IROQUOIS — The first home game played in Iroquois in many years turned into a rout by the visiting team as the Hitchcock-Tulare Patriots jumped out early and held on for a victory over the Iroquois/Lake Preston Sharks Thursday.

The Patriots took the opening kickoff and meticulously drove down the field for a score to take the initial lead on a Blaze Binger touchdown run. After a pair of empty possessions, the Sharks turned over the ball to the Patriots, and on the first play of the ensuing drive, Hitchcock-Tulare punched it in for another touchdown on a long run by Payton Chasing Hawk.

Binger headed off tackle with 4:11 left in the first half for a 58-yard touchdown run, giving Hitchcock-Tulare a 24-0 lead, which was the score at half.

A big pass play from Lucas Peskey to Ervin Carter got the Sharks into the red zone on their first possession of the second half, and Peskey punched it in for a touchdown, though the Sharks missed the 2-point conversion, making it 24-6 in favor of the Patriots.

The Patriots answered, punching it in the end zone after another long Binger run got them first-and-goal. The two-point run was stopped, giving Hitchcock-Tulare a 30-6 lead. Neither team scored in the final period.

Hitchcock-Tulare moves to 1-1 behind 229 yards on 24 carries by Blaze Binger with two touchdowns and a two-point conversion run. He also had a catch for eight yards.

Payton Chasing Hawk took over for starter Patrick Maynard at quarterback for the Patriots, completing three of seven for 12 yards and running four times for 36 yards and a touchdown.

The Sharks fall to 1-1. Peskey had 52 yards on 6-of-12 passing while also running 21 times for 75 yards and a touchdown.

Ben Curd ran 12 times for 23 yards and caught a pair of passes for eight yards for Iroquois/Lake Preston. Carter had two receptions for 41 yards.

The Sharks will travel to Canistota on Friday, Sept. 6 and the Patriots will travel to Northwestern Saturday, Sept. 7.

Hitchcock-Tulare 16 8 6 0 — 30
Iroquois/Lake Preston 0 0 6 0 — 6

Scoring summary
1st quarter

2nd quarter
HT - Binger 58-yard TD run. (Johnson 2-pt run)

3rd quarter
ILP - Lucas Peskey 2-yard TD run. (2-pt run failed)
HT - Johnson 5-yard TD run. (2-pt run failed)