Chronicle photo by David Pennock Jefferson RB Francis Diaz (3) shuffles around defenders during last Friday’s game against South Hagerstown. The Cougars lost the game 34-7. Jefferson looks to break their losing streak tonight as they take on Washington at 7 p.m. in Charles Town.

HAGERSTOWN, Md. – It was Senior Night at South Hagerstown High School. The Rebels paid tribute to their seniors from the football team, cheerleading squad and classy marching band.

And then after they withstood an early score from Jefferson, the small band of Rebels went on to post the game’s last five touchdowns – some with consummate ease, and ran away from the still-winless Cougars, 34-7, at festive School Stadium.

After close consecutive losses to Tuscarora and Williamsport, the Rebels overcame a never-ending string of penalties that saw three long touchdown runs nullified by holding infractions to consistently improve their lot on the scoreboard.

South Hagerstown improved to 4-5 overall while Jefferson ebbed further to an 0-9 mark.

Both teams faced respective arch rivals to end their 2017 seasons – South going to Callas Stadium to play North Hagerstown and the Cougars traveling the short distance to Marcus Field to see Washington, now 2-7 overall after edging Hampshire last week.

Jefferson had an auspicious beginning to the night when quarterback Scooter Gaskins raced 64 untouched yards around his right side to give the Cougars a quick-strike, 7-0, lead.

Very little went Jefferson’s way after that lightning strike. Gaskins would be injured in the third quarter, left the game, and did not return.

Very little went wrong – except for the time-consuming penalties that were marched off – for the Rebels.

After a late first quarter TD run, the Rebels continually gave its quarterback, Timmy Townsend adequate time to find receivers Chase Molony and Nate Moore and loosed Jayswah Sanon to bounce through the nine-man Jefferson front to score well – especially in the second half.

When not having runs of 49, 47 and 35 yards that were completed in the Jefferson end zone nullified by penalties, Sanon had 22 carries for 228 yards and two scores.

Molony’s 19-yard pass reception from Townsend left the Rebels with a 13-7 lead at halftime.

Jefferson’s lone offensive blip of the entire second half came on a fake punt when Gaskins went 30 yards for a first down at the South 20 yard line.

When the well-protected Townsend found Moore on a 29-yard scoring pass, the Rebels had a 21-7 lead.

Much of Jefferson’s yardage for the second half was piled up by its own 15-yard penalties, once a personal foul and then a unsportsmanlike conduct call came back-to-back and cost the already-reeling Cougars 30 yards.

Sanon was barely menaced when he went 82 yards, and then after Molony recovered a Jefferson fumble, Charlie Hosten rolled 20 yards for the game’s final points.

After Gaskins left, the Rebels completely controlled things, with Avery Aldridge and Taliek McKenzie active in blunting Jefferson’s attempts at doing things on the ground or with short passes.

By the last few minutes, the Rebel band had played “Are You From Dixie?” enough times to make familiar the song lyric “Anywhere below the Mason-Dixon Line” as had been the long runs by Sanon and his friends.