AHOSKIE – The game was even in total yardage – but that’s about the only place.

Hertford County remained perfect on the gridiron in 2009 with an impressive 54-10 win over Western Alamance here last night (Friday).

Petey Boone paced the Bears with five touchdown passes and had 202 yards passing on the evening while Michael Stephenson also paced the Bears on the ground with 95 yards on five carries.

The win sets up a showdown next week when the Bears (13-0) host Havelock in the third round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3-A playoffs.

Last night’s contest didn’t start as the blowout it ended up being, however.

HCHS did get on the board first when Petey Boone connected with Stephenson on a 10-yard pass at the 7:06 mark of the first quarter. The play capped a 12-play, 52-yard drive. Brandon Warren added the PAT and the Bears led 7-0.

Western Alamance came right back, however, going 69 yards on seven plays. Dominique Bridges had the six-yard pass to B.J. Dunn to get the Warriors on the board. Kevin Lewis added the extra point and the game was deadlocked at 7-all with 5:35 to play.

That was the last time the game would be close.

Hertford County scored again less than two minutes later when Boone found Stephenson again on a 59-yard strike. The kick failed, but the Bears were ahead 13-7.

Stephenson then picked off a Warrior pass and gave HCHS possession on the Warrior 39-yardline.

It took the Bears just two plays to find the endzone. Ron Gatling picked up five yards on first down and then Boone delivered his third touchdown pass of the night when he hooked up with Monterio Hunter on a 34-yard scoring strike. Boone found Dontez Tyler on the two-point conversion and the Bears led 21-7.

HCHS scored just one minute later when, after forcing a Western Alamance punt, Stephenson scampered 83 yards to paydirt. The Warren extra point gave the Bears a 28-7 lead with 48 seconds to play in the first quarter.

The Bears didn’t add to the lead until late in the second period when Boone connected with Stephenson on a 16-yard score. The pass capped a three-play, 44-yard drive. Also key on the drive was a 23-yard completion from Boone to Hunter.

The extra point failed, but HCHS led 34-7 with 1:26 to play in the first half. They took that same lead into the locker room.

Tyler gave the Bears their next score with 6:13 to play in the third quarter when he picked off a Western Alamance pass and rumbled 25 yards to paydirt. Warren added the conversion to give HCHS a commanding 41-7 lead.

The next HCHS score was also set up by an interception, this one by Lamar Eason. The ‘pick’ gave the Bears possession on the Western Alamance 11-yardline. Boone connected with Darnell Vaughan from that point to provide the score. Warren added the PAT and the Bears led 48-7 with 4:54 to play in the third quarter.

The Warriors finally got back on the board with 57 ticks left on the third quarter clock. Lewis connected on a 40-yard field goal to close the gap to 48-10. The kick capped a 10-play drive for Western.

Hertford County got their final score of the night with 8:30 remaining in the contest. Aaron Thomas capped a 10-play, 52-yard drive with a two-yard plunge. The kick failed, but the Bears had a comfortable 54-10 lead.

Western put together another drive after the score, but it again ended with an interception when Cedric Bland picked off a Warrior pass. That capped the six-pick game for the Bears.

The only down side of the game came when Gatling, the second-leading rusher on the team, was injured in the third quarter.

The Bears, however, will go forward another round as they kept first-year Head Football Coach Scott Privott unbeaten in his maiden season at the helm of his alma mater.

HCHS will host Havelock at 7:30 p.m. Friday night with a trip to the Eastern Finals on the line.