After getting off to a somewhat OK start, sixth-ranked Straughn regrouped and pelted Elba 34-8 on Friday night at Tigers Stadium.

SHS had a couple long runs on its first two drives, but fumbled the ball in the end zone both times for touchbacks.

The local Tigers held Elba on defense, and managed to picked up a mishandled punt in the end zone for a safety to go ahead 2-0.

Straughn’s Rollin Kinsaul then threw touchdown passes to Keith Edgar and Jarvaris Samuel to give his team a 15-0 lead at halftime.

“We played well all night long,” SHS head football coach Trent Taylor said. “We just had some costly turnovers in the red zone. Certainly, that’s something you can’t do. We’ve got to be a little more protective of the football. I thought the defense played real well.”

Straughn’s gonna have to shore up those mistakes as the Tigers play host to Bayside Academy next week in region play.

“Here we are at the exact same spot we were in last year,” Taylor said. “I think if everybody looks around in our region, they’ll find that almost all of our records are identical. We know how things went last year.

“Obviously we’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said.

Daryl George scored on a 25-yard rush, Nick Stepp recovered a fumble for a score on Straughn’s kick-off and Kinsaul added a late touchdown rush to put the home team ahead for good in the second half.

Taylor said cornerback Taylor Messick got a late interception to help in the win.