Priceville quarterback Kaleb Barker runs the ball again Locust Fork. The Bulldogs won the contest . | Special to the Enquirer

The title “Region Champions” sounds very good to Priceville.  Winning 8 games in a season is new territory, and that is not to mention being undefeated and ranked #6 in the state.
This senior led bunch was hoping for these honors, but the Locust Fork Hornets came to Priceville to wreck those plans, if possible.  They executed a great game plan, to keep Priceville on the defensive, literally on defense more than 3/4 of the total 48 minutes in the game.
The Hornets would receive the opening kickoff and be forced to punt after 5 plays, giving the momentum to the powerful Bulldog offense.  Priceville would fly down the field with sharp passes from Kaleb Barker to Austin Smith and Heath Mann, mixed with snappy runs from Aaron Cartee.  The Bulldogs first possession would stop abruptly with a bad snap that caused a turnover.
The first quarter would end with Locust Fork grinding out a long drive that carried over into the second quarter. The Hornets would score and convert on a 2-point conversion to lead 8-0.
The Bulldogs would take what precious time they were given and capitalize quickly. In about 50 seconds, Kaleb Barker and Aaron Cartee would race down the field.  Aaron Cartee would score from the 2 and also run in the 2 point conversion attempt to tie the score 8-8.
Again the Hornets would drive down the field eating up the second quarter clock.  After a dozen plays, the Bulldogs would stop them with a broken up pass by Kyle Haynes in the Priceville end zone.
This time it would take the Bulldogs 2 minutes to score, with a good mix of run and pass, scoring on a 40-yard pass from Barker to Haynes.  The 2 point conversion would fail making the score 14-8.  This would be the last scoring drive before the half.
The second half started like the first, taking less than 2 minutes for Priceville to score.  Again the Hornets would score making it a 4-point game, 20-16 Priceville.

Priceville would hold Locust Fork to a 3 and out to end the third quarter and might have been the turning point of the game, or it seemed that way.
Priceville’s Kaleb Barker, who was 9-10 passing for 196 yards on the night, would crank up the offense and march down the field with a big pass play to Kyle Haynes, just one of his four catches for 124 yards.  Aaron Cartee would carry the ball to the 12, when Barker would throw an interception in the Hornets end zone.
Midway through the fourth, the Locust Fork team would begin what might look like a go ahead drive.  The Bulldogs defense would rise up again, with huge plays by Ramsey Rey, Austin Powers, Kyle Haynes and Kaleb Barker.  On a 3rd down and 6 at midfield, Barker would make a tackle for a loss.  The Hornets would go for it on 4th down, only to be stopped by Hunter Huckaby and Michael Morris.
Priceville would take the opportunity and score moments later after a couple of great runs by Aaron Cartee, who carried 14 times for 127 yards.   Steven Vo would come in and take the ball, scoring from 2 yards out.  Priceville failed with the two-point conversion and the score would stand 26-14 with 6 minutes left in the game.
Locust Fork would not go away with out a fight and made runs down to the 35 yard line of Priceville.  The Hornets would surprise the Bulldogs with a pass for a score and would also convert on the 2 point play to make it 26-22.  As expected, the Hornets would execute an on-side kick and get the perfect bounce off a Priceville player.  With 4 minutes on the clock and one time out in their pocket, the Hornets would slowly drive down the field from the Bulldogs 35 yard line.

Run after run, they drove down to the Priceville 9 when they took a timeout with 17 seconds on the clock.  The final play was a 4th down and 3 from the 9, when the Hornets would try to surprise the dogs again with a pass that was tipped away by Kaleb Barker.
Priceville would run out the clock in the victory formation, sealing the Region title.
Priceville will play their last region game at DAR this Friday at 7 pm.