It took about five minutes for the Pine Bush Bushmen to find their groove.

And when they did, the offense got rolling, scoring 26 unanswered points in the first half on their way to a 40-19 win over the Highland Huskies in a non-league flag football game on Friday at Thomas F. Lonergan Field in Pine Bush.

“It was great,” senior Kileigh Smykla said. “It was a little stressful in the beginning, especially being a first game. There are a lot of new people, so it was a little stressful, and we had first-time jitters. But we got that out of the way, and it was a good one.”

It was Smykla who got the Bushmen going as she grabbed the first of her three interceptions of Highland quarterback Katherine Fitzgerald, setting up the Bushmen on their own 39-yard line.

“I was more focused on the (receiver),” Smykla said. “I didn’t really see it. They overthrew it a few times and that’s how I got it. I was just making sure she didn’t get past me.”

Seven plays later, Shea Toback ran in a touchdown, giving the Bushmen a 6-0 lead.

“I just told them to settle down,” Pine Bush coach Kyle Schneider said. “And you can see that sometimes in the beginning of the season where the jitters come out. A lot of first-game nerves and how are we going to do, and I think they rebounded.”

Smykla set up the Bushmen well throughout the first half, intercepting two more passes. Her second pick led to a three-yard touchdown run by Toback and the third set up quarterback Cailey Noviello’s 18-yard touchdown run.

“(Smykla) has a lot of speed and great instincts,” Schneider said. “I think she’s told me she’s always watched football. She’s had family members play football, and it’s her first year trying out for it. I think that knowledge helped her today, especially at the safety position.”

The second half was different, as the Huskies started to assert themselves immediately.

On the first play from scrimmage, Highland’s Aaliyah Ghafoor opened with a 60-yard touchdown run to get the Huskies on the board.

But Pine Bush responded with a 60-yard, 11-yard drive that chewed about five minutes off the game clock. It ended with Smykla’s eight-yard touchdown run that gave the Bushmen a 33-7 lead. She also scored on a 24-yard run with 13:49 left in the second half.

“It was mostly our running,” Smykla said. “We found the pockets and we ran through them.”

Fitzgerald connected with Magdalena Diaz on for a six-yard touchdown pass, and with Ghafoor for six yards.

“I think this boosts our confidence a lot,” Smykla said. “We know that we can do this. We need to keep building and working in order to continue.”