Linebacker Ethan Long made five tackles for loss, the defense surrendered just 89 yards and Xavier Carter produced four touchdowns as Lewisburg blanked Hughesville, 36-0 at Harold Schaefer Stadium. Carter threw for 170 yards and three touchdowns, Jaylen Walker caught two scores and Lewisburg owned the line of scrimmage, controlling the ball for nearly 31 minutes as it earned its first win after two near-misses.

“We feel like we really excelled on the defensive end this week,” Walker said after totaling 84 yards, intercepting a pass and forcing a fumble. “We started off with a safety in the red zone and that put us in amazing position to come out and do what we did.”

“You always have to stay aggressive,” Long said after topping 10 tackles for a fourth straight game. “You always have to come out swinging.”

Lewisburg did so like Clubber Lang. It actually started with the special teams, too. The opening kickoff bounced off the Hughesville returner’s hands and by the time he tracked it down, a host of hungry Green Dragons had him surrounded, bringing him down at the 1-yard line.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville's offense clears a path for Jedidiah Abernatha (31) during a high school football game against Lewisburg at home on Friday.

Things went from bad to worse for Hughesville (1-3) when the ensuing snap was fumbled. Bozella, who had a fabulous night, made the first of his three tackles for loss, immediately taking Stubbs down and putting the Dragons up, 2-0.

Nick Coleman then returned the free kick and it was the offense’s turn to make the special teams play become a three-way parlay. The Dragons moved 45 yards on 12 plays and Carters’ 1-yard touchdown had it up, 8-0 as the opening kickoff led to all three Lewisburg elements making big impacts.

“It’s special teams, too. We come out on special teams and fly around,” Long said. “That’s why we got them on the 1-yard line to get the safety and set the tone.”

All Hughesville could hit was broken notes as Lewisburg’s defense had it off key the entire night. The Dragons shut down the run, allowing 14 yards on 17 attempts, did not allow a first down into nearly midway through the second quarter and limited Hughesville to 2.3 yards per play.

Equally impressive, Lewisburg made two red zone stops and three inside the 40-yard line. Walker closed the first half with an end zone interception, keeping it, 22-0.Stackhouse returned a kickoff 62 yards after Walker caught a 37-yard touchdown and made it 29-0 early in the third quarter but Lewisburg forced a quick turnover on downs after Long blew up two plays with Coleman’s help on third down. Following a fumble, Hughesville took over at the Dragon 41 but Bozella never let a fourth down flea flicker develop, stopping the ball-carrier for a fourth down, seven-yard loss.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Lewisburg's Nick Coleman (5) picks up yardage during a high school football game against Hughesville at Hughesville on Friday.

“We wanted to allow no scores. That was our objective his week.,” Walker said. “You just have to keep your composure and not too high, and not get too low.”

Long displayed that mentality the last three years, waiting behind a decorated linebacking unit led by 2024 Sun-Gazette Linebacker of the Year Quin Michaels. Long kept grinding, kept studying and now is showing how good he is as well.

Long leads the area in tackles, entering Friday, averaging 14 per game. He was seemingly everywhere against Hughesville, hustling to make a quick special teams tackle, staying disciplined on misdirection plays and consistently stopping Spartans near or behind the line of scrimmage.

Lewisburg moved Long from outside to inside linebacker earlier this season and he has become quite disruptive, making eight tackles for loss the last two weeks.

“We call him a dog. He’s see ball, get ball and he’s going to do everything he can to get there,” Lewisburg coach Eric Wicks said. “Early in the season we had him at outside backer position and we felt like that wasn’t a great position for him because he’s the guy who’s going to go get the ball. Now, he can just go hunt. He can make the play. He’s very instinctive.”

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Lewisburg's Mitchell Lorenz (7) is brought down by a pair of Hughesville defenders during a high school football game at Hughesville on Friday.

So is Carter, who continues flourishing as a first-time starting quarterback.

The junior leads the area with eight touchdown passes and completed 13 of 21 passes for 170 yards. Early, he took what the defense gave him and picked Hughesville apart with short to intermediate passes, including going 3 of 3 on and third and fourth down throws.

Then when the opportunity came, Carter struck deep and unleashed two perfect throws to Walker. Those strikes from 38 and 37 yards each found Walker perfectly in stride and blew the game open as Lewisburg went up, 29-0.

