By Will Grice

For the Forsyth County News

NORCROSS – The Lambert Longhorns defeated the Meadowcreek Mustangs 38-7 Friday night.

“We got three beliefs at Lambert: The team that plays the hardest, the team that hits the hardest, and the team that takes care of the football is going to win,” Lambert head coach Tommy Watson said. “We won those three battles tonight.”

The Longhorns made it clear tonight that they were the better football team, though Lambert’s offense got off to a rough start.

On the fourth play of scrimmage, Lambert quarterback James Tyre threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown to put the Longhorns down early.

However, the touchdown served as the Mustangs’ only score of the game, and it did not take long for the Longhorns to take back the momentum.

Lambert receiver Kojo Antwi took the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown and the Longhorns did not look back.

The next two drives of the first half resulted in touchdowns for the Longhorns, with Tyre scoring two touchdowns on fourth-and-goal; one through the air to tight end Luke Logan and the other with his legs.

The Longhorns offense was able to control the game thanks to their dominant running attack. Lambert gained 171 yards on the ground against the Mustangs, with 95 of those yards coming in the second half.

“Our offensive line, they had a long hard offseason because that’s something we put an emphasis on,” said Watson. “Last year we could not run the football and we figured if we could we might have won an extra game or two.”

Six different Longhorn running backs received carries tonight, and Tyre picked up two more rushing touchdowns in the second half to help ice the game for the Longhorns.

Part of that distribution was the result of starting running back Harrison Peyton leaving the game in the second quarter with a leg injury.

The Longhorns’ most impressive feat of the night was their efficiency on fourth down, converting all five of their conversion attempts throughout the game.

The Mustangs did not have such luck on fourth down, converting only one of their four attempts. The Mustangs’ special teams did them no favors either, giving the Longhorns great field position throughout the entire night.

Lambert’s defense deserves their due credit as well, posting a shutout despite what the scoreboard says.

The Mustangs offense rarely got the ball past the Lambert 40-yard line. The one red zone trip for Meadowcreek came near the end of the first half, but the Mustangs turned it over on downs.

The Longhorns played almost a perfect game after an early pick six and will carry a spotless 3-0 record into a home game against Duluth at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10.