South Charleston’s strong red-zone defense helped the Black Eagles to their first victory of the year, a 49-7 decision over winless Huntington Friday night at Oakes Field.

“We adopted that bend-but-don’t-break motto for this game,” said South Charleston coach John Messinger. “We got some breaks and we finally convinced our kids it was going to take four quarters to win a ballgame.”

The Eagles outgained the Highlanders 450 to 276.

The SC defense allowed the Highlanders to threaten but generally kept them out of the end zone.

“We got down there and we sputtered out and we couldn’t punch it in when we had the chance,” said Huntington coach Zach Wilson.

In the first half, Huntington moved inside of the South Charleston 15 on two occasions but failed to score, partly because of penalties and a turnover.

On its first try, Huntington had a touchdown called back due to holding. And on the second, quarterback C.J. Crawford’s pass was picked off at the 2-yard line by South Charleston defensive back Ra’Shawn Dunham.

South Charleston (1-4) took advantage of Huntington’s misfortunes by scoring two quick TDs in the second quarter — on a 1-yard plunge by senior halfback Jacob Skinner and a 6-yard scoring strike from senior quarterback Deion Spurlock to Aaron Dobson, giving SC a 14-0 halftime advantage.

“Our line did a heck of a job tonight,” said Spurlock. “They hit everyone and everything at the right time tonight. We’ll use this as motivation for the rest of the season.”

In the second half, the Eagles kept things rolling with an 11-play, 74-yard scoring drive that ate up more than five minutes, capped by a Spurlock-to-Dunham 13-yard scoring connection, giving SC a 21-0 lead.

South Charleston’s next possession didn’t last quite as long. It consisted of two Spurlock runs covering 78 yards, including a 66-yard TD jaunt, giving the Eagles a 28-0 advantage.

Spurlock completed 11-of-15 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 116 yards on 11 tries. SC’s leading receiver was Dobson, who finished with six catches for 100 yards and a touchdown.

“What I like most about this victory is the joy it brings to our kids’ faces,” said Messinger.

Huntington was led by Martequs Martin, who had seven carries for 79 yards and a touchdown. Crawford was 14-for-25 for 148 yards.

Next week the Eagles will travel to Ripley and the Highlanders (0-5) will play Princeton.