FAIRHOPE — In the history books, pirates were the bad guys and patriots were the good guys.

Thursday night on a rain-drenched W.C. Majors Field, Fairhope’s Pirates weren’t looking all that good at halftime against Linden’s Patriots, but they intentionally went aground in the second half for four touchdowns that turned an 18-14 halftime deficit into a 41-18 whipping.

In a game that was added late in the summer to fill open dates on each team’s schedule, the 1A Patriots used a consistent running game to control the clock and overcome Fairthope’s 14-6 lead with two touchdowns in the final 2:10 of a frantic second quarter that followed a scoreless first period.

The second stanza featured five touchdowns in nine possessions by the two teams, including Linden’s carry-over from the first quarter that resulted in the game.s first points. The Patriots took a 6-0 lead on Kornelius Fountain’s 17-yard touchdown run, fell behind 14-6, then rallied for the halftime lead with a short 18-yard drive after the second of back-to-back interceptions of FHS sophomore quarterback Daryl Norris.

Linden rolled up 248 yards rushing in the first half, but the Pirates shut down the Patriots’ runners for most of the second half. With a steady rain falling, Fairhope resorted to its own ground game to take control and improve to 5-3 on the season.

Fairhope head coach Mark Lasseter gave much of the credit for the win to defensive coordinator David Stapleton and his staff on that side of the football for the second-half comeback.

“Coach Stapleton and our defensive staff did a really good job adjusting at the half,” Lasseter said. “They (Linden) were doing some things to us and really giving us a hard time and we couldn’t get them slowed down.”

“We just had to stop that buck-sweep,” Stapleton said.

His defense did its part, holding Linden to minus-16 yards rushing in the third quarter and 47 in the second half. A high punt snap on the Patriots’ first second-half punt also helped, resulting in a 23-yard loss that set up Fairhope’s first touchdown of the second half.

The Patriots’ punting game also hurt the visitors. Their next three punts went just 10, 16 and 16 yards, the last one after Fairhope’s Joshua Dees got a hand on it.

The Pirates’ four second-half touchdown drives covered just 37, 42, 37 and 42 yards and took only three, two, four and seven plays respectively. Sophomore running back Arnold Woodyard, who finished with 258 yards rushing on just 13 carries and had non-scoring first-half runs of 94 and 40 yards, put Fairhope ahead to stay with a 19-yard touchdown run around left end with 7:28 left in the third quarter.

Woodyard, who scored three second-half touchdowns, turned left end again for a 24-yard touchdown with 2:12 left in the third quarter. Senior Tylin Williams, who added 92 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 13 carries, went 3 yards up the middle for the next six pointer with 16.3 seconds left in the third quarter, then Woodyard finished off the second-half scoring with another left-end run from 12 yards out with 7:54 to play.

The visitors, with the help of a fumbled snap by Norris, turned back Fairhope’s game-opening possession that carried from the FHS 20 to Linden’s 38, resulting in a 7-yard punt. The Pats’ ill-fated drive followed. Woodyard’s 90-yard ramble on first down and the first of three Norris interception came next.

Gary Williams made the pick in the end zone, then Linden marched 80 yards in 12 plays to the first of Fountain’s three touchdowns and 17 of his 213 yards rushing on 21 carries. Fountain scored with 839 left in the first quarter but James Martin missed the extra point.

After Woodyard returned the kickoff 29 yards to his 36, he broke off his 40-yard run on first down, then Williams dashed 22 yard to the 6 and scored off the right side on the next play..

Benjamin Clester put Fairhope ahead with the first of five straight extra points. A bad snap after the final FHS touchdown resulted in his last kick being blocked.

Three series of three-plays-and-punt followed, then Fairhope covered 75 yards in just four plays to score again. Norris, who suffered a minor hip-pointer injury in later the second quarter, connected with Brian Richardson for a 34-yard touchdown with 2:25 left in the first half. Norris and Cody Duke also hooked up for a 32-yard gain on the second play of the drive.

The score didn’t stay at 14-6 for long. On the first play after Clester’s kickoff found the end zone for a touchback, Fountain took a handoff around left end and went 80 yards, scoring with 2:10 showing and another Linden touchdown still remaining. Fountain was stopped trying to run for a two-point conversion.

Another interception of Norris and an 18-yard return by Ajalon Bruno set Linden up at Fairhope’s 18. Fountain, after converting a fourth-and-3 situation, scored around left end on the next play with 11.1 seconds left in the first half. A pass attempt for a two-point conversion failed.

At the half, Linden had controlled the ball for 16:24.9 of the scoreboard clock. The Patriots kept it for almost the same amount of time in the second half, but couldn’t reach the end zone and returned home with their second loss in nine games. The other was against 1A power Sweetwater.

Norris, who entered the game with more than 1,400 yards passing already this season, didn’t throw a pass in the second half after completing just five of 13 attempts for 87 yards in the first half. Richardson had two catches for 48 yards. Woodyard caught two in the first quarter for 9 yards and also had two kickoff returns for 50 yards for the 5-3 Pirates, who play their final 6A Region 2 game Friday at Satsuma at 7 p.m.