Escambia Academy didn’t let off the brakes in a 56-19 rout over Jackson Academy tonight at Bachelor Field in Canoe.

The Cougars pounded the grass, compiling 387 yards in the first half alone on a 476-yard offensive night.

EA was led by junior running back Louie Turner and senior back Kris Brown. Turner finished the night with 171 yards on six carries and three touchdowns, while Brown posted 161 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns. Both scored the same number of touchdowns last week at Pickens Academy.

“We just kind of had a great ground game tonight,” EA head football coach Hugh Fountain said. “I think we were really hoping we could block well up front.”

Turner’s first TD came on the very first play from scrimmage on a 77-yard rush with 10:27 left in the first quarter. He ended up scoring his second and third TDs in the same quarter from 4 and 67 yards.

Turner kept the fourth-ranked Cougars (4-1) in the game after Jackson went ahead early.

The Eagles also scored on their first play from the line on a nice 77-yard pass from Luke Lankford to Alvin Forward. Lankford found Anterius Hicks later less than 2 minutes later on a 70-yarder to put JA ahead 13-6.

Turner’s second touchdown tied the game at 13-all with the extra point, and his third put the Cougars ahead for good at 21-13.

“Their No. 9 (Forward) made a good run (on the Eagles’ first score),” Fountain said. “The second play, we were in the wrong spot. After that, we played good defense the rest of the way.”
That the Cougars did by shutting down any opportunity the Eagles were trying to get in the air with good coverage and on the ground with solid line play.

After getting a penalty in the red zone during the second quarter, Brown picked up his first TD of the night from 14 yards. He then connected with Gary Campbell for the 2-point conversion for a 29-13 lead.

Fred Flavors, a shifty, strong and fast player, hit pay dirt on a 37-yard run with 7:07 left in the first half to put the game way out of reach at 37-13.

Brown scored with less than 1 minute left in the first half on a 2-yard rush as the Cougars led 43-13 at the break.

Prior to the Cougars’ next possession, EA’s Jackson Daw caught an interception to officially knock the wind out of the Eagles’ sails.

EA senior quarterback Kainoa Gumapac hit a 12-yar run with 6:56 left in the third, and with the help of Fountain’s instruction to go to the center, Flavors returned a kick off 67 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth.

“We kept telling him at halftime to quit doing this (waves his hand back and forth), and go to the center,” Fountain said about Flavors.

With this win, this pretty much assures the Cougars a playoff berth, Fountain said.

EA’s next AISA Class 2A, Region 2 game is at Clarke County on Oct. 7, and then at home against Autauga Academy on homecoming for a chance to win the region.

Right now, it’s all about working on the playoff spot, Fountain said.

“We did a good job, but we’ve still got a lot to work on,” he said.