Marlin Jones Jr. ran for four touchdowns as Huntsville beat Albertville 36-7 on Thursday night to stay in contention in Class 7A, Region 4.

The junior scored on runs of 3, 5, 11 and 34 yards for the host Panthers (3-3, 2-2). After a scoreless first quarter, the Panthers led 24-7 at halftime at Milton Frank Stadium.

Sims Bowman kicked three field goals – 34, 34 and 36 yards – and put four kickoffs through the end zone.

The Aggies (0-6, 0-4) scored on a 45-yard interception return by Hunter Smith in the second quarter.

“We won and that was the big thing,” Huntsville coach Mark Fleetwood said. “I wish we’d have been a little bit more focused earlier. We made some mistakes offensively when we could’ve gone up. But I think they came back and got on track and I’m proud of the way we ran the ball tonight. I was really proud of our field goal kicker, too.”

Play of the game: Jones scored on his 34-yard run at 5:48 in the third quarter, capping a 64-yard drive in eight plays, all runs by Jones. This put the Panthers up 30-7.

Stat sheet: Huntsville – Jones had 30 carries for 169 yards and four touchdowns and two catches for seven yards. Defensive tackle Tyric Hinton made two sacks. Albertville – Quarterback Carlos Zuniga, an eighth grader, went out with a collarbone injury in the fourth quarter and may be lost for the year.

By the numbers: 413 – Huntsville total yards on 222 rushing and 191 passing. 163 – Albertville total yards on 21 rushing and 142 passing. 3 – Albertville turnovers on interceptions. 2 – Huntsville turnovers on interceptions. 0 – punts by Huntsville. 11 – Panthers wins in 16 games all-time against the Aggies.

Game ball: Jones scored four touchdowns in a game for the first time, topping his previous high of three.

Coachspeak: “We’re 2-2 in the region with three region games coming up in a row. It keeps us in the hunt. Now we’re in control of our own destiny so we’ve got to take them one game at a time.” – Fleetwood.

“We’re just so young. We start four sophomore offensive linemen, two of them can’t bench 150 pounds. And an eighth-grade quarterback who’s probably done for the season. One thing about us, we play hard. We’re just looking for a win. We played four tough teams in our region right out the gate.” – Albertville first-year coach Bert Browne.

They said it: “I feel I did pretty good. We started off slow, but we picked up the pace in the second half. We came through and we finished so we came strong. My O-line upfront, they did their job and I couldn’t have gotten my touchdowns without them.” – Jones.

“We started off strong and did our jobs.” – Hinton.

Next week: In 7A, Region 4, Albertville will host Grissom while Huntsville hosts Florence.