SCOTTSBORO – All week long at practice, the Gaylesville coaching staff had been preaching shutout to their kids. The Trojans did just that by delivering a 30-0 knockout blow to Skyline Friday night in a Class 1A, Region 6 match-up.

Cain Higgins led the charge for the Trojans (2-2, 2-1). He rushed for 182 yards on 14 carries with three touchdowns. Caleb McCord finished the night with 42 yards on 14 carries and a two-point conversion.

As a team, the Trojans piled up 364 total yards of offense, while the defense held Skyline (0-4, 0-3) to just 64 total yards.

Gaylesville jumped out to a 6-0 first quarter lead thanks to Higgins. He scored on a 35-yard run, but that was just the beginning of his night.

Higgins added two more touchdowns in the first half. One of those came on a 50-yard jolt and the other on a 4-yarder to push the Trojans’ lead to 21-0 at the half.

After a scoreless third quarter, Higgins capped a 14-play drive with a five-yard pass to Nick Reed for the score. Reed also had a solid night defensively after posting six tackles with two interceptions in the end zone.

The Trojans added a 28-yard field goal by freshman Brian Sanford late in the game for the final.

Sanford’s kick was the first made field goal by the Trojans in six years.

Defensively, Gaylesville was led by Luke Murphy’s eight tackles. Justin Jennings had seven tackles, forced a fumble and also recovered a fumble. Andrew Lindsey had six tackles and also forced and recovered a fumble. Jon Lemons forced a fumble and Fred Davis had four tackles and a fumble recovery.

Skyline was led offensively by Daniel Sanders, who picked up 82 yards on 14 carries.

Sanders also led the Viking defense. He finished with 14 stops while Chris Dulaney followed with seven stops and a fumble recovery. Chad Richey was next with six tackles and Patrick Jones picked up a Trojan fumble.