FERRIDAY — The offensive stats might not seem impressive, but 188 total yards was enough for Ferriday to shut out Northwood-Lena High School, 25-0, in the Trojans’ homecoming game.

Bobby Madison had 11 carries for 113 yards and two touchdowns in the game, and Neico Amado rushed five times for 38 yards, scoring on a fumble return.

The Trojan defense held Northwood to just 16 total yards of offense, with two of the Gators’ leading rushers finishing with negative yardage.

Martavist Eldridge, the Gators’ leading rusher, carried 10 times for 11 yards.

“That’s what we pride ourselves on, good, hard-nosed defense,” said Ferriday coach Freddie Harrison. “Our defensive staff did a real good job of shutting their run down and not giving them too much.”

Trojan quarterback Rodney Lawson completed just one pass for eight yards to Marques Lewis in the first quarter, as Ferriday used an almost total ground assault against the Gators.

But that was not Harrison’s original idea.

“Really, our plan was to come out and try to throw the ball a little bit,” he said. “But some miscues early in the first quarter kind of prevented that. Lack of confidence, so we buckled down and ran the ball as much as we could throughout the game.”

The Trojans scored on their first drive of the game, as Madison ran 19 yards into the end zone.

The two teams went into a stalemate for the rest of the half, and Harrison said he was unimpressed with his team’s play through two quarters.

Madison had 59 yards on six carries in the first half, but no other player had more than 15 yards.

But the Trojans came out more determined after the half, scoring 18 points in the third quarter.

Ferriday forced Northwood to punt on its first drive and, after a 31-yard return by Amado, promptly drove the ball down field for a three-yard score by Madison.

The Trojans got the ball back four downs later, and Amado had a breakthrough carry down the left sideline for a 26-yard touchdown.

On the first play of the Gators’ next drive, Eldridge fumbled a handoff by quarterback Jay Mercer, and Marques Lewis recovered and ran it back seven yards for the final score.

Northwood never even reached the Trojans’ red zone.

“It gives them a lot of confidence knowing that they shut someone out, not allowing any points,” Harrison said. “We didn’t have a good first half, but we saw what we wanted in the third quarter and came out and played. I think we finally rose to the occasion and played well.”