— CUMBERLAND — What a difference a half can make.

Or perhaps a halftime discussion in the Fort Hill locker room.

The Sentinels, up 14-0 after a bit of a lethargic first half, scored three touchdowns in the third quarter and dominated the second half in a 35-0 victory over Surrattsville on a warm, breezy opening night Friday at Greenway Avenue Stadium.

Jaron Watkins ran five times for 91 yards and gave the offense the spark it needed with several big gainers in the third quarter, and Shawn Metheny ran 12 times for 80 yards for Fort Hill.

In the second half, Metheny scored two touchdowns, Garrett Clay went untouched 57 yards for a score, and Dylan Clay had a pair of interceptions. The first half was a bit of a different story. Surrattsville outgained Fort Hill 148-115, and had possession for 14 minutes.

“It was a struggle early on because we hadn’t played together much,’’ said Fort Hill coach Todd Appel. “We lost a lot of senior leadership last year and we have some kids filling in at some key positions. And I knew we’d probably be a little ugly early. But we kept plugging away.”

Although school is closed for the holiday weekend, there was plenty of teaching going on at halftime.

And, when it was all over, Appel dished out a grade of B-minus. “I won’t really know a lot until we watch film. But as far as their composure and the way they responded to a team that was giving them a battle the first half, I’d give us a B-minus. We need to execute better and do some things better offensively.

“They were ready for us, and they are a better football team than last year,’’ Appel said of Surrattsville. Fort Hill won last year’s game 37-15. “We just made some adjustments at halftime and the kids responded well to coaching.

“It wasn’t the rah-rah stuff or scream and get in your face or any of that stuff at halftime,’’ Appel added. “It was just teaching and listening.”

The Sentinels, after having six first downs and 115 yards of offense in the first half, took control with six first downs and 156 yards in the third quarter.

Watkins set up the first score of the second half with a 27-yard kickoff return and 28- and 15-yard runs. Dylan Clay and Nick Greise had big blocks on the 28-yarder, and Greise and Bryce Lowery led the way on the 15-yarder. Metheny capped the 68-yard, nine-play drive with a seven-yard run to make it 20-0.

A 39-yard punt return by Robert Vincent put the Sentinels back in business at the Surrattsville 19 less than two minutes later. Metheny went 16 yards on a pitch with big downfield blocks by Garrett Clay and Nathan Steckman, then scored on an eight-yarder with 2:42 left in the period to make it 27-0.

Dylan Clay’s first interception gave the Sentinels the ball at their 46, and just two plays later Garrett Clay went up the gut, cut to the left and went untouched 57 yards for the final score of the night.

Fort Hill’s third-quarter execution was too much for the Hornets, who had only four yards of offense in the period. In 10 minutes, the game went from a 14-0 battle to a clock-running 35-point spread.

“The second half was a combination of things. It was part Fort Hill and part us,’’ said Surrattsville coach Robert Harris. “ We let them off the hook. We had them. We gave away a touchdown in the first half with a blown assignment, so the score should have been 6- or 7-zip at halftime.

“We should have came out and been a little more aggressive in the third quarter, but we still did some of the things we wanted to do. But at times we gave up plays we shouldn’t have, and that’s what we have to work on.”

Surrattsville was 1-for-5 on fourth-down plays in the first half, and twice gambled on fourth down deep in its own territory. The Fort Hill defense prevailed both times, including on a fourth-and-two from the 30 that set up the first touchdown.

“I have no regrets about not punting because I knew what I was working with,’’ Harris said. “I felt like my punt coverage wasn’t completely there yet, and it showed when we did punt in the third quarter (Vincent’s 39-yard return). It was a good punt; the problem was our coverage and I wish we had a little more time to work on it.”

Andrew Blank made the big stop on fourth down at the Hornets 28 late in the first quarter that set up the first touchdown, a three-yard run by Garrett Dolly on the first play of the second quarter.

The Sentinels also came up big offensively on fourth down when quarterback Joe Howser hit Justin Dawson between two defenders for a 17-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-six midway through the period that made it 14-0.

Fort Hill will play at Keyser Saturday night.

Mike Mathews is a Cumberland Times-News sportswriter. He can be reached at mmathews@times-news.com.