Escambia Academy pulled the covers tight, settled in early and ran to a 35-0 homecoming and region victory over Morgan Academy tonight.

The Cougars led 28-0 at halftime, thanks to a stellar first half by junior running back Kris Brown. Brown scored three touchdowns in the first 12 minutes of the game, and added another early in the third to finish with 277 yards and four scores.

Brown said the credit goes to the rest of the team.

“I really encouraged my line,” Brown said about the offensive front. “They had some pretty good blocks. Our wide receivers pursued to the ball really well. Our coach made some good play calls.

“We’ve been studying play calls all week because we knew this was a must win game,” he said.

Seventh-ranked EA improves to 5-3 overall, and 3-2 in AISA Class 3A, Region 1.

The Cougars, who have already punched a ticket to the postseason, needed to win by 13 to help with what could be a tiebreaker situation.

The Atmore private school still needs to win next week against Pike Liberal Arts on the road to secure the No. 2 seed going into the playoffs.

EA head football coach Hugh Fountain said he told the players all week that if they play well, it could have an affect down the road knowing how important tonight’s game was.

“This is a good example of hanging in there and trying hard,” Fountain said. “The only three we’ve lost to (Autauga Academy, Edgewood Academy and Monroe Academy) are 17-3. I feel like we came out with authority in this game.”

Brown scored all three of his first-half touchdowns in the first quarter from 35, 80 and 59 yards.

Teammate Trey Turner scored from 20 yards in the second quarter to help lead the Cougars to a 28-0 lead at the break.

Brown’s final TD came with just over 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

“We’re really looking forward to next week,” Brown said about Pike Lib. “We’re going to pound them. They can’t second guess us because we can pass, too.”

For the night, the Cougars had 393 total yards on offense compared to Morgan Academy’s 126.

“Escambia (Academy) did a great job,” MA head football coach Jake Wingo said. “They came out and dominated us for four quarters.”