RALEIGH - Garner’s football team scored in the air, on the ground and on special teams in a dominant first half Friday night, setting the stage for a 42-7 non-conference victory over Athens Drive.

The Trojans (2-0), the top-ranked team in The News & Observer poll, rolled to a 35-0 halftime lead to take command against the Jaguars (1-1).

“We played well, but we’re still making some mistakes,” Garner coach Nelson Smith said. “Overall, I was pleased. But at the same time, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

The Trojans, a traditionally strong team on the ground, showed a multi-dimensional attack against the Jaguars. Mixing the run and the pass, the Trojans scored on four of their first five offensive possessions in the first half.

Senior running back Raevon Smith had touchdown runs of 25 and 7 yards in the opening half and finished the game with 153 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Senior quarterback Vincent Jeffries struck for an 81-yard touchdown pass to Armani Lanier and scrambled for a 9-yard score in the opening half.

Athens Drive, which lost to Garner 42-0 in the playoffs last season, didn’t quit.

Junior running back Dominique Lynch, a 5-foot-9, 208-pounder, ran hard all night. He broke through for a 24-yard touchdown with 6:05 left in the fourth period to prevent the Jaguars from being shut out.

“The difference between that [42-0 loss] and now was our kids had their heads down in that one, but they didn’t do that this year,” said first-year Jaguars head coach Chris Martin, an Athens assistant last season. “I told Coach Smith that we are trying to take our program to their level. It takes some time to do it.

“You’ve got to focus on the small gains. To us, [the last score] was something positive that happened. I’m proud of our kids.”