Sylvan Hills struck hard and fast, ringing up all of its points in the first half en route to a 35-13 victory over West Memphis.
Senior running back D.J. Smith scored three touchdowns on runs of 5, 34 and 14 yards, and cracked the 100-yard rushing mark with 159 yards on 13 carries, 92 of which came in the first quarter.
"D.J. is the hardest worker on our team, and it showed tonight," Sylvan Hills Coach Chris Hill said. "We come in on Mondays at 6 a.m., and he comes in on his own on Wednesdays at 5:30 a.m. He deserves all he gets."
The Sylvan Hills defense was just as dominant, limiting the Blue Devils (2-4, 1-2 6A-East) to 28 total yards in the first half.
"We took last week's [10-7] loss to Marion personally," Hill said. "We challenged our players all week. We kind of got hit in the mouth a week ago. It left a bad taste in our mouths."
It took the Bears (3-3, 2-1) just four plays to get on the scoreboard as Smith scored a 5-yard touchdown with 9:16 to play in the first quarter.
The Bears were unstoppable, running up six plays of 20 yards or more in the first half. Meanwhile, the Blue Devils managed just two first downs in the first two quarters.
Smith jetted 34 yards for another touchdown with 2:57 to play in the first quarter, then tacked on a 14-yard score in the second quarter.
Taevion Cunningham scored a 55-yard touchdown on the second play of the second quarter, then Sylvan Hills completed its only pass of the first half when quarterback Corey Washington hit Shajuan Esteen on a screen pass that went for a 65-yard touchdown pass to close out the Bears' scoring.
"Our kids were mentally ready to play this game tonight," Hill said. "They were fired up on the sideline, and I think they just had it all synced up tonight."