Sophomore quarterback Bradon Allen rushed 21 times for 154 yards and 3 touchdowns in Lonoke's 35-6 victory over Mills in 4A-2 action on a windy Friday night at Mills Stadium in Little Rock.
Lonoke (6-1, 3-1) never trailed as Allen scored on touchdown runs of 6 and 4 yards in the first half and 42 yards late in the third quarter. He also threw a 39-yard touchdown pass (tipped by a teammate) to senior wide receiver Chaston Dockery late in the second quarter to give the Jackrabbits a 21-0 halftime lead.
"To be a sophomore and to be as talented as he is is unbelievable," Lonoke Coach Harry Wright said. "He started for us last year as a freshman. He's continued to grow and put in the work. I'm proud of where he's at. I've got to remind myself sometimes he's a sophomore because he still makes some sophomore mistakes sometimes, but for the most part I thought he played really well."
Mills (5-2, 2-2) trimmed the halftime deficit to 21-6 on a 43-yard touchdown run by junior tailback Daniel Brown Jr. with 3:15 remaining in the third quarter. But Allen then directed Lonoke on an eight-play, 75-yard drive, capped by his 42-yard keeper up the middle with eight seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Lonoke's final touchdown came on a 5-yard run by senior utility back Spencer Pepper with 2:42 remaining.
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The Jackrabbits finished with a 353-240 advantage in total yards. Mills star junior running back Jabrae Shaw was limited to a handful of plays because of a foot injury suffered in last week's 38-28 loss at Clinton.
"I know he's a big part of their running game and it would make them a little more one-dimensional," Wright said. "I think our defense played extremely well. I hate it for the kid to be hurt, but I feel like we would have played well with him being in there as well."
Comets Coach Cortez Lee said Shaw didn't practice this week and aggravated the injury on a 17-yard run on the first play of the second quarter.
"He's a big part of what we do," Lee said. "But at the same time, it's next man up. We just have to do better, team-wise, coaching-wise and everything else."
Mills was trying to clinch its first winning season since 2013.
