Momentum will be wearing orange when Texas High opens District 16-5A play next week at Marshall.
The Tigers will be coming off their most dominant performance of the season after a 44-0 rout of Kilgore Friday night at Tiger Stadium at Grim Park, marking their first 4-0 start since 2006.
Unlike last year when Kilgore overcame a 14-0 deficit to beat the Tigers, the Bulldogs were never in this one after Texas High bolted to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter and expanded it to 34-0 by halftime.
"Last year we got out on them early, then went flat and they gave us a good whipping," Tigers coach Barry Norton said. "That was my fear tonight, but the kids came out and played well."
Norton said the lopsided win was probably the Tigers' best effort of the season, and the numbers bore him out. Kilgore (1-3) had only 88 yards total offense, while the Tigers scored on seven of eight possessions, punting only once after reserves had taken over in the second half.
"We hit them with so many big plays that the game got away from them," he said. "We're throwing and catching the ball well, but we have to figure out a way to run the ball more, and that's hard to do when we're scoring so quickly."
Quarterback Cade Pearson continued to scorch defenses, completing 10 of 16 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half. For the season he has thrown for 13 touchdowns compared to only one interception. He also surpassed the 1,000-yard barrier (1,101).
Quan Hampton failed to reach 100 yards receiving in a game for the first time, but had four catches for 97 yards and touchdowns of 68 and 8 yards. Tervailance Hunt's two catches were good for 96 yards, including a 55-yard score.
Defensively, the Tigers held Kilgore to 70 yards rushing and 18 passing. The game's only two turnovers were fumble recoveries by Deidrick Reeves and Jaylin Franklin, the latter at the Tigers' 8-yard line on Kilgore's lone scoring threat of the game in the second half.
"The defense did a good job," Norton said. "Kilgore runs a split-zone and does a good job of it. Obviously, their quarterback getting hurt in the first half slowed them down, but the other guy did a good job."
Texas High's complete domination of the first half came on both sides of the football. Pearson completed 10 of 16 passes for 204 yards and three scores to pace the offense, while Kilgore managed just 45 yards total, 37 of that coming on 20 rushes.
The Tigers scored on all five first-half possessions, field possession playing a key role on two drives totaling 74 yards. The other scores came on drives of 71, 71 and 80 yards.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs could do little. Quarterback Patrick Jackson, who keyed last year's win over the Tigers, went out early with leg cramps and backup Jay Copeland could not move the offense, which accounted for just four first downs, one on a penalty.
The Tiger defense forced punts on the first three Kilgore series, and Texas High turned all in to first-quarter touchdowns.
A 22-yard punt set THS up at the Bulldog 32, and the Tigers used nine plays to take the lead, the last coming on a 15-yard run by Devuntay Walker with 7:58 to go.
Next, Hampton split two defenders at midfield and roared 68 yards with Pearson's pass to complete a three-play, 71-yard drive. The next drive was the same distance and also took three plays, Hunt taking a sideline pass from Pearson, spinning away from a defender and racing 55 yards to make it 21-0 with 7.7 seconds remaining.
The Tigers scored twice in the final five minutes of the second quarter. Pearson's 19-yard scramble on third-and-6 set up his 8-yard lob to Hampton in the right corner of the end zone to complete the 80-yard drive on the 13th play.
Hampton's 36-yard punt return gave the Tigers field position at the Bulldog 42 after the fourth punt of the half, and Texas High scored in four plays. Markese Martin barreled in from the 1-yard-line two plays after Pearson's 41-yard deep sideline completion to Hunt.
Norton got a chance to see his backup quarterbacks in action in the second half. Sophomore Coltin Clack had a 16-yard completion in a drive that eventually ended in a 30-yard field goal by Isidro Hernandez with 4:36 left in the third quarter. Junior Riley Russell had a key 21-yard run on a quarterback sneak that set up sophomore Chris Sutton's 4-yard scoring dash with 2:13 left in the game.
Sutton topped Tiger rushers with 34 yards on nine carries.
Kilgore 0 0 0 0 - 0
Texas High 21 14 3 7 - 44
First Quarter
TH-Devuntay Walker 15 run (Isidro Hernandez kick), 7:58
TH-Quan Hampton 68 pass from Cade Pearson (Hernandez kick), 4:26
TH-Tevaliance Hunt 55 pass from Pearson (Hernandez kick), 0:7.7
Second Quarter
TH-Hampton 8 pass from Pearson (kick blocked), 5:08
TH-Markese Martin 1 run (Hernandez kick), 1:09
Third Quarter
TH-37 FG, Hernandez, 4:36
TH-Chris Sutton 4 run (Alex Hernandez kick), 2:13
Kilgore THS
First Downs 7 18
Rushes-yards 28-70 28-120
Passing-yards 18 220
Passes A-C-I 7-3-0 19-11-0
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 0-0
Penalties-Yards 9-88 8-65
Punts-Avg. 4-32 1-41
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Kilgore, Patrick Jackson 1-1, Melek Hamilton 11-19, Deiontae Wheat 2-2, Jay Copeland 5-11, Isaiah Smith 4-20, Javorie Hamilton 4-17. Texas High, Walker 4-12, Martin 7-10, Pearson 2-29, Coltin Clack 1-7, Deshun Villa 4-7, Sutton 9-34, Riley Russell 1-21.
PASSING-Kilgore, Jackson 2-0-0, Copeland 3-7-0-18. Texas High, Pearson 10-16-0-204, Clack 3-1-0-16.
RECEIVING-Kilgore, Cole Wood 2-18, Wheat 1-0. Texas High, Hampton 4-97, Hunt 2-96, Martin 3-17, Chris Lyles 1-5, Ladd Preston 1-5.