MAUMELLE -- Maumelle Coach Michael Horton said senior Jessie Knight asked for it.
And he got it. And so did the Beebe Badgers.
Knight, who has been a standout for the Hornets on special teams and defense, saw his first duty of the season on offense Friday night and ran for 141 yards and had two touchdowns to lead Maumelle to a 35-17 victory.over the Badgers in a 5A-Central contest Friday night.
The victory ended a four-game losing streak.
"No. 20 (Knight) is a spark plug,'' said Horton. "He is a heck of a player. He is on every special team, he is a dynamic safety and he plays a little outside linebacker in certain packages. He has become a locker room leader and he just came to us and said 'coach I used to run the ball and I really want to help the team' and I said well we will give it a look.
"We started him on Monday and he has picked up a whole lot."
Knight, who had an 82-yard punt return erased by a holding penalty, scored on runs of 2 and 17 yards as the Hornets (2-4, 1-1) erased a 3-0 Beebe lead in the first half.
Jeffett Rodriquez gave the Badgers (1-4, 0-2) the lead on a 38-yard field goal in the second quarter. Knight followed with his scoring runs to take control of the game.
Zach Grant hit talented senior Adrian Carranco on a 68-yard touchdown as Beebe cut it to 14-10 but junior Weston Pierce hit Cayden Mcgee with a 24-yard touchdown pass for a 21-10 Maumelle lead at the half.
"I thought we stunk up the joint in the first half on offense,'' Horton said. "We've been a second half team on offense and it was again today. I'd really like to put together a full game offensively. Our defense shows up time and time again and we had to lean on them quite a bit. They get tired in the first half."
It was 28-10 after Pierce and Mcgee struck again.
At quarterback, Carranco connected with Caleb Perkins on a 39-yard score to pull Beebe to within 28-17.
Candler Jordan scored on a 4-yard run with 3:56 left for a 35-17 final.