Hawthorne has its way with North Marion

Hawthorne junior quarterback CJ Ingram tossed five touchdown passes, and the Hornets defense forced three turnovers, including a pick six, in a 54-8 win over North Marion on Friday night.

The homecoming loss dropped the Colts to 1-7 overall, while the win improved Hawthorne, the defending state champion in Class 1R, to a perfect 8-0 on the season.

“We started sluggish, and we knew North Marion was going to come out with great energy,” Hornets coach Cornelius Ingram said. “I felt like we were out of rhythm, and we need to be more consistent on offense. CJ had some good throws, but there were some high ones because he was leaning back a little when he threw the ball. It’s my job as head coach to get things fixed and cleaned up and we will.”

North Marion, which has a very young and inexperienced roster, punted on its first possession of the game and Hawthorne took over at the Colts 26-yard line.

Running back Andrew Zock ripped off a 20-yard gain before Ingram connected with wide receiver Matthew McKinley-Daniels on a slant pass for a 6-yard touchdown. The point after by Sam Carroll gave the Hornets a 7-0 lead.

North Marion went three and out and Hawthorne took over at its 37. Junior running back Keenon Johnson rumbled 10 yards for a first down and Ingram found wide receiver Caleb Rollerson open down the left sideline for a 53-yard scoring strike and a 13-0 lead midway through the opening quarter.

North Marion moved the ball from its own 5 to midfield as quarterback Isaac Smith completed back-to-back passes to Roshard Patterson but a sack forced a punt.

Hawthorne started the drive from the North Marion 31 and moved the ball on the ground as Johnson had runs of 8, 15, 2, and 1 yard before bulling his way into the end zone from 3 yards out. The point after was no good to make it 19-0 heading to the second period.

North Marion, which is in Class 2S, struggled to move the ball against a swarming Hornets defense.

Ingram capped a nine-play, 77-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Alvon Isaac and a 26-0 lead with 5:44 left in the second quarter.

The onslaught continued as a dropped snap on a punt gave the ball to the Hornets on the Colts 9-yard line. Ingram found Zock open over the middle for a touchdown and a 33-0 lead.

North Marion quarterback AJ Cook had a pass picked off by Naziy Gent who returned it for a 47-yard touchdown.

Cook continued to hang in the pocket against a good pass rush and hit wide receiver Roshard Patterson for a 6-yard touchdown pass. Cook found King James open on a short pass for the 2-point conversion to pull the Colts within 40-8 at the half.

Hawthorne scored on its first possession of the second half as Ingram hit Isaac with a 64-yard touchdown pass to make it 47-8. Ingram completed 11 of 18 passes for 211 yards and five touchdowns.

The lopsided score activated a running clock. A final tally by Hawthorne accounted for the final score.

Hawthorne is back in action on Friday night when the Hornets host Akelynn’s Angels Christian Academy (Winter Haven) for its homecoming.

North Marion is at Williston next Friday.