Gatesville, rolling to a four-touchdown lead in the opening quarter, blitzed depth-thin Hillsboro 46-7 on Friday night at McKamie Stadium.
The Hornets (6-1) share the district lead with Glen Rose at 2-0. Gatesville visits Glen Rose (5-2) next Friday, while China Spring - which lost 21-17 at West - entertains Whitney (2-5, 0-2).
In the axing of Hillsboro, Gatesville scored on six of its first seven possessions, taking advantage of two Eagles' fumbles and an interception.
Hillsboro (1-5, 0-2) scored its only touchdown 10 seconds before halftime, cutting Gatesville's advantage to 40-7.
Both teams stayed mainly on the ground in the second half, with Gatesville using a large number of substitutes.
"I think the kids came out and executed well early on," Gatesville coach Kyle Cooper said. "In the second half, we moved the ball but kept the score down."
Looking ahead to a stretch run that starts with Glen Rose on the road, Cooper said, "We have to continue to improve every day. It's important that we put four quarters together and play a complete game in our three remaining games."
After playing Glen Rose, the Hornets will return home to play West (5-2, 1-1) on Oct. 30 and then close it out on the road against defending 7-3A champion China Spring on Nov. 6.
The loss was costly for the Eagles in more than just the win-loss column as startring quarterback Drew McCreless was injured in the second quarter and transported to a Waco hospital with what was said to be a broken leg.
The injury actually came on defense as McCreless was trying to prevent a diving Caleb Pratt from scoring.
With starting quarterback Jake Truss and primary running back Kevin Clarke only playing offense in the first half, the Hornets rolled up 402 total yards. Clark rushed nine times for 77 yards and Truss completed six of 13 passes for 113 yards.
However, sophomore Garrett Featherston, who carried the load in the second half, was the leading rusher with 96 yards on 17 carries. Freshman quarterback Cole Edmiston, who played the entire second half, rushed six times for 30 yards and completed three of five passes for 21 yards.
Hillsboro, which lost four of six fumbles and had one pass picked off, ended up with 207 total yards, of which power-running Tevin McGruder had 82 on 15 rushes.
Gatesville set the tone of the game early, driving 68 yards in six plays with the score coming on a 30-yard pass from Truss to Dominique Moore.
On its third play, Hillsboro fumbled and Cody Cryer recovered for the Hornets. Six plays later Truss went over from the 8-yard line with 7:28 still to go in the period.
Hillsboro fumbled on the second play of its next possession and Truss duplicated his previous touchdown with another 8-yard run.
The Eagles went three-and-out and a 21-yard punt return by Nardi Meyers set up a four-play, 15-yard drive climaxed by Clarke's 6-yard run on fourth down.
In the second period, Gatesville added touchdowns on a 16-yard run by Pratt, who dove across the goal line, and a 7-yard run by Featherston. With 2:34 remaining in the first half it was 40-0.
Hillsboro's lone score came on a 32-yard pass from DeVincent Brooks, who moved from receiver to quarterback after McCreless' injury, to McGruder.
Featherston capped the night's scoring with another 7-yard run as he ended an 83-yard drive with three minutes remaining in the game.
sports@temple-telegram.com
