Staff report

LEXINGTON — JyMikaah Wells and Vance Honeycutt scored two touchdowns apiece as Salisbury won a physical game at Central Davidson on Friday.

The 28-6 Central Carolina Conference victory was critical as far as the Hornets’ playoff aspirations.

Central (3-2, 2-2) is an extreme ball-control running team and entered the game ahead of the Hornets (3-2, 2-2) in the CCC standings.

Salisbury is now tied for third with Central and Ledford, next week’s opponent.

Central managed to possess the ball for large chunks of the game. Defensively, the Hornets bent several times, but only broke once.

It was a slow start for the Hornets, who lost the ball on a muffed punt, went three-and-out on their first offensive possession, and then lost a fumble.

After that fumble, Central grabbed a 6-0 lead with a methodical touchdown push that concluded with 7:24 left in the first half.

Salisbury’s first score came on a 1-yard run by Honeycutt that followed some bruising carries by Wells. Wade Robins kicked the point for a 7-6 Salisbury lead with 4:08 left in the first half.

When Central Davidson lost a fumble and gave the Hornets a short field, Wells banged off the right side for a 4-yard score with 1:52 left in the half. Salisbury took a 14-6 lead to the break.

Central continued to do what it does in the second half. The Spartans put the ball in the air only three times, resulting in two incompletions and one Salisbury interception.

Neither team scored in the third quarter, but another fumble recovery helped Salisbury score again. Honeycutt got the 5-yard TD in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. He headed up the middle, appeared to slip, but kept his feet, and darted to his right. He found daylight for a 21-6 lead.

Salisbury got a clinching TD with 9:38 remaining when Wells broke tackles and barreled for a 45-yard score. That was Salisbury’s biggest offensive play.

Wells totaled 157 yards on 22 carries and piled up large gains against a tiring Central defense in the second half. He got 99 yards after halftime.

Honeycutt had a modest statistical night with five completions for 28 yards and eight carries for 16 yards. He lost a touchdown pass when a holding penalty was called on the Hornets. A potential big pass play was caught just out of bounds. One nice pass over the middle was dropped, and Honeycutt narrowly missed on a slant that would’ve been a touchdown.

Defensively, the Hornets were exceptional after the TD that gave Central a 6-0 lead.

Central ran the ball 52 times for 176 yards, but penalties, fumbles and the occasional tackle for loss were hard to overcome. There were at least seven runs for no gain and no explosive plays.