RISON - Pushing the accelerator to the floor for five touchdowns in the first 18 minutes of the game, the Rison Wildcats made quick work of the outmanned Camden Harmony Grove Hornets, 35-0, in a non-conference tilt at George Walker Field of Champions last Friday night. The victory improved the ‘Cats to 2-0 on the season, while the Hornets remained winless after two outings.
When Rison’s lead swelled to 35-0 at the 6:21 mark of the second quarter, the “mercy clock” was started as Coach Chris Vereen began to clear the bench against the Hornets, who suited up 21 players for the contest.
After establishing the 35-0 advantage midway of the second period, Rison ran just 11 offensive plays the remainder of the game. However, the Wildcats’ 27 offensive snaps over the first 18 minutes of the contest averaged 13 yards per play. Aidan Bitely led Rison’s offensive assault with 145 yards on eight carries to go along with a 39-yard pass reception. Deion Jones followed with 63 yards on five rushes, while Payne Prescott had 60 yards on five trips.
Overall, the ‘Cats racked up 409 yards on the ground, breaking the 400-yard mark for the second consecutive week. Rison average 9.7 yards per carry against the Hornets.
Vereen attributes the strong rushing numbers to some better-than-expected blocking not only along the scrimmage, but with the team as whole.
For the second consecutive week, the offensive line of Darion Wells, Dedrick Wells, Brayden Kelly, Gibson Terry and Rowdy Phillips all graded out at 80 percent or higher.
Bitely, meanwhile, had a 95 percent blocking grade while receivers Yukobian Peters and Henry Garner finished at 100 percent.
Vereen said teams typically have one blocker perform well in the first game of the season and a few more begin to improve game by game after that. This year, he said all of them have come out grading well and it has not fallen off yet.
The Wildcats opened the game with a 67-yard scoring drive, capped by Prescott’s 13-yard TD run, as the freshman …