After kicking off the season by splitting a pair of nonleague contests, the White River High Hornets launched the South Puget Sound League 2A portion of the 2013 campaign with a resounding victory.

Under the Friday night lights of Franklin Pierce Stadium, White River trounced the Washington Patriots 43-14.

With one league win under their belts, the Hornets will go in search of a second victory this week, when the Orting Cardinals invade the White River campus. Friday night’s game gets under way at 7 p.m.

Orting started its season by winning a pair of nonleague games, rolling over Eatonville and Evergreen by a combined score of 74-25. Unlike White River, however, the Cardinals opened the league season on a down note, losing last week to Franklin Pierce by a slim 23-21 margin.

White River will be seeking a bit of revenge, as the Cards dealt the Hornets a tough loss a season ago – a season in which White River came frustratingly close to landing a postseason berth.

The Hornets had a couple of difficult moments during last week’s victory over Washington – but only a couple. The Patriots’ D.J. Sallier returned a kick 75 yards for a first-quarter touchdown and teammate Tristan Bowerman picked off a Hornet pass and returned it 85 yards for a TD in the second period.

Other than that, it was all Hornets.

White River jumped to a 17-8 lead in the first quarter thanks to a 12-yard scoring run by Keenan Fagan, a 20-yard touchdown toss from Sean Hayes to Dalton Nelson and a 30-yard field goal by Dustin France.

The Hornets took control for good in the second quarter on a TD pass from France to Mark Olson and a short scoring run by Justin Tidwell.

The less-explosive second half featured two more touchdowns by Fagan, who finished with 153 rushing yards on 20 carries. For the season, the senior running back is averaging a healthy 7.9 yards per carry, having totaled 284 yards on 36 attempts.