Hester's efforts not enough to sway outcome against Choctaw (See Photos, Video)

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Forget the sore back.. Jeremy Hester carried Arnold on Friday, but he could not carry the Marlins all the way.

Choctawhatchee gained the measure of Arnold 42-28 at the Mike Gavlak Sports Complex. The Indians (2-3, 2-1 District 1-3A) could not be stopped on offense, as they scored on six of eight possessions and had no touchdown drive of less than 65 yards.

Hester rushed for a game-high 277 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries. He also returned a second-half kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown. Choctaw answered each time with a long drive to leave no doubt in sending the Marlins (4-1, 2-1) to their first loss of the season.

“It was not a good night for us on defense,” Arnold coach James Hale said. “We couldn’t stop them. If we played a little better on defense we could have won the game.”

Choctaw took a 28-14 lead late in the third quarter on a 13-yard Freddie Gray run. He finished with a team-high 179 yards rushing and two scores, and Choctaw rushed for 330 yards.

Arnold ran two plays on the next possession, the last an 81-yard scoring run by Hester to pull Arnold to within seven points at the end of the third quarter.

Choctaw answered with an 80-yard drive, capped on a 2-yard run by Charlie Lott. Arnold’s defense didn’t get much time to breathe, as Hester returned the next kickoff to narrow the margin to 35-28.

The Indians again went 80 yards, and this time capped the scoring with a 9-yard connection between Ryan Born and quarterback Jesse Adams midway through the fourth quarter. The junior was 16 of 21 passing for 188 yards and two TDs, both to Born. His counterpart, Arnold’s Eddie Williams, had no completions on six attempts.

Hale said before the season that Hester could score every time he touched the ball. It wasn’t every time on Friday, but he did score on four of his 12 touches.

“He didn’t practice all week,” Hale said. “He played extremely well under the circumstances.”

Arnold will deal with injuries and a possible suspension next week. Kevin Kline was ejected after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the first quarter and could face disciplinary action from the Florida High School Athletic Association.

Any loss of players will be detrimental heading into next week’s home game against district favorite Pensacola.

“Now we need to suck it up,” Hale said. “These are the tough ones for us and we need to play better.”

• Choctawhatchee 7 7 14 14 – 42
• Arnold                    7 0 14 7 – 29
• First quarter
• AHS – Hester 70 run (Masker kick), 7-0 AHS, 9:31
• CHS – Gray 2 run (Drake kick), 7-7, 4:48
• Second quarter
• CHS – Born 12 pass from Adams (Drake kick), 14-7 CHS, :54
• Third quarter
• CHS – Adams 1 run (Drake kick), 21-7, 7:46
• AHS – Hester 45 run (Masker kicker), 21-14, 4:33
• CHS – Gray 13 run (Drake kick), 28-14, 3:20
• AHS – Hester 81 run (Masker kick), 28-21, 2:54
• Fourth quarter
• CHS – Lott 2 run (Drake kick), 35-21, 9:00
• AHS – Hester 93 kickoff return (Masker kick), 35-28, 8:47
• CHS – Born 9 pass from Adams (Drake kick), 42-28, 5:27