HILTON HEAD - Jeff Homad knew Friday night was his second chance. He planned to play as if it was his last.

He didn’t need to be told to stay poised. He assured himself all week that wouldn¹t be a problem, despite the nerves that may have hounded his stomach.

Still, minutes before the Hilton Head High quarterback was slated to start for the first time in four weeks, his coach brought him to the sideline for one last reminder.

"This is your night," Seahawks coach Tim Singleton said. "It¹s your time again."

Homad intends to make it a longer stay. The senior passed for 119 yards, 118 of which came in the opening half, and a pair of touchdowns to lead the Seahawks to their first Region 8-AAA of the season, a 31-22 victory against Lake Marion at Hilton Head Island Community Stadium on Homecoming night.

"No, it wasn¹t my night, but the team¹s night," Homad said. "We had a real good week of practice after last week. I thought everything was going to go well, and it did."

It was certainly a vast improvement from Homad’s previous two starts, which came in the Seahawks’ first two games of the season--both losses.

Homad was benched in both games and eventually gave way for Jon Bever to start the next three games. But Bever’s absence from the team this week put Homad back in the starting position, and it wasn’t an easy task, considering the Seahawks were coming off a 42-14 loss to North Charleston.

But Homad put that out of his mind quickly with a first quarter touchdown pass to Clifford Morrow for 27 yards. He completed seven of his first 12 passes and added a second quarter touchdown to Quintin Smalls for 20 yards.

"I am so proud of Jeff Homad and how he responded to all of this," Singleton said emphatically. "To come back from what he’s come back from--the ripping and the benching--that kid is resilient. He had a few mental lapses, but overall, he played exceptionally well."

And he did it without the Seahawks’ most productive offense player this season behind him. Lawrence Jenkins sat out the game for team disciplinary reasons. Jenkins was in uniform and on the Seahawks sideline and is expected to return next week.

Jaquan Cohen made that absence a moot point. Starting at tailback in place of Jenkins, Cohen ran for 143 yards on 23 carries and scored three times.

His 38-yard run in the first quarter gave Hilton Head High a 13-0 cushion and he followed that with another touchdown in the second quarter and one more in the third.

"Jaquan Cohen stepped up big. We got to keep him going," Singleton said. "With he and (Jenkins) playing in the backfield, I think we can go down the stretch and be pretty tough."

As long as the defense continues to improve, of course.

A week after allowing 355 passing yards and five touchdowns through the air in the loss to North Charleston, the Seahawks held Lake Marion¹s spread attack to 231 yards despite quarterback Chris Jenkins attempting 33 passes.

Chris Jenkins did throw three touchdowns, two first-half scores to Mike Williams of 34 and 27 yards and another in the fourth quarter to Todd Keltt. Williams also came away with two 2-point conversions.

But, unlike the week before, Hilton Head High responded with plays of its own defensively. The Seahawks forced four turnovers and picked off three passes. Linebacker Jack Duane intercepted Jenkins in the second quarter, while Morrow intercepted a pair of passes in the second half.

"I wasn¹t originally supposed to play defense because of my performance last week," Morrow said. "But things worked out well."

Just as they did for the Seahawks.

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