WALHALLA — Walhalla High School’s home opener at Razorback Stadium appeared doomed before the game even started Friday night.

While its own quartet was singing the National Anthem, the sound system went out in the stadium so the Pickens High School student body decided to help finish it on its own. As it turned out, the Blue Flame finished off the Razorbacks later on after Walhalla’s explosive offense lost its power in the second half.

Behind Kelby Jones’ 191 rushing yards and three touchdowns, Pickens beat the Razorbacks 43-33.

Walhalla got two late touchdowns – a 3-yard Rob Middleton to John Sharpe pass and a 2-yard Meeshon Thompson run – but it was a little too late as it suffered its first defeat of the season.

The Flame (1-0), who totaled 486 yards, did not punt until the fourth quarter. Prior to that they scored on their first eight offensive possessions.

“The line was blocking great and they were having their way with them,” Jones said. “Coach (Sam) Wyche called the right plays at the right time. We did everything the best we could.”

Walhalla’s players did their best too. The Razorbacks finished the night with 382 yards and were led by Middleton’s 317 passing yards and two touchdowns. Middleton also had one rushing touchdown.

Sharpe led the Razors with eight catches for 117 yards and a score. He also had a rushing touchdown, while Thompson had a 62-yard touchdown reception and rushed for 48 yards. He also had a rushing touchdown of two yards.

Despite the impressive offensive numbers, the Razors had little answers for the Blue Flame offense either, as Pickens rushed for 306 yards and threw for another 180.

“This gives us a big boost,” Jones said. “We knew we were good on offense, but we have to step it up a little bit on defense and if we can do that, then we can do our thing.”

Jones did most of his thing in the first half. The senior tailback rushed for 145 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries before the break. Overall, the Blue Fame had 211 rushing yards and racked up 328 total yards in the opening two quarters.

Jones had touchdown runs of 1 and 2 yards, while Michael Johnson, who also had a 55-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter, scored on a 28-yard pass from quarterback James Lawson. Justin Brown also had a 5-yard scoring run in the opening half.

Walhalla (1-1) answered Jones’ first score when Thompson caught a swing pass from Middleton, broke two tackles and raced 62 yards for the touchdown with 6:19 left in the first quarter. Pickens countered on its next possession with Johnson’s 28-yard scoring pass from Lawson to take a 13-6 lead.

The Razorbacks then went on an impressive 13-play, 80-yard drive, which was capped by Sharpe’s 2-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal. The touchdown drive was setup by a 29-yard Middleton to Tubbs pass play on third down-and-13 from the Blue Flame 32. The played set the ball up at the 3 and Sharpe scored four plays later with 11:57 left in the half.

Pickens took a 20-13 lead moments later when Jones capped a nine-play drive with his second score. He carried the ball eight times for 56 yards on the drive.

Brown upped it to 14 points with 21 seconds left in the half with his 3-yard plunge. That touchdown was setup by a 25-yard pass play from Lawson to Burgess.

For the photo gallery of the Walhalla-Pickens game please go to http://www.upstatetoday.com/gotcha/

Pickens 43, Walhalla 33

PHS 13 14 10 6 — 43

WHS 6 7 6 14 — 33

Scoring Summary

First quarter

PHS — Jones 1 run (kick fail), 6:37

WHS — Thompson 62 pass from Middleton (kick failed), 6:19

PHS — Johnson 28 pass from Lawson (Anderson kick), 4:38

Second quarter

WHS — Sharpe 2 run (Metz kick), 11:57

PHS — Jones 2 run (Anderson kick), 8:49

PHS — Brown 5 run (Anderson kick), 0:21

Third quarter

WHS — Middleton 3 run (run failed), 9:27

PHS — Jones 5 run (Anderson kick), 5:48

PHS — Anderson 22 kick, 2:11

Fourth quarter

PHS — Johnson 55 pass from Lawson (kick failed), 10:11

WHS — Sharpe 3 pass from Middleton (Thompson run), 6:43

WHS — Thompson 2 run (pass failed), 1:18