By JEREMY RAINES | For the Reporter

Helena – After their first home game of the season was spoiled by a torrential downpour on the first weekend in September, Helena head coach Richie Busby and his Helena Huskies were hopeful to show improvements against a tough region opponent in the Homewood Patriots at Husky Stadium on Friday, Sept. 14.

Homewood came to Helena with an impressive region win over the Pelham Panthers the week before, beating the Panthers, who were averaging 43.5 points per game, 27-7, while Helena entered the game coming off a bye week after losing their second game of the season to the Hueytown Golden Gophers.

Homewood’s tough defense set the stage on Helena’s first offensive drive, as the Patriots picked off senior quarterbackTyler Stephens before the Huskies were able to get through their first 4 snaps. Homewood capitalized on Helena’s misfortune to take an early 7-0 lead with a 14-yard touchdown pass.

Defensive struggles for the Huskies didn’t stop there as the Patriots tacked on another touchdown through the air halfway through the first quarter.

Less than a minute later, on Helena’s next offensive possession, the greedy Patriot defense struck again, as Stephens threw his second interception of the night, and this time it was a pick-6.

Fortunately for the Huskies, the touchdown was called back due to a block in the back, but the Patriots retained possession of the ball and made quick work of their offensive possession adding another touchdown through the air increasing their lead to 21-0 before the end of the 1st quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Homewood added a field goal, but a huge run by sophomore running back Marquise Johnson straight up the middle got the crowd loud as he took the Huskies from their own 9 to the Patriot 10-yard line.

The long run led to a short 4-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Chris Miller to finally get the Huskies on the board with a score of 24-6 with 6:14 left in the first half.

Those were the only points the Huskies saw on the night. Shortly after, Homewood added a field goal as the clock went under a minute left in the first half increasing its lead to 27-6.

Homewood quickly picked up where it left off in the first half adding another seven points through the air to add to their lead going up 34-6 before the halfway point of the third quarter.

Helena’s defense slowed the pace of the Homewood offense, preventing any additional points during the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, however, Homewood could not be denied scoring again as the Patriots continued to show their dominance striking on a short touchdown pass to increase their commanding lead to 41-6 before striking again again shortly after on a punt return for a touchdown with less than five minutes left to play, which led to the final score of 48-6.

Helena finished the night with 184 yards on the ground and 50 yards through the air for a total of 234 yards of offense.

The Huskies look to shake off this loss as they go on the road for the next three weeks beginning with another region game in Adamsvill on Sept. 21 against the 1-3 Minor Tigers.

The Homewood Patriots improved to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in region play, while the Huskies fell to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in region play.