Pike’s defense forced four turnovers as the Patriots routed Abbeville Christian Academy 48-12 on Friday.

The PLAS Patriots (2-0) jumped out to a 27-point lead in the first half and sent in the reserves in the second.

“I thought we came out and did a great job,” said Patriots head coach Gene Allen. “We played really well defensively in the first half and kept the ball on their end of the field. ”

The hard-hitting Patriots defense forced four fumbles during the game.

“It was good,” Allen said. “Anytime we can get a lot of balls, it’s a great thing. Our guys did a great job at forcing the fumbles and getting them.”

The offense put on a show as well. Led by JT Ball, who scored three touchdowns, the Patriots rushed for a total of six touchdowns.

“It was great,” Allen said. “Hopefully we are getting better at that. Right now we are a running team. I thought our line played better, and we had some big plays.”

The Patriots started quickly, taking the opening drive 65 yards in eight plays to end with a five-yard touchdown run by Reece Burbage. Ball had a 28-yard run to help set up the Patriots deep in General territory.

The he Generals fumbled the ball on the first play from scrimmage and Tyler Hussey recovered it.

The Patriots stretched their lead to 14-0 in the second quarter when Ball took a handoff and took it off the right end for a 17-yard touchdown.

After Kevin Thompson recovered the Generals second fumble of the half, the Patriots scored on a four-yard touchdown run by Jinright to give the Patriots a 21-0 lead.

The Patriots closed out the half when Ball scampered around the right side and scored his second touchdown from 22-yards out.

The Generals took the opening kickoff of the second half 95 yards for a touchdown to give them their first points of the game.

The Patriots had a quick answer of their own. Ball scored his third touchdown of the game when he took the opening play 65 yards to give Pike a 34-6 lead.

Johnson got the Patriots on the scoreboard once again when busted through the line for a 47-yard touchdown to give the Patriots a 41-12 lead.

Brayden Herrera closed out the scoring late in the fourth quarter when ran one in from 57 yards out close out the scoring for Pike.

Ball led the Patriots in rushing with 150 yards on just five carries. On the defensive side of the ball Tyler Hussey led the way with 13 tackles on the night.

Even though the Patriots did walk away with an easy win, there are still some tings Allen knows they will have to work on.

“We missed a few things offensively that kept us from scoring,” Allen said. “We had a couple breakdowns on the kickoff’s, but Abbeville has a good football team.”

The Patriots will jump into region play next Friday night when they head to Greenville to take on Fort Dale at 7 p.m.