Escambia Academy decided that it needed to have a good third quarter against Jay, Fla. tonight.

The Cougars led 21-15 at halftime and only ran 13 offensive plays in the first half.

By the 9-minute mark of the third quarter, the Cougars were back to their scoring ways and went on to beat the Royals 49-23 at Bachelor Field in Canoe.

“I thought we played excellent in the third quarter,” EA head football coach Hugh Fountain said. “We really played well in the first quarter, but we just didn’t have the ball much.”

EA’s Fred Flavors returned the first punt of the game for a touchdown, and the Cougars then scored on their first offensive play of the game.

“Then we got a little slack with it, and they came back,” Fountain said. “At halftime, I just told them to reestablish the game in the second half, and do what we’re trying to get done.

“I think we did that,” he said.

With a 29-15 lead, EA junior quarterback Jabe Dawe completed a 40-yard touchdown pass to Flavors and the Cougars led 36-15.

The Cougars found itself within scoring position on their next offensive possession, and handed it to senior Jamie Welker, who scooted in from 3 yards.

On the last scoring play, Dawe found some wiggle room in the line and raced the field for a 51-yard score with 9:01 left in the game.

Jay, known as a scrappy team, scored late in the game after going the length of the field.

Second-ranked EA (6-0) has an open week next week, and will host Clarke Prep on Oct. 6.