DURHAM – The difference between a good football team and a great one is judged by the caliber of its interior linemen.

Hertford County’s guys in the trenches gave a great effort on both sides of the ball here last night (Friday).

The Bears rang-up 401 yards of total offense while limiting Southern Durham to mere double-digits (86 yards) as HCHS defeated their hosts, 28-12, in non-conference football action.

Hertford County, now 2-0, never trailed as touchdown runs by Ronald Gatling (2 yards; 1st quarter) and Antonio Vaughan (11 yards; 2nd quarter) staked the Bears to a 14-0 halftime lead.

Southern Durham got as close as 14-6 on the first snap of the 3rd quarter where defender Desmond Lawrence scooped-up a Hertford County fumble and dashed 27 yards to paydirt. The PAT kick failed.

The Bears then put the game on-ice thanks to Gatling’s 56-yard TD run late in the 3rd quarter and Vaughan’s 36-yard scramble to the endzone with 3:30 left in the game.

Southern Durham’s A.J. Marshall added a meaningless touchdown for the home team when he returned a Bears’ fumble 48 yards with 1:42 remaining.

Gatling (a game-high 177 rushing yards on 28 carries) and Vaughan (125 yards on 8 attempts) inflicted the majority of Hertford County’s damage on the ground as the Bears rushed for 385 yards.

It marked the second consecutive week that the HCHS offense exceeded 400 total yards. They tore-up the turf to the tune of 439 total yards in last week’s 50-37 season-opening win over Winston-Salem Parkland.

The Bears will host Northampton-East at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 5 in their next game.