LINDEN — Marengo Academy (0-4) got well acquainted with Sumter’s Paul Reed Thursday night en route to a 49-14 home loss to Sumter Academy (3-2).

The Longhorn defense fought against a dominant Eagle ground attack, finding itself stumped most of the night.

Reed scored a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter on gains of eight and 33 yards to put Sumter up 13-0.

Marengo cut the lead to 13-8 in the second quarter when Hunter Crouch scored on a one-yard run, allowing Justin Beverly to find Shade Pritchett for the two-point conversion play.

From there, Sumter shifted its rushing attack into overdrive. The Eagles added to the lead on a one-yard scoring run from Kohl Bailey and proceeded to put the game out of reach on a pair of Reed touchdown runs that covered six yards and 58 yards respectively. Sumter took a 35-8 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The teams played out a scoreless third quarter before Sumter returned to its ground attack in the fourth when Bailey darted in from seven yards out to extend the lead again.

Crouch scored again on a nine-yard run to move the Longhorns up to 14 points before Sumter’s Blake Dial scored on a 31-yard run to cap the scoring.

Reed ended the game with 323 yards and four touchdowns on 32 carries, marking his second straight week of rushing for more than 300 yards. The game brought his season rushing total to 1,088 yards. He also has 15 total touchdowns. Bailey added 82 yards and two scores on 10 rushes.

Crouch led the Longhorns with 59 yards and two scores on 13 carries. Josh Holifield rushed for 56 yards on seven carries. The Longhorns turned to the air for 107 yards Friday evening.