Thursday night was just what the doctor ordered for Little Rock Christian.
The Warriors, six days removed from a deflating 43-22 loss to Shiloh Christian, in which they allowed more than 400 rushing yards, 388 by running back Bo Williams, needed a response -- and a sizable one at that.
Little Rock Christian defeated Lake Hamilton 42-14 on Thursday night with nearly 500 yards of offense and a lights-out defensive performance.
"We challenged our players that they have to play every week. They have to learn to bounce back," Little Rock Christian Coach Eric Cohu said. "We felt like we were sort of missing in action last week, and you can't play football not focused and not passionate. We challenged them to be passionate. We challenged them to be focused
"We challenged the team: It's who you are every week, week in, week out, not once, OK? We did a good job, made a statement [by] turning the page."
Last season, it was Lake Hamilton that provided Little Rock Christian the wake-up call, winning 34-19 at Pearcy.
This time around, there was no room for a repeat performance against the Wolves (1-2, 0-1 6A-West).
"That's what champions do. They bounce back, they're resilient," Cohu said. "If we use it to get better, then that's our goal. So that [loss to Shiloh Christian] will help us, if we use it to get better."
After a scoreless first drive that ended at Lake Hamilton's 29, and a second drive that saw Little Rock Christian (2-1, 1-0) go three-and-out, the Warriors scored first with 4:34 left in the first quarter. Quarterback Walker White hit wide receiver Cade Bowman down the right side of the field for a 52-yard touchdown score.
In the second quarter, the Warriors found the end zone three times. Running back Ronny Anokye rushed 30 yards untouched to make the score 14-0. Anokye rushed six times for 55 yards.
White scored on a quarterback sneak for the next score before hitting Tate Collins for a 21-yard touchdown on the next drive to make the halftime score 28-0.
"Our offense found themselves and got back to normal, scoring points, putting a lot of yards up, a lot of points on the board like we're capable of doing every week," Cohu said.
On Little Rock Christian's second play of the third quarter, White and Bowman connected again for a 39-yard touchdown pass down the middle of the field to go ahead 35-0.
White completed 15 of 23 passes for 339 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also rushed six times for 23 yards and a touchdown.
Bowman led the Warriors with four catches for 171 yards and a touchdown. Tristen Watson and Tre Howard followed with 54 and 51 receiving yards, respectively. Collins finished with two catches for 30 yards and a touchdown.
Lake Hamilton scored its first touchdown with less than six minutes to go in the third quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, Howard returned it for a touchdown, giving Little Rock Christian a 35-point lead, which stood until the Wolves scored in the final seconds on a Tre Cooper rushing score.
Lake Hamilton rushed for more than 200 yards, with seven players receiving carries.
"We showed them that we still belong and 6A, we can bounce back," Howard said. "We showed them what we're capable of."
Thursday was a markedly improved performance from the Warriors on both sides of the ball. The kind of performance a team with championship aspirations expects to put forward weekly.
"Last week, we never got in a rhythm," Cohu said. "We never finished drives. It just was a rough night, you know? You got to bounce back from that and tonight, we finished drives after the first [two]. That's just part of the game. You're not going to be perfect all the time, but you got to play with a relentless effort, all the time. It felt like last week, we panicked a little offensively, and we didn't have the effort necessary defensively."