BOONEVILLE -- When the Booneville offense is running correctly, it attacks from a lot of different angles with different personal. It was historically balanced Friday night at Bearcat Stadium.
The Bearcats for the first time in program history had four players go over 100 rushing yards in a single game. That allowed Booneville, which held just a four-point halftime lead, to pull away in the second half for a 61-21 victory against Baptist Prep in a 3A-4 Conference matchup.
"When you can do that, it makes it tough on the defense," Booneville Coach Doc Crowley said. "I feel like we have a ton of talent in the backfield. They showed what they all could do. I'm proud of the way those guys ran but really proud of the offensive line."
Rylen Ray led the way with a team-high 117 yards on 17 carries with 3 touchdowns. Senior quarterback Randon Ray, who had an interception on defense, added 108 yards on 16 touches with three touchdowns. Dax Goff also finished with 108 yards with a touchdown on 14 carries. Rocky Ross needed just four attempts for 105 yards and a touchdown.
Booneville (7-1, 4-0) needed the offensive production because it fell behind 14-0 against Baptist Prep in the opening quarter. If it could go wrong for the Bearcats early, it did.
Quarterback Tyler Hesley guided the Eagles for an eight-play scoring drive to open the game. He found Caden Jennings wide open for a 36-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
Baptist Prep (4-3, 1-3) later made it a two-touchdown lead on its third drive of the night. Wide receiver Jeff Brown caught a 4-yard touchdown from Hesley in the first quarter.
The Eagles controlled the ball with their passing game early with Hesley completing nine of his 10 initial attempts. Booneville found itself down 14-0 after running just three offensive plays to Baptist Prep's 20. Baptist Prep was able to recover an onside kick after its first score, and Booneville fumbled on its opening drive.
"This was a wake-up call for us," Crowley said. "It was good for us though because we haven't been in that situation before this year. I was really happy with the way we responded. I told the guys our season would end pretty quick if we played like that in a playoff setting."
The defense was able to step up for Booneville after that, and the offense got it going as well. After some key stops, the Bearcats were able to take an 18-14 halftime lead.
Randon Ray got the scoring going in the second quarter. He scored and converted the two-pointer to make Baptist Prep's lead 14-8. On the following drive, Randon Ray rushed for another touchdown this time for a 3-yard score. That gave Booneville back the lead, which it added to with a field goal at the buzzer. Pablo Ferrer connected on a 27-yard kick.
"The kids didn't panic," Crowley said. "We knew we'd get it going eventually. We have too much talent and have worked too hard."
Booneville's play turned it up a notch in the second half to put the game well out of reach with a 43-point second half.
Rylen Ray and Randon Ray scored back-to-back touches to open up a 33-14 edge in the third quarter. Rylen finished the scoring in the third for a 40-21 lead with a 5-yard rush for a score.
Baptist Prep got its lone second-half points with an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Jackson Mullen in the third quarter.
Goff, Ross and Rylen Ray all scored touchdowns in the final quarter to put the game well out of reach.
"I feel like we got caught up in homecoming going on today," Randon Ray said. "I feel like we came out flat. We were able to get back on track at the end of the first half. We came out with our minds right in the second half. We got it together."
Hesley finished 12 of 22 passing for 143 yards with 2 touchdown passes for Baptist Prep. Jennings caught 5 passes for 77 yards with a score. Brown added 4 catches for 30 yards with a touchdown.