"We didn't play with any inspiration,” Foster admitted. “That's probably the first flat game we've had all year. But we'll take it. A win is a win. That was good.

“But we have to get better for Sumner next week. No matter who we play we have to come with our ‘A' game. We have to be our worst critic. That's the mark of a good football team.”

The Amite defense rose the occasion, holding Loranger (2-4, 1-1) to just 35 rushing yards and 64 total yards. Wolves coach Sammy Messina said Loranger's offensive struggles negated what he considered a solid defensive effort.

“We couldn't get anything going on offense,” Messina said. “We played on defense as hard as we could play. Offensively we gave them field position and that hurt us, but we got some stops on them. I thought we stepped up and made some plays.”

Amite hung points on its first try and never trailed after that. A 35-yard punt return by Darien Henderson set up a 33-yard scoring drive capped by Mitchell's 15-yard TD pass to Rodriguez.

Two possessions later, Amite rolled 59 yards in six plays, capped by an 11-yard touchdown sweep by Damien Bazeley, who finished with a game-high 89 yards on 17 carries.

And after forcing another three-and-out, Amite made it 19-0 when Rodriguez took a sweep handoff from Mitchell, then pulled up and hurled a 38-yard touchdown bomb to Sean Slaven, who also booted the PAT to make it a 19-point game with 6:27 left in the opening half.

Loranger finally got its first first down on its next series as Eric Brown ran for 15 yards. Moments later Wolves quarterback Taylor Abdalla's play-action worked to free Mark Leon deep and he collected a 29-yard TD pass. Tim Wilson blocked the PAT to make it 19-6 at the break.

Loranger halted Amite's first possession of the second half after the Warriors had driven to the Loranger 29, but Amite forced another punt and the Warriors took command with a 10-play, 64-yard scoring drive which was aided by a couple of Loranger penalties. Mitchell flipped a 4-yard scoring toss to Thomas Hart to make it 25-6 late in the third period.

Amite got its final points with 6:08 left after the Wolves went for it on 4th-and-1 from their own 16 and Lesley Deamer sacked Abdalla. On the next play, Rodriguez collected a 14-yard TD pass from Mitchell, who finished 8-for-13 passing for 59 yards and three TDs .

“They're good,” Messina said. “Sometimes they force you into (mistakes). We just have to overcome it. We've been playing hard. That kind of effort, we've got three games left and anything can happen for us.”

The Wolves tacked on their final points with 1:48 left when Amite tried to punt under a heavy rush and a low punt hit a Warrior lineman. Mike Thompson scooped and scored from seven yards out to make it 32-12.

“There wasn't no spark at all, but it's a win against a quality ballclub,” Foster said. “To come out with a win, that's what we wanted. We had a few mistakes here and mistakes there. We never could get it untracked.”

Independence 39, Albany 0

ALBANY - Independence has had to play at a high level for most of this season, going against the likes of John Ehret, Varnado, Salmen and Amite.

The Tigers showed the benefits of playing that schedule in a 39-0 District 10-3A win at Albany Friday night.

"That's the advantage of playing the teams we've played," Indy head coach Keith Carona said. "I thought we came out today and played at a high level."

The Tigers' defense was particularly sharp, limiting Albany to 11 total yards of offense and forcing seven turnovers. Sedric Milton returned an interception 21 yards for a touchdown. Keandrae Roberts, Joey Jones, Josh Williams and Darrin Arlin also had interceptions.

"We were solid," Carona said. "We had a speed advantage on defense and our secondary played great. They stayed back and did what they are supposed to do."

Independence (4-2, 1-1) scored four plays into the game on a 37-yard keeper up the middle by Chris Carter. The extra point was wide, keeping the score at 6-0 with 10:44 left in the first quarter.

Three plays later, Milton made a one-handed interception of a Justin McKnight pass in the left flat and returned it 21 yards for the score. James Cervantes' extra point made it 13-0 with 9:37 left in the opening period.

Independence went 50 yards in eight plays for its next score, a 4-yard dash over left guard by Reggie Sims. Cervantes again added the extra point for a 20-0 lead at the 3:43 mark of the quarter.

Vergil Wells caused a fumble which Arline recovered at the Albany 29. On the ensuing play, Arline went up for a Carter pass on the left side, tipped it and brought it in for the score. Arline was stopped on the conversion, but the Tigers had taken a 26-0 lead with 2:15 left in the first quarter.

Albany (1-5, 0-2) picked up its initial first down when Shydun Jackson bounced outside for a 15-yard run to the Hornets' 35 with 8:36 left in the first half. Albany's only other first down came on a personal foul against Independence with 11:49 left in the fourth quarter.

Marshall Bellazen added a 7-yard run off the right side with 3:12 left in the half. Cervantes' kick made it 33-0. Carter hit Elroy Duncan on an 18-yard pass on the previous play.

Carter connected on his first six passes and finished 7-of-10 for 117 yards and one touchdown. He also ran six times for 56 yards. Duncan had three catches for 43 yards. Alton Drake had 48 yards on three carries and Sims 36 yards on seven attempts.

Albany turned the ball over on its first four possessions of the second half.

"We gave them plenty (of opportunities," Albany head coach Brad Ficklin said. "Plenty of opportunities they didn't earn. We gave them to them. You can't beat any quality ballclub, especially a ballclub as quality as Independence when you turn the ball over that many times."

But Independence was unable to capitalize on the chances in the third quarter, turning the ball over on downs at the Hornets 23 and fumbling twice. D.J. Castella recovered a Bellazen fumble at the Albany 1 and Chad Dickerson fell on a fumble by Michael Toefield at the 21.

Drake put the Tigers on the scoreboard a final time with a 34-yard run off the right side with 3:51 left in the game.