SAND ROCK — It's been a weird three weeks for the Wildcats.

Two weeks ago, Sand Rock beat West End on a long touchdown pass on the game's final play. Last week, hounded by the swine flu, the Wildcats looked flat and eventually lost to Geraldine in the last 10 seconds of a game most figured they would easily win.

Friday night, a packed homecoming crowd was expecting another close finish against the No. 2 team in the state in Class 1A. Instead, the Class 2A Wildcats took the fight out of the Gaston Bulldogs early and won easily, 42-7.

No one was more surprised by Sand Rock's fast start than Russell Jacoway, who collected the 198th win of his coaching career.

“Even with Buice out, they're the No. 2 team in the state,” Jacoway said, referring to the Bulldogs' All-State tailback, Demont Buice, who broke his ankle last week and is out for the season. “Coach Morris told me after the game that when we jumped on them they seemed to lose a lot of confidence.”

The Wildcat offense did jump on the Bulldogs early – and often.

After taking the opening kickoff and driving towards to red zone, the Wildcats scored on Justin Kyser's 22-yard run less than three minutes into the game. Matt Cole tacked on the first of seven successful PAT's for a 7-0 lead.

Gaston turned the ball over on downs at the Sand Rock 35-yard line on their opening possession, and the Wildcats wasted no time adding more points to the scoreboard. Quarterback Drew Norris hit Cole from 15 yards out, running the score to 14-0 with 3:49 left in the first.

Gaston quarterback Jordan McCartney, harassed all night by the Wildcat defense, was nearly picked off on the next Bulldog possession. Then, on fourth down near midfield, Dustin Isbell pinned the Wildcats at the five-yard line with a 47-yard punt.

But the long field didn't bother the Sand Rock offense. After completing a pass to the 24-yard line on first down, a holding penalty pushed the Wildcats back to the 11. On the next play, Norris found Kyser wide open across the middle for an 89-yard touchdown pass. With 1:36 left to go in the first quarter, Sand Rock was up 21-0.

The Bulldogs hadn't given up yet. Twenty seconds later, Isbell churned through the middle of the Sand Rock defense, gaining 23 yards before an impromptu lateral to Joseph Anderson, who completed a 53-yard touchdown run. Isbell added the PAT, making the score 21-7 with 1:14 still left in the first.

The wind began to leave the Bulldogs' sails early in the second, when Brannon Burt picked off McCartney's pass, giving Sand Rock the ball at the Gaston 15. Four plays later, after penalties moved the ball back to the 30, Norris found Burt streaking towards the end zone. With 10:08 remaining in the half, the Wildcats were up 28-7.

Despite the loss of his star running back, Gaston coach Swane Morris was quick to take the blame for his team's first half performance.

“We didn't adjust well to how their defense was playing us,” Morris said after the game. “We're still a good football team, but when we got down we had that doubt in our eyes. We've got to fix that.”

Sand Rock ran the halftime score to 35-7 when Norris passed 25 yards to Kiser with 5:02 remaining the second quarter. The Wildcats' final touchdown came on a 13-yard run by Sean Wiley early in the fourth quarter.

Norris finished the game 11 of 20 for 252 yards and 4 TDs. Kyser rushed four times for 66 yards and caught four passes for 123 yards.

Jacoway and the Sand Rock coaching staff have little time to celebrate the win. This Friday, the Wildcats (4-1, 2-1) return to region action.

“This week at Ider is a huge game for us,” Jacoway said. “They're going to be tough and it's just about a must-win game for us. Losing to Geraldine really put us in a bind.”