The Dallas County Hornets opened their home season Friday night by exploding for 40 first-half points en route to a lopsided 59-22 victory over the Ironmen from Holt.

The Hornet offense wasted no time, taking advantage of a muffed punt snap by Holt to send James Jones, Jr. on a 15-yard scoring run around left end.

Antonio Shelton added the PAT, and Dallas County led 7-0 with less than three minutes elapsed in the game.

Clifford Lyons epitomized the swarming Hornet defense by picking off a pass on Holt’s next drive.

Two plays later, Jones broke free again, this time on a crowd-pleasing 57-yard run off right tackle.

A few series later, the Hornet defense again rose to the occasion, stopping Holt on fourth and one at the Hornet 30.

On the first play on offense, Jones completed his triple play, racing 70 yards for his third touchdown of the quarter.

At the end of the first quarter, Dallas County led 19-0.

Dallas County took their time in the second quarter, marching 49 yards in seven plays to score.

This time, Clifford Lyons carried the mail on the final four yards.

Shelton added the PAT, giving DC a commanding 26-0 lead.

The Ironmen, aided by two 15-yard penalties against the Hornets, finally got on the board midway of the second quarter, driving 69 yards in just three big plays.

Quarterback Steven Shaw capped the drive by tossing a 10-yard touchdown pass to split end Allen Stewart.

The two also connected on the two-point conversion, and Holt had closed the gap to 26-8.

James Jones, Jr. continued his stellar night, breaking the first play of the next Hornet drive for 52 yards to answer the Holt score.

Shelton’s PAT made the score 33-8.

Dallas County was not through in the first half, however, as Roosevelt Jones blocked the ensuing Ironmen punt to give DC the ball on the Holt 17.

Jones put the icing on the cake with his fifth touchdown of the half, a two-yard jaunt into paydirt.

Peyton Mullen kicked the PAT, giving Dallas County a 40-8 half-time lead.

Clifford Lyons showed his ability to break the long run with a 70-yard dash on the first play of the second half.

The rout was on as the home team led 46-8.

Running back Randall Browder also got in on the scoring, capping a six-play, 62-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run with 8:27 left in the third.

In a historic moment, Chelsea Chamberlain, the first girl to ever play varsity football at Dallas County, booted the PAT through the uprights to make the score 53-8.

In the fourth quarter, Holt’s Chris Perry scored for the Ironmen on a 21-yard run.

Later, quarterback Shaw connected with Kenneth Harris on a 31-yard scoring pass, to make the score a more respectable 53-22.

In the final drive of the night, back-up running back Rafel Miller carried the load, racking up 60 yards of rushing, and scoring from nine-yards out to give Dallas County the final margin of victory.

Hornet coach Tom Causey gave credit to the visiting Ironmen, &uot;They were scrappy, and they got after us.

Holt played to the very end.&uot;

Concerning his team’s outstanding performance, he gave credit to the conditioning of his players.

He added, &uot;We set the tempo early, and we didn’t turn the ball over as much tonight.&uot;

He gave credit to the offense line for breaking loose his speedy running backs.

With the win, the Hornets move to 2-0.

Their next opponent will be on the road at Fayette County.

Game time is 7:30 p.m.