Richland Northeast High School was undefeated in Region 5-AAAA football until Thursday evening, but Loranzo Hammonds and his North Augusta High School teammates brought a fast, decisive end to that winning streak, dumping the Cavaliers by a score of 35-0.

Hammonds connected on 12 of 15 passes, racking up 123 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 107 yards on 11 carries and a 7-yard touchdown run. Demarcus Rouse added 125 rushing yards to the mix, via 16 attempts.

Richland Northeast had an opportunity to cut the Yellow Jackets' lead to one score before halftime, but a defensive stop on second-and-goal from the 1 yard line followed by a nine-yard sack and a penalty forced the Cavaliers into a long field-goal attempt that sailed wide left.

The Yellow Jackets pulled away in the third quarter after capitalizing on several Cavaliers' miscues, including an L.J. Perry interception that set up an 11-yard Rouse touchdown run on the next play.

With the win, North Augusta almost assured itself home-field advantage in the first round of the AAAA state playoffs. The squad, ranked 10th in the Prep Writers poll, stands at 8-1 overall and 4-1 (second place) in Region 5-AAAA play.

Dan Pippin, North Augusta's coach, indicated he was pleased with his team's performance on the evening but not willing to begin thinking about the playoffs with two games left to play in the regular season.

"We just gotta win the next one and then worry about the playoffs from there," the coach said.

The Jackets will face Lexington at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Wildcats are "really good," in Pippin's assessment. "Hopefully we can stay in the game with them."

Lexington is 4-5 overall and 3-2 in the region, having most recently faced Dutch Fork. The Wildcats blasted the Silver Foxes on the road Friday by a tally of 43-13. Adrian Wigfall led the attack, registering three touchdowns and 136 yards via 11 carries.