TURNER — Here is some unsolicited advice for future opponents of the Leavitt Hornets. It may be best not to pad your stats the week before facing them, unless you want to get the defense’s attention.

Last week, Camden Hills senior quarterback Collin Downs ran for 276 yards and six touchdowns in the Windjammers’ 60-28 win over Nokomis. Facing the defending Class B state champions in their home opener Friday night, he ran for eight yards and never came close to the end zone.

Instead, it was Leavitt’s Jordan Hersom and Jake Ouellette who put up the big rushing numbers in the Hornets’ 42-13 victory.

Equal billing went to the Hornets’ defense, though. Leavitt outgained Camden Hills, 398-170 on the night, but only 64 of Camden’s yards and none of its points came against the starters.

Seniors Max Cloutier and Zach Frost harassed Downs in the backfield, collecting two sacks apiece out of five total for the Hornets.

“We knew he was going to be very fast and pretty much 75 to 80 percent of their plays were going go to him running around the corner,” Cloutier said. “Our ends, Zach Frost and Dylan Moore, did a good job of containing him so me, Jesse (Pelletier) and James (Morin) could make some tackles.”

Five of Downs’ 11 carries went for zero or negative yardage. Most of his positive carries were for 1-to-3 yards. His longest run was for 21 yards, but even that was costly because he injured his hip on a late hit out of bounds.  He missed the final six plays of the first half, then returned for the start of the second half.

“All practice we worked on a triangle drill in which the ends mostly try to keep outside contain,” Frost said. “We tried to keep him inside and give our linebackers time to go over the top and make the tackle.”

Camden Hills (1-1) had little success tackling Leavitt’s ball carriers, particularly Hersom (13 rushes, 115 yards, two TDs) and Ouellette (11 rushes, 101 yards, TD).

The Hornets (2-0) stayed on the ground during a seven-play drive on their first possession. Ian Durgin took an option pitch from Hersom and ran it in from six yards for a 7-0 lead 6:11 into the contest.

On Leavitt’s next series, Downs made a nice interception on Hersom’s first pass attempt, but two false-start penalties and a delay of game pinned the Windjammers back to their own four. On 3rd-and-21, Downs tried to roll out to his right in his own end zone, but was quickly met by Frost for a safety that made it 9-0 at the end of the first quarter.

“They have excellent lateral speed and they still have good inside players,” Camden Hills coach Linwood Downs said. “Their line is a strong line. I’ve got some big linemen, but we’re still learning.”

Jason Fisher returned the ensuing free kick 26 yards to Camden’s 35, and the Hornets needed just two plays, a 22-yard run by Oscar Rodriguez and a 13-yard run by Hersom, to make it 15-0. Hersom ran a sweep around the left side, turned the corner and took a hit that sent him airborne as he headed for the pylon. He was still was able to reach the ball across the plane of the goal-line before landing out of bounds.

The Hornets went on their longest drive of the first half, 71 yards in 11 running plays, to take a 22-0 lead into halftime. Hersom capped it with a 6-yard TD run.

Leavitt rolled up 362 yards on the ground on the night. The offensive line of Frost, Cloutier, Pelletier, Morin, and Devin McMahan is not nearly as big as last year’s dominant unit, but it has the foot quickness to get out in front of speedy runners like Hersom and can still push the defense downfield.

“Those guys are physical, and they’re quicker than last year so it’s actually opened up a few things for us offensively,” Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway said. “We might not be as strong in there, but those guys get after it.”

After Ouellette’s 11-yard TD run opened the second half, the Hornets opened up the passing game a little with late in the third quarter. Hersom’s only completion in four attempts on the night was a beautifully-thrown 36-yard TD to Kurtis Brown on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Camden Hills broke through against Leavitt’s reserves with a couple of touchdowns in the fourth quarter by Jacob Powers (16 carries, 104 yards). Brian Bedard added a 3-yard TD run for Leavitt.