LINDEN &8212; In a rare Saturday outing, the Linden High School Patriots&8217; rushing game proved it was a force to be reckoned with in the 45-0 win against county rival John Essex High School.

Linden&8217;s run game and, in establishing such, clock control proved more than the Hornets could overcome. And the Pat&8217;s defense held up their side on the bargain as well, holding John Essex to 37 yards.

Mature or not the Patriots came out in the first quarter with two unanswered touchdown from the legs of Maurice Tate, one with 8:21 left from 5 yards out and the other at 5:12 from 20 yards out.

The hits really came for the Patriots in the second quarter, where the team scored 26 of its 45 points in the game. Tate led off with his third score with 10:59 on the clock from 11 yards out. Defensive visits to the end zone, off a 5-yard return of a fumble from Barron Taylor and a 10-yard interception return from Trent Tinsley, where broken up by a 1-yard touchdown run from Jermaine Black.

The final Linden score of the night, running behind the line, came from James Martin, who ran 24 yards.

The Pats ran 41 times for 318 of their 362 total for the game. The group went to the air three times, completing one for 43 yards. Linden&8217;s biggest problems in the game from self inflicted wounds &8212; five penalties for 55 yards and three fumbles of which they lost two.

The Hornets lost one of two fumbles and also had five penalties, but for only 35 yards. Their biggest setback was lack of offensive movement in the face of the patriot defense. John Essex ran 22 times for 31 yards and completed one of 11 passes for 6 yards and interception.