Dallas County’s defense picked off five passes from three different Bibb County quarterbacks Friday night to give the Hornets (3-2) a 27-7 victory over the Choctaws (3-3).

Dallas County head coach Marty Smith said his team finally stepped up to the challenge.

“We finally stepped up and played against a good football team, and we haven’t don’t that around here in a long time,” Smith said as his team celebrated the win.

“Were we perfect tonight? No. We’ve still got a lot of growing to do, but the thing is my guys are starting to understand what we need to accomplish in order to beat a good football team.”

Both teams ended their first possession of the night with a punt, but the Hornets got things going offensively with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Lane Wallace to Darrell Moorer, putting Dallas County up 7-0 with 4:42 left in the first quarter.

Bibb County finally answered back, as Jerry Wooley got into the end zone on a sweep to the left side, knotting the game up at 7-7 in the second quarter with 8:47 left on the clock.

Dallas County responded with a 64-yard touchdown pass from Wallace to Calvin Starks. The extra point was no good, giving the Hornets a 13-7 lead late in the second quarter.

Both teams traded interceptions to end the first half. Thomas Kendrick picked off Bibb County’s Matthew Hiott, and Erin Heard picked off Dallas County’s Wallace in the end zone. Heard’s pick kept the Hornets from taking a two touchdown lead into the locker room.

The Hornets’ defense came up big in the second half, accounting for four interceptions. On Bibb County’s first possession in the third quarter, Javarrius Dudley was able to pick off a pass from Hiott.

The next interception for the Hornets came from Anthony Oliver, who picked off a Markise Leverette pass and took it the distance for six points. Delando Atchison ran in the two-point conversion to give Dallas County a 21-7 lead with 2:13 left in the third.

“We were fortunate enough to get up on them pretty early and get some momentum going our way, and we were able to force them in to doing some things that they re not used to doing and they are not accustomed to doing,” Smith said.

“We made them have to nickel and dime it down the field, and [Oliver] was able to step up and make some key plays to put us in position to keep the field on their side.”

Starks picked up his second score of the night with 11:51 left in the game, giving the Hornets a sizeable 20-point cushion.

Oliver and Quincy Parker ended any hope of a comeback for Bibb County, as they picked off Ronnie Fondren, who was the third player to throw a pass for the Choctaws.

“I think some of it was we just missed our guy. We had some guys open and we overthrew some balls, made some wrong reads here and there, but hats off to Dallas County because their defense did a great job of containing us and covering us down,” said Bibb County head coach Matt Geohagan.

Smith was pleased with beating a strong opponent, but knows there is still room for improvement with his team.

“They’re very well coached, they’re disciplined, and we’ve just got to continue to do the little things to get better,” Smith said.

Dallas County plays on the road next Friday night against Central Tuscaloosa, while Bibb County will go back home to play Greensboro.