Pelham.
Pelham dented the scoreboard first with a safety and a field goal that came as a result following the free kick.
Following the field goal, Fitzgerald finally got on the scoreboard with an 8-yard run from Ron Swain. Manuel Chavez's kick made the score 7-5 with 3:32 left in the first quarter.
After a Pelham touchdown, Fitzgerald broke the game open with three scores in the final 5:22 of the half, including two in the final nine seconds.
Fitzgerald's Stepman Stevens scored on a 3-yard run to give the Canes the lead for good. The kick failed and the score was 13-11.
Deonvis Bonner would later add another Fitz score on a 14-yard run with nine seconds left in the second quarter.
Pelham would try a last-gasp pass just before halftime, and the Canes' DJ Smith would intercept and return it for 42 yards and a touchdown. At that point the score was 26-11.
The Hurricanes would later add two third quarter touchdowns from Swain on a 7-yard run, and from quarterback Romarius Gaulden on a 32-yard run.
Swain would lead the Hurricanes on the ground with 69 yards on 11 carries. Bonner would add 60 yards on six carries. Fitzgerald had 285 yards of offense in the game, only 10 coming through the air. Pelham had 169 total.
The Hurricanes will return home Friday to face the Cook High Hornets in a key Region 1-AA matchup.
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