By Jared Redding

OLIVE BRANCH — It didn’t take long for the ‘Dores to take care of business Thursday night.

Lafayette used a well rounded blend of offense, defense, and special teams to defeat the Lewisburg Patriots 35-6 and improve to 2-1 in Region 1-5A play.

“I loved our effort tonight,” head coach Michael Fair said. “It was exceptionable. We had a great week of practice. We talked all week about our focus and. I loved the way we came out and took care of business early.

A shortened week proved to be no issue according to Fair.

“We compressed everything into three days instead of four,” Fair said. “The kids handled it real well this week in practice. We were real physical in practice with full gear, which is not very common. Then to come out and perform like this was real good.”

Lafayette scored on their first four possessions, including two touchdowns in 13 seconds. Their opening drive resulted in a Lance Stewart from six yards out. On the ensuing kickoff, the Patriot returner muffed the ball and Lafayette’s Quinshun Twilley recovered. Twilley also scored a five yard touchdown the following play.

The Commodores also had scores from Jamie Shaw on the ground and Andrew Robinson through the air in the first half. The lone score in the second half for Lafayette came from Ky Woodall on a punt return.

“He’s always a threat when he catches it,” Fair said. “He works real hard at it. We set up a good return for him tonight and he made the most of it. He’s a good player for us and senior who’s been around us a while, real good skill player.”

Lafayette has now allowed 27 points in region play. They held a shutout for 45 minutes in this game.

“Our defense is running to the ball,” Fair said. “That is something we preach every single day. We are honing in on fundamentals and what got us to this point.”

Up next for the Commodores is a region matchup with the Grenada Chargers next week at William L. Buford Stadium.