A bus breakdown Friday night turned out to be only the beginning of Dixies problems and a harbinger of things to come.

After finally arriving at Landrum, the Hornets were met by a LHS team in need of a cure for two weeks of anemic offensive output, and Dixie proved to be just that.

The Cardinals opened the game, which was delayed for nearly 30 minutes due to Dixies travel travails, with a 93-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Cannon to wideout Tyler Logan on their first offensive play from scrimmage and cruised to a 54-21 rout of visiting Dixie.

It was a tail-whupping in every phase of the game, said Dixie head coach Brian Gamble. And when you get your tail whupped like that, youve got to come back and go to work harder, and thats what were going to do.

LHS running back Peyton McCarter scored on runs of 7 and 11 yards, while halfback Cole McDowell added a 13-yard touchdown run, Cannon a 14-yard touchdown scramble and fullback Derek Belue a 1-yard scoring plunge as the Cardinals (2-2) jumped out to a 41-7 lead by halftime.

It was an impressive offensive display by LHS, which had scored only one offensive touchdown over the previous eight quarters both losses to Chesnee and Polk County.

Our kids have worked hard and our staff has worked really hard to correct the mistakes that weve been making the last couple of weeks, said Landrum head coach Russell Mahaffey. I cant say enough about how hard everybody has worked to turn this around.

The Cardinals had rolled up 241 rushing yards by halftime and Cannon had thrown for another 160 yards for 401 yards from scrimmage before intermission. By the end of the game, Landrum had rolled up 391 rushing and 176 passing yards for 567 yards of total offense.

We got beat up front on both sides of the ball, said Gamble.

Mahaffey said the Cardinals wanted to set the tone early and the long pass from Cannon to Logan helped put the Hornets on their heels from the outset.

We talked to the boys before we came down to the field about getting on it at the beginning and keeping the pressure on, he said. We wanted to set the tone.

Two Dixies scores came from big running plays with the game out of hand. Freshman running back Anfernee Donald took a direct snap and raced 64 yards for a second-quarter score and Tyri Collier added a 44-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.

Dixie leading rusher Ty Hawthorne, who came into the game with more than 440 yards rushing on the season, was held to a team-high 65 yards on 13 carries. Collier added 57 yards on 10 carries for the Hornets (1-3). The Hornets were held to 195 rushing yards on the night and 242 yards of total offense.

McDowell ran 11 times for 143 yards to lead the Cardinals, while Cannon added 99 rushing yards to 176 yards on 8 of 12 passing.

Most of Landrums starters sat out the fourth quarter. Dailynn Hill, a receiver and backup running back, ran for a 12-yard touchdown and freshman quarterback Aaron Bryant added a score for the Cardinals in the fourth quarter as the reserves took over.

Hill finished with 35 yards on five carries, while freshman JoJo Wilkins added 37 yards on five rushes, including a 38-yard scamper on his first varsity carry.

Notebook

Landrums victory ended a two-game losing skid for the Cardinals. . . . LHS (2-2) heads to winless Liberty (0-4) this Friday night. The Class 2A Red Devils, who are giving up an average of 44 points per game this season, are coming off a 41-27 home loss to Blacksburg. . . . This weeks game is the Cardinals final non-conference matchup of the season. LHS opens its Region II-1A schedule Oct. 4 with a visit to Whitmire. . . . After a week off, Polk County (4-0), ranked No. 5 in Class 2A, opens its Western Highlands Conference schedule at Madison (3-1) this Friday. In non-conference play, WHC teams finished a combined 22-9 with three of those losses coming from winless Thomas Jefferson Academy (0-3).Landrum 54, Dixie 21

Score by quarter

Dixie&bsp; 0&bsp;&bsp; 7&bsp;&bsp; 7&bsp;&bsp; 7&bsp; – 21

Landrum&bsp;&bsp; 21&bsp;&bsp; 20&bsp;&bsp; 7&bsp;&bsp; 6&bsp; – 54

First quarter

L Tyler Logan 93 pass from Brandon Cannon (Stephen Doar kick), 9:34

L Cannon 14 run (Doar kick), 4:47

L Peyton McCarter 7 run (Doar kick), 1:55

Second quarter

L Cole McDowell 13 run (kick blocked), 9:47

D Anfernee Donald 64 run (Anthony Di Benedetto kick), 8:21

L McCarter 11 run (Doar kick), 5:36

L Derek Belue 1 run (Doar kick), 1:43

Third quarter

L Dailynn Hill 12 run (Doar kick), 3:09

D Chandler Thompson 19 pass from Jordan Hall (Di Benedetto kick), :00

Fourth quarter

L Aaron Bryant 2 run (kick blocked), 5:54

D Tyri Collier 44 run (Di Benedetto kick), 3:06

Rushing: Dixie Collier 10-57, Hawthorne 13-65, Hall 3-(minus-4), Donald 2-64, Owens 1-10, Thompson 1-3. Landrum McDowell 11-143, Cannon 8-99, McCarter 8-50, Belue 1-1, Hill 5-35, Wilkins 5-37, A. Bryant 3-17.

Passing: Dixie Hall 2-6-0-47. Landrum Cannon 8-12-1-176.

Receiving: Dixie Devore 1-28, Thompson 1-19. Landrum Logan 2-96, McDowell 2-30, McCarter 3-31, Clark Edmonds 1-19.