ENGLAND -- South Lonoke County and the Hector Wildcats suffered a sizable power failure Friday night.
[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD: Full results + recaps, photos and more]
England senior receiver Marc Westbrook, however, was nothing short of electric in a battle of 5-2A Conference unbeatens.
Westbrook caught 7 passes for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns -- all in the first half -- in leading the Class 2A's top-ranked Lions to a convincing 35-6 victory over No. 3 Hector at a darkened Gaylon Gibbs Stadium.
"[Westbrook] caught some great passes," said England quarterback Brayden Brazeal, who completed 12 of 25 passes for 205 yards. "His routes were crisp and he made my job easier."
While Westbrook sparked the offense, the Lions were plenty tough on defense. Hector, which entered Friday 40.3 points and 407.3 yards a game, was held to 113 yards and five first downs against England. The Wildcats' only points came on a 26-yard pass from senior Tanner Gaines to sophomore Brenden Landrum in the third quarter after England had built a 35-0 advantage.
England (8-0, 5-0) sputtered offensively for the majority of the first half. The Lions either started or moved into Hector territory on four of their first five possessions, but managed only six points. Hector (7-1, 4-1) forced England to punt once, stopped two fourth-down plays in the red zone and intercepted a pass.
"That was a good team we played," England Coach Terry Farmer said. "But our defense played well."
England held a 14-0 lead with 4:40 left in the first half when senior linebacker Malik Coleman intercepted a tipped pass. As Coleman maneuvered toward the end zone -- a touchdown that was erased because of an illegal block penalty -- power was lost to the scoreboard and in the press box.
School officials said a transformer at a substation outside of town went down. The majority of the stadium lights continued to work because they relied on a separate power source.
After a short delay, Coleman scored two plays later on a 6-yard run.
"That was crazy," said Westbrook, who hauled in scoring passes for 33 and 18 yards in the second quarter. "But we were still going to play our game. It was a distraction, but we managed to keep our focus."
The lights wents out completely in the stadium just after the final play of the game.
England finished with 328 total yards, including a combined 148 yards rushing from Brazeal (7 carries, 55 yards) and Coleman (14 carries, 93 yards, 2 TDs).
"Our passing game really wasn't connecting tonight," Farmer said. "We dropped a lot of balls and we overthrew a lot of balls. We just didn't click. ... We went back to our running game and it got us stable. The running game will always get you back to being stable."
Senior receiver B.J. Thompson scored England's first touchdown with a 17-yard catch with 10:15 left in the first quarter. The score was set up when Westbrook caught a 10-yard pass and pitched back to Coleman, who ran for another 28 yards to the Hector 17.
England led 28-0 at the half and added a touchdown on its first possession of the second half. Coleman's 28-yard scoring run and Brock Miller's extra point gave the Lions a 35-0 lead.
Landrum led Hector's receivers with four catches for 59 yards.
Sports on 10/22/2016