Big plays, winning the turnover battle and tough defense are three key ingredients to winning football games. The Dunbar Tigers did all three Friday night en route to a 48-13 victory over the Bishop Verot Vikings in the preseason classic.

Dunbar jumped out early and scored quickly and often as they built a 41-7 halftime lead and cruised to the win.

The Tigers were led by junior running back Jorvante Jones. After losing a fumble on the second play from scrimmage, Jones carried nine times for 146 yards and had touchdown runs of 2, 5 and 65 yards.

“I was mad that I fumbled early on,” said Jones, “but I did what I had to do, kept moving the ball, and was blessed to find the end zone three times.”

Senior quarterback Melvin German had a huge game throwing for 244 yards on 10-of-12 passing. German had touchdown passes of 14, 95 and 40 yards.

The Vikings quarterbacks were held to 80 yards on 8-of-25 attempts.

Verot struggled offensively and defensively in the first half. With seven seconds left junior runningback Schon Thomas took the kickoff 91 yards for the first touchdown.

“I saw it coming,” said Thomas. “I called out my blocks, I saw nothing but daylight, and I was gone.”

The Vikings were limited to 41 yards and just three first downs while turning the ball over three times.

“We weren’t as competitive as I hoped in the first half,” said Vikings coach Phil Dorn. “It was good experience for us to see that you have to come ready to play from the get go.”

The Vikings open the regular season Sept. 12 at Lemon Bay.