“Even my freshman year in JV, we were tearing it up. Now it’s clicking up to varsity,” Walker said. “That kid has a lot of great talent.”

And he has a sharp mind, as well as a strong work ethic complementing it. Carter has turned film study into on-field success. Outside of an interception, which Carter turned into a positive when he hustled and forced a fumble, Carter was brilliant Friday. He spread the ball around, hitting six receivers and was both on time and on point.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Lewisburg's Ace Bynum (18) reaches for a pass into the end zone during a high school football game against Hughesville at Hughesville on Friday.

Carter also is a mobile threat who can make plays on the run and capped his night by showcasing that skill. Following Walker’s forced fumble, Carter felt the pressure coming from his right side and stopped quickly, forcing the defender to fly past him. He then stepped up in the pocket, spotted tight end Mitchell Lorenz over the middle and hit him in the chest with a 15-yard touchdown pass on the third quarter’s final play, imposing the mercy rule in the process.

“His comfort level was maybe on 50 to start the season and now he’s on 150 . We spend a lot of time watching film with him and the receivers and he’s seeing things before they’re happening,” Wicks said. “He’s seeing things pre-snap, so he knows which way to go. It’s him being able to understand when it’s time to run as well because when he’s dangerous with his legs, so when he adds that with what we do in the pass game, it just makes us a powerful offense.”

Lewisburg proved it against Hughesville. Linemen Matteo Casale, Garrett Glathar, Lucas Cassidy, Elijah Carter, Hunter Hollenbach and Wyatt Noble helped Lewisburg not just move the ball but dominate the clock. The Dragons held the ball for 9 minutes, 33 seconds in the first quarter, 10 ½ minutes in the third and the starters scored on five of seven possessions.

Dane Shuey capped Lewisburg’s second 12-play scoring drive early in the second quarter, giving the Dragons a 15-0 lead. On those first two possessions, Lewisburg revealed another strength as nine players touched the football.

A year ago, Jeremiah Davis enjoyed an all-state season and the best season in program history. With Davis now playing at Buffalo, Lewisburg is attacking opponents with versatile players throughout the roster. Four receivers caught the ball on the opening touchdown drive and Shuey, Mateo Cardello and Long all had runs of eight yards or more.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Lewisburg's Nick Coleman (5) is brought down by a Hughesville defender during a high school football game at Hughesville on Friday.

“I try to tell our guys if we can get every guy in the pot, basically every guy gets one or two touches, now it’s harder for defenses to key on anyone. You can’t say we’re guarding this guy or that guy,” Wicks said. “You never know who’s going to get the ball. If we can continue to do that, we’re going to make it harder for teams to defend us.”

Hughesville did have some bright spots with safety Connor Anstadt and linebacker Chase Shrawder having big games. Each topped 10 tackles with Anstadt making three for loss and Shrawder collecting a sack. Stackhouse ripped off two long returns and caught three passes for 33 yards.

Still, it was Lewisburg’s night. The Dragons played well the last two weeks but did not have the results to show for it. Now they do. But they hope what happened Friday is just the start.

“We really put it together this week and we came out on top as you can see. We played a good game but we still have mistakes we need to fix,” Walker said. “We’re not getting complacent at all.”

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Lewisburg quarterback Xavier Carter (12) looks to pass during a high school football game against Hughesville at Hughesville on Friday.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Lewisburg's Ace Bynum (18) runs into interference from Hughesville's Connor Anstadt (10) during a high school football game at Hughesville on Friday.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville's Chase Shrader (24) clears a path as Nicholas Stubbs (12) runs the ball during a high school football game against Lewisburg at Hughesville on Friday.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville's Connor Anstadt (10) runs the ball during a high school football game against Lewisburg at Hughesville on Friday.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville's Connor Anstadt (10) reaches for a pass during a high school football game against Lewisburg at Hughesville on Friday.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville's Connor Anstadt (10) reaches for a pass during a high school football game against Lewisburg at home on Friday.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Lewisburg's Jaylen Walker (2) connects with a pass during a high school football game against Hughesville at Hughesville on Friday.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Lewisburg's Ethan Long (28) is brought down by Hughesville's defense during a high school football game at Hughesville on Friday.