ANDERSON — Southport got on the board early and never looked back Friday in posting a 43-9 football win over Anderson at Collier Field.

The Indians (0-2) couldn’t find a way to stop senior running back Nick Turner. Turner, a big back at 6 feet and 180 pounds, carried the ball 20 times for 252 yards and four touchdowns before sitting out the fourth quarter.

“He's a nice player, and we let him get outside,” Anderson coach Pete Gast said. “Our defense broke down a couple of times, but he’s a nice player.”

There was a major difference in the speed of the game as the Cardinals (1-1) went with the no-huddle offense for most of the night and Anderson stuck with its regular play calls. Southport coach Bill Peebles, 3-29 in his four years at the school, said his team finally got rewarded for its hard work.

“We’ve been rebuilding this program; any time you can get some positive reinforcement is very important because our kids put a lot of work into this,” he said. “We felt like we could control the line of scrimmage on the offensive side of the ball. We used the no-huddle because we felt like we were in good shape.”

The Cardinals compiled 404 yards in the contest, 323 of them on the ground. But despite everything going against them, the Indians had their chances early.

Trailing 23-6 right before the half, Anderson’s Dylon Gregg intercepted a Shawn Gibson pass and returned it to the Southport 44-yard line. The Indians forced a third-and-goal situation after quarterback Abram Morris completed a would-be touchdown to Adam Morris, but the officials said he stepped out of bounds. The ball had been tipped before he caught it, but the Indians’ coaching staff didn’t argue.

A second chance came on the first drive of the third quarter when the Indians moved it to the Southport 18 before Adam Morris fumbled the snap and turned it over.

“Running back has been a concern all year; we had a kid move out that was one of the best running backs the school’s ever seen,” Gast said. “We’ve had some new people stepping in and filling the hole. Scooter Perine has been a great football player for us. Handling the football, you take that for granted sometimes; yeah, that was a huge mistake.”

Starting quarterback Nolan Earley was injured during a game with Highland last week and was unavailable to play. Sophomore Abram Morris was forced to step in, going 11-for-23 for 124 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

Anderson’s one touchdown drive, nine plays and 80 yards in the first quarter, showed the potential its offense holds. Morris tossed a 34-yard floater that Tre Jackson pulled down above the defenders.

“We have a team that really wants to be good. These are hungry guys,” Gast said. “We just seem to be in a little bit of a funk where we can’t get the thing rolling. But that’s the beautiful thing about football. We’ve got another chance next week.”

Trey White led the Indians in rushing with 14 carries for 67 yards while Scooter Perine ran 18 times for 47 yards. Southport’s Tyler Plummer had four touches for 15 yards and a score and recorded three catches for 40 yards.

Southport 43, Anderson 9