TYRONE - Osborne head coach Troy Jones knew what his Cardinals were facing when he scheduled a non-region game at Sandy Creek this season. Jones wanted to find out how his team would stack up against a perennial playoff team in the form of the Patriots.

Having entered Friday night's game at Sandy Creek on a two-game winning streak, Jones and his Cardinals were ready to find out if they have what it takes to be a playoff contender this season.

Jones found out that his team has a lot of work yet to do.

Sandy Creek (3-1) scored early behind the power running of tailback Raijon Neal and cruised to a convincing 34-7 victory over Osborne (2-2).

"Tonight was a glimpse of what the playoffs are going to be," Jones told his team after the game. "We just didn't show up to play tonight. We will rebound, but we are going to have to play harder if we want to be a playoff team."

Sandy Creek gave the Cardinals an early taste of playoff football by taking the game's opening drive and scoring on Neal's 5-yard run with a little more than four minutes gone in the game. Mitchell McMillan kicked the first of his four extra points on the night to give Sandy Creek a 7-0 lead.

On Osborne's first possession of the game, quarterback Brandon Lowe dropped back and fired an errant pass. It was intercepted by the Patriots' Isaiah Johnson, who then pitched the ball to Bruce Dukes as he was being tackled.

Dukes raced down the right sideline untouched for a 33-yard touchdown. McMillan's PAT dug a 14-0 hole for Osborne with 6:25 left in the first quarter.

The Patriots stretched their lead to 20-0 with 1:17 remaining in the opening quarter when Neal capped a 77-yard drive with his 3-yard touchdown run. Neal finished with a game-high 143 yards on 16 carries.

Isaiah Johnson set up Sandy Creek's next score with his second interception of the game late in the second quarter. After picking off Lowe and giving the Patriots a first down at the Osborne 40, Ronnie Bell scrambled out of the pocket and raced 40 yards for a touchdown.

McMillan's extra point gave Sandy Creek a 27-0 lead with 4:09 left in the second quarter. The Patriots weren't finished scoring in the first half, though.

After an Osborne punt, Bell connected with Jerimi Johnson for a 7-yard touchdown with just 36 seconds left in the first half.

Osborne finally got on the scoreboard with just over two minutes left in the game on Lowe's 1-yard quarterback keeper. Randy Black's extra point cut Sandy Creek's lead to 34-7.

The Patriots held Osborne to 32 rushing yards on the night. Emmitt Rice led the Cardinals with 19 yards on 8 carries. Lowe completed 10-of-16 passes for 89 yards, but did have the two costly interceptions.

Despite the lopsided loss, Jones said that this game will do nothing but help his Cardinals.

"The reason we scheduled this game is because we didn't want any false ideas of who we are," Jones explained. "We wanted to know whether we have the type of team that is ready for the playoffs."