If the McKenzie Tigers were affected by the loss to Brantley last week, they didn’t show it and bounced back with a big 40-6 win over Kinston.

The Tigers got touchdown runs of 25 and 11 yards from Freddie Banks in the first half, and Calvin Henderson hit Emmanuel Johnson twice for touchdowns, one for 55 yards and the other for 42 yards.

Henderson also scored on a 25-yard interception return.

Adding to McKenzie’s scoring in the first half was a 12-yard carry by Melvin Owens and two point conversions from Rakeem Ball and Xavier Smith.

The Tigers led 40-0 at halftime and the final margin was 40-6.

“We had several kids beat up and banged up, and they didn’t play tonight,” said head coach Miles Brown. “We got a lot of kids some playing time. It’s good to come back and get a victory to be 7-1.”

“We’ve got some more work to do, so we’re going to keep trying to heal and go from there,” Brown added.

Next week, the Tigers return home to celebrate homecoming against Providence Christian.

McKenzie closes out the regular season against county rival Georgiana in McKenzie.

The Class 1A state playoffs begin one week later.