Rock-solid defense and a potent rushing attack sparked White River High to an impressive 27-6 victory over the Fife Trojans Friday night.

Much to the delight of the Hornets’ homecoming crowd, White River kept the visitors off the scoreboard until the game’s final minutes, long after the outcome had been decided.

The win kept White River in first place in the South Puget Sound League 2A standings with a 4-0 record and pushed the Hornets’ overall mark to 5-1. The team will be hunting for victory No. 6 at 7 p.m. Friday with another home contest, this time against second place Franklin Pierce. The 3-1 Cardinals most recently trounced Sumner 42-12.

The White River defense limited Fife to just 177 yards of total offense. Eli Bickel was in on seven tackles, five unassisted, and intercepted a pass. Colton Altamirano had six solo tackles and assisted on two others and Jesse Allen had six solo stops.

The Hornet offense accounted for touchdowns in all four quarters to pull a way for the win. Josh Miller scored on a 2-yard run midway through the first period and Devin Liebel added an 18-yard jaunt in the second. Tyler Worthen kicked two of his three extra-point tries and White River enjoyed a 14-0 halftime lead. Keenan Fagan added a 12-yard TD run in the third quarter and Miller added another 2-yard scoring effort to cap the Hornet scoring.

Fife finally managed to find the end zone with 1 minute, 22 seconds remaining to be played.

The Hornets did most of their damage on the ground, with 41 rushing plays totaling 264 yards. Quarterback Zach McMillen completed eight of his 14 tosses for 107 yards, giving White River 371 total yards for the night. Miller did most of the work, running the ball 14 times, collecting 74 yards in the process. Liebal carried nine times for 70 yards and Fagan added a 65-yard gallop to go with his TD effort, finishing with 77 yards.