It was a chance, but a slim one.

Maybe, just maybe, the Ledford Panthers would stroll into Ludwig Stadium looking past the Hornets. Friday night’s game at Salisbury was meaningless for both teams, while everything was on the line next week for Ledford — a clash against heated rival High PointCentral for the 2ACentral CarolinaConference’s last playoff spot.

But Dickie Cline’s Panthers are a very business-like group, he said, and above that whole “looking ahead”thing. All Ledford looked for in Salisbury was the end zone, finding it seven times in a 48-13 win.

“It was business as usual all week,”Cline said. “We worked extremely hard to prepare for Salisbury and gave them the utmost respect.”

The Hornets appreciated that gesture, especially the 16 seniors appearing in their final game. Senior Night didn’t start well, and there was no storybook ending. But Salisbury head coach Raymond Daugherty was pleased with his seniors who, after winning just two games over the last three seasons, finished 3-8 this season and won their first conference game since 1998.

“As a whole this season, not great. Good, a lot of improvements,”Daugherty said. “But we’ve still got a ways to go.”

Ledford (8-2 overall, 4-1 CCC) showed that early and often. The Panthers marched 52 yards on eight plays on their first possession, running at will and scoring on Jared Hall’s 10-yard pass to Stan Smith.

A Hornet fumble near midfield set up the Panthers’ next score, which took just more than a minute to cover the 40 yards to the end zone.

“We knew coming in they were a super offensive team and they were going to be tough to stop,”Daugherty said. “A lot of things we did were just to keep the football away from them.”

Salisbury’s four-minute drive on the next possession kept Hall and Ledford’s big running backs on the bench, but didn’t put points on the scoreboard thanks to a goal-line interception.

The Hornet defense finally held, though, forcing a punt — or so everyone thought — on fourth-and-5 from Ledford’s own 6-yard line. But Hall stepped up from punt formation, grabbed the snap and passed out into the flat, where the ball was dropped.

“If he’d caught it, he’d probably have run for another 30, 40 yards,”Cline said. “They only had one guy covering on both sides. We’ve done it all year and it’s worked every time except tonight.

“If the numbers are right, we do it. Jared has the flexibility to call it. I know it made me look like a dummy down there, but it’s been good all year.”

Salisbury’s stunned offense trotted back onto the field and wasted little time taking advantage of the gift. Senior Ken Drye bulled up the middle for the 6-yard score and Michael Glasgow, another senior, hit the extra point to cut the lead in half in the final minute of the first quarter.

That one-play mini-drive didn’t do the keep-away strategy any favors. Ledford drove 47 yards in seven plays to make it 21-7 at the 10:08 mark of the second quarter, then ran off 52 yards in five plays following a Hornet fumble to extend the lead to 21 points less than three minutes later.

Hall’s 55-yard completion to Josh Massey set up Brennan Duncan’s 5-yard TD scamper that cemented a 35-7 halftime advantage.

Through 24 minutes, Ledford’s offense racked up 290 yards compared to Salisbury’s 131. The surprise on the Panther side was that the running backs, Duncan and GarlandRouth, did nearly as much damage as Hall, the record-setting QB.

“I think our running game gets overshadowed a little bit because of the numbers Jared’s put up,”Cline said. “It’s good to have both because it makes it that much tougher to defense.”

Duncan finished with 116 yards on 20 carries, while Routh tallied 71 on eight tries. Hall took it easy in the second half and settled on 13-for-18 for 188 yards. His third TDtoss came late in the third quarter.

“They have a real smooth quarterback,”Drye said. “They have an all-around good team.”

The Hornets closed out the season on one good note, at least. The final scoring drive covered 62 yards on 10 plays, with Drye running hard on three carries and catching an 8-yarder from QBJerome Allison that set up the touchdown. Jamel Alexander took off around the left side of the line from 11 yards out to cap Salisbury’s scoring for the year.

“We didn’t play very well early, and when that happens, you get whipped,”Daugherty said. “At halftime we talked a lot about pride, and I’m really pleased with the second-half effort. It’s a credit to our kids that they came out and played the way they did.”

Still, tears were evident after the Hornets lined up for the hand shake and met in the huddle one more time.

“This whole week has been hard for me,”Drye said. “You know you only have one game left in high school.” 

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NOTES: Drye’s final game was a good one. In addition to being in on almost every tackle, he finished with 110 yards rushing on 17 carries. … Hall set the single-season TD passingrecord with his 23rd Friday night. Just as impressive, Duncan went over the 1,000-yard rushing plateau, making it eight straight years that the Panthers had a back reach that mark.