BURGESS-SNOW FIELD – Sand Rock head coach Russell Jacoway said he didn't like the looks he saw in his players' eyes as he entered the locker room at halftime here on the campus of Jacksonville State University Friday night.

Exactly what Jacoway said to his team remains a secret. But suffice it to say he got their attention.

The Wildcats poured on the coals in the third quarter, scoring three touchdowns to extend a five-point halftime lead to a 35-8 final score over the Pleasant Valley Raiders.

The game was moved to JSU after the April 27 tornado snapped all four light poles at the Raiders' home field on the Pleasant Valley High School campus. The team hopes to return to its own stadium by midseason.

Sand Rock running back Chad Thompson was a one-man highlight reel. But without the senior's 83-yard touchdown run on the Wildcats' first play from scrimmage, Sand Rock would have had only a handful of yards on the ground in the first half.

Four, to be exact.

Sand Rock's offensive about-face was complete by the end of the third quarter. The Wildcats focused on the running game and added 22 points to the scoreboard, including another long run from Thompson.

By the final gun, Sand Rock had racked up 314 yards on the ground and another 73 through the air. Pleasant Valley played hard all night, but managed only 198 total yards. Senior running back Will Hamby led the Raiders with 62 yards on 15 carries.

Leading 7-0 early in the second quarter, Thompson completed a 12-play Wildcat drive with his second score on a one-yard run. His touchdown put Sand Rock up 13-0. Dylan Mackey missed the PAT.

Pleasant Valley answered with an impressive drive of its own on the next series. Sophomore quarterback Lucas Ford completed a 20-yard scoring pass to junior receiver Eddie Roe with 3:13 remaining in the half. The score came at the end of an impressive 12-play, 75-yard drive.

Sand Rock's next scoring drive was short and sweet. Beginning at the Raider 33-yard line after a short punt, the Wildcats needed only three plays to push the score to 21-8 on an 11-yard run by Thompson, his third TD of the night.

With just over two minutes remaining in the third, junior Sean Wylie took the snap from center and dove in from the 6-yard line to complete another Wildcat scoring drive.

Following another Pleasant Valley punt, Thompson mirrored his first quarter performance by bolting 87 yards on the ensuing snap. Tyler Garmany added the point after to complete the scoring.

Jacoway waved off questions about details of his halftime speech with a sly smile. But he turned serious as he elaborated on the reason he felt his troops needed an early season attention getter.

“We've got a chance to have a good football team, but we've got to get some fire about us,” Jacoway said. “We need more leadership, period. And at this point, I don't care if it comes from the seniors or the managers. We've got to have more fire than we've got right now.”

Next week, Jacoway and his staff will get another chance to stoke that fire at home against Class 2A Region 6 opponent Ider.