By Josh Preston
Hammond Daily Star

AMITE — There’s a lot of hype surrounding Amite as the 2016 season begins and the Warriors put on a show in front of their home crowd Friday night, defeating Franklinton 48-13 in their first game of the season.
Louisiana Tech commit Elijah Walker finished with 253 yards of total offense from his quarterback spot and accounted for five touchdowns in the game.
The senior went to work early, scoring three rushing touchdowns on the ground in the first half and also threw a strike to the highly-touted Devonta Smith for a 17-yard touchdown. The throw over the middle gave Amite a 36-6 lead with 2:42 to go until halftime and the Warriors coasted the rest of the way for the victory.
It was clear Amite was anxious to take the field after being forced to forfeit their Week 1 matchup against St. Helena due to LHSAA sanctions stemming from last year’s playoff “brawl” against Bogalusa. Smith said the Warriors wanted to announce themselves as contenders for the Class 3A state championship.
“We were really focused,” Smith said. “We didn’t get to play last week so we felt like we had to make a statement. We want the whole state of Louisiana to know Amite is coming.”
The first half was all Amite as the Warriors scored touchdowns on five of their six possessions and they were in Franklinton territory when time expired in the first half on their last drive. Their scoring drives covered 69, 74, 32, 35 and 55 yards and Walker ran for touchdowns of 1, 8 and 3 yards. The other rushing score came courtesy of a 17-yard run by running back Milton Sanders, which put Amite up 16-0 with 5:15 left in the first.
Franklinton put together its best drive of the night on its third possession when the Demons marched 63 yards on 12 plays led by quarterback Tahj Magee. The junior accounted for all but two of the 63 yards on the drive and capped off the possession with a 4-yard run to cut the score to 30-6, following the failed two-point conversion, with 6:50 left until halftime.
“I’m going to give credit where credit is due,” Amite coach Zepheniah Powell said. “(Magee) for Franklinton is a hell of a football player. Defensively, we missed him a whole bunch tonight so we’ve got to tackle better.”
Magee shook loose again in the fourth quarter for Franklinton’s final score when he outraced the Amite defense for a 62-yard touchdown. The play came on the Demons’ first play from scrimmage, following a 21-yard touchdown reception by Amite’s Devonta Lee on a fade route from Walker early in the fourth quarter.
The last touchdown of the day came when Deandrae Gordon scooped up an attempted onside kick by Franklinton and returned it 48 yards to make it 48-13 with 7:27 left in the game. Neither team got on the board in the third quarter with a running clock in effect.
Amite improved to 1-1 on the season while Franklinton fell to 0-2.
The Warriors will travel to Kentwood next week and Franklinton will also be on the road against Bogalusa.