PLANTERSVILLE — For first-year Dallas County head football coach Darryl Burns, spring practice ended with a bang Thursday night.

Maybe not by the scoreboard’s 8-0 victory over Autaugaville in a game-type situation. Burns said, however, he was excited by his team’s response to his short time at the school and the way the players had bought into the new system.

“We only had five real days of practice,” he said after the game. “So we knew the offense was going to need some work. But I thought defensively we played really well.”

Although the only scoring for both teams was a second-quarter drive for the Hornets, Burns said he was proud of how his team performed.

“They really tried their best tonight,” he said. “We won, and that’s what we wanted to do.”

Autaugaville coach Dennis Palmer said he was proud of his quarterback, G’Untaye Clay, who was held in check most of the night.

“He’s only a ninth-grader right now,” Palmer said. “He started the last three games of the season for us, and I thought he showed a lot of poise out there.”

Palmer also was proud of his squad.

“I thought we played with a lot of effort,” he said. “Dallas County was using a lot of offensive formations, and that had us struggling some on defense.”