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LEWISBURG -- After being shut out in its first two games of the season, Hughesville got that monkey off its back early on Saturday as the Spartans got a 60-yard touchdown pass from Nicholas Stubbs to Aviel Harry on the game's first play from scrimmage.
But from that point on, it was the Jaylen Walker show for Lewisburg. The Green Dragons' senior receiver scored five touchdowns, accounting for 30 of Lewisburg's 38 points, as the Green Dragons picked up their first win of the season, 38-17 over Hughesville.
"Jaylen got triple-teamed last week, but with a double team this week, he just kind of fought through it and made plays and it was awesome to see," said Lewisburg coach Eric Wicks. "You give him a little bit of space, he has some wiggle with the speed and he'll find a way out of there."
Walker hauled in five passes for 219 yards and four touchdowns and also added a 61-yard punt return for a touchdown. All together, Walker accumulated 330 all-purpose yards.
"They were doing some good things up front, blitzing and keeping some guys in the box and trying to take away Jaylen with the double team and they did slow us down at times, but Jaylen just made some plays to help us get the win," said Wicks.
Walker's first and last touchdowns of the game were almost mirror images. His first, at the 9:21 mark of the first quarter, tied the game 7-7 as he took a short screen pass in the flat and eluded several defenders on his way to the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown.
That score was bookended by another touchdown off a receiver screen that went for 73 yards with 2:04 remaining in the fourth quarter to put a cap on a career night.
In between, nearly every time Walker touched the ball, he made a game-changing play. On the ensuing Hughesville drive after his first touchdown, the Spartans went three-and-out and punted to Walker, who returned it 61 yards for a score to put the Green Dragons up 14-7 at the 6:57 mark of the first quarter.
"We stopped almost everything else they had except No. 1 (Walker)," said Hughesville coach Howard Rainey. "I don't think they did anything we weren't expecting, except his speed was so much faster than our team. We kept telling them to punt away from him, but sometimes they just kick it thinking it's going to go over his head or something."
The Green Dragons extended their lead to 20-7 on the second play of the second quarter when Jett Jamieson found Walker again for a 79-yard scoring connection. Thanks in part to Walker's exploits, Jamieson – filling in for the second straight game for injured starter Xavier Carter – completed 8-of-13 passes for 266 yards and five touchdowns.
"Jett did well tonight. He has some things he still needs to work on, but he did a good job getting the ball out on time, and getting the ball into our weapons' hands," said Wicks.
Hughesville cut Lewisburg's lead to 20-10 on a 31-yard field goal by Connor Anstadt at the 5:11 mark of the second quarter that capped a 13-play, 66-yard drive that took 6:33 off the clock.
Lewisburg would answer right back, however, as they put together a 10-play, 65-yard drive that took 4:21 and was capped when Jamieson put up a jump ball in the corner of the end zone that Walker hauled in between a pair of defenders for a 12-yard touchdown reception with :50 remaining in the first half.
The Green Dragons would then extend that lead to 32-10 with 6:42 left in the third quarter as Jamieson connected with Owen Fellon for an 11-yard touchdown pass. That was set up by a 37-yard punt return by Walker that started Lewisburg's drive at the Hughesville 11.
The Spartans answered with another long, methodical drive of nine plays for 61 yards that took just over five minutes and ended with a three-yard touchdown run by Chase Shrawder to make it 32-17 late in the third quarter.
"Our offense started kicking it up, finally. We're starting to move the ball. We got lots of yards, finally," said Rainey. "We got a lot of good things to take away from tonight. We had four freshmen starting, so we got young guys out there and they played their hearts out."
Later in the fourth quarter, down by two scores, Hughesville advanced all the way from its own 14 to the Lewisburg 26 and had an opportunity to cut it to a one-possession game before being stopped on downs. Two plays later, Walker capped the scoring with his fifth touchdown of the night.
Lewisburg 38, Hughesville 17
Hughesville 7 3 7 0 -- 17
Lewisburg 14 12 6 6 -- 38
First quarter
H--Aviel Harry 60 pass from Nicholas Stubbs (Anstadt kick), 11:42.
L--Jaylen Walker 43 pass from Jett Jamieson (Jamieson kick), 9:21.
L--Jaylen Walker 61 punt return (Jamieson kick), 6:57.
Second quarter
L--Jaylen Walker 79 pass from Jett Jamieson (kick failed), 11:44.
H--Connor Anstadt 31 field goal, 5:11.
L--Jaylen Walker 12 pass from Jett Jamieson (run failed), 0:50.
Third quarter
L--Owen Fellon 11 pass from Jamieson (pass failed), 6:42.
H--Chase Shrawder 3 run (Anstadt kick), 1:39.
Fourth quarter
L--Jaylen Walker 73 pass from Jett Jamieson (kick failed), 2:04.
TEAM STATISTICS
HHS L
First downs 14 13
Rushes-yards 40-199 30-60
Passing yards 113 266
C-A-I 5-16-1 8-13-1
Total yards 312 326
Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 5-35 9-60
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Hughesville, Chase Shrawder 12-51 TD, Nicholas Stubbs 9-74, Connor Miller 8-34, Connor Anstadt 8-32, Alphonzo Smith 2-6, Carson Shoemaker 1-2; Lewisburg, Ethan Coleman 11-49, Owen Fellon 8-24, Jett Jamieson 4-(minus-16), Anthony Morgan 3-10, TEAM 1-(minus 2); Jaylen Walker 1-0, Drake Osunde 1-(minus 5).
PASSING: Hughesville, Nicholas Stubbs 4-13-1 106 TD, Connor Anstadt 1-3-0 7. Lewisburg, Jett Jamieson 8-13-1 266 5 TDs.
RECEIVING: Hughesville, Connor Miller 2-39; Aviel Harry 1-60 TD; Chase Shrawder 1-7; Connor Anstadt 1-7. Lewisburg, Jaylen Walker 5-219 4 TDs; Drake Osunde 2-36; Owen Fellon 1-11 TD.