ECRU - New Albany coach Ron Price saw his team go through an early scare Friday night against an aggressive North Pontotoc Vikings club.

However, the Bulldogs used a 20-point fourth quarter to claim a 48-26 victory.

"Our guys were in position," said Price, "but our guys weren't making the plays when they were there. We encouraged them at the half to keep playing, keep playing and good things were going to come to us."

Indeed, two interceptions by North Pontotoc quarterback Brandon Bailey led to New Albany's first 13 points of the fourth quarter.

Kareem Brown caressed the first interception and returned the ball 19 yards to the Viking 21.

Four plays later, Kelvin Worship scored his on a 4-yard run to extend New Albany's lead to 35-26.

Fifteen seconds later, the Bulldogs (9-0, 3-0 Division 1-4A) had the ball in the red zone once again.

After a pick by Zach Hand, Worship added his second touchdown on another four yard run to secure a 41-26 advantage for New Albany.

North Pontotoc turned the ball over on downs at its own 40 yard line at the 4:58 mark in the 4th, and the Bulldogs ate the rest of the clock.

The Bulldogs scored the game's final points on Brown's fourth touchdown of the night - a two yard run - with under a minute left.

Usually a balanced team, New Albany turned to the running game to get past the Vikings (4-4, 0-3).

Worship carried the ball 22 times for 131 yards, while Brown followed suit with 17 carries for 130 yards and three rushing touchdowns (7, 3, 2).

"We came into this week wanting to establish the running game," Price said, "We knew Kareem and Kelvin could run the ball and we're proud of their effort tonight."

Both teams traded scores in the first half and the game entered halftime knotted at 14-14.

For North Pontotoc, Bailey scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak and Shemiah Carter added a 16 yard touchdown run.

New Albany responded when Tyler Basil found Kareem Brown for a six yard scoring pass and Brown's first rushing touchdown.

Both teams traded scores again in the third quarter.

New Albany started things with Josh Creekmore's 25 yard run then added Brown's second rushing touchdown.

Mitchell Cunningham accounted for North Pontotoc's points in the third quarter with touchdown runs of 62 and 13.

However, a blocked extra point and a missed two point conversion helped New Albany retain a 28-26 lead after three quarters.

New Albany visits Shannon next week with the Division 1-4A title on the line, while North Pontotoc travels to Tishomingo County.