West Limestone shook off a sluggish first half to score 27 unanswered points in the second half and take a 27-7 win over Class 4A, Region 8 rival Elkmont.

The Wildcats found themselves down 7-0 at halftime after Elkmont quarterback Davis Hobbs tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Peyton Lovell in the final seconds of the second quarter, but came out of the locker room in the second half a brand new team.

The difference was the West Limestone running game, as Nick Martindale and Brett Beckworth combined to rush for 209 yards on 24 carries. Martindale had 135 of those yards with three touchdowns while Beckworth had 74 yards.

But it was a different running back who finally got the scoring started for West Limestone, as Preston Miller scored on a 30-yard burst just 1:15 into the third quarter. Elkmont still led after the missed extra point, but that lead would only hold until near the end of the quarter.

West Limestone took its first lead of the game when Martindale scored on a 9-yard run with 1:44 remaining in the third. Miller ran for the 2-point conversion and the Wildcats led 14-7.

West put two more touchdowns on the board in the fourth quarter. Martindale scored on an 8-yard run early in the quarter, and then put the icing on the cake with a 72-yard scoring run midway through the period.

Davis Hobbs led Elkmont with 61 rushing yards and 99 passing yards with a passing touchdown. Seth Coffman was the Red Devils’ leading receiver with two receptions for 76 yards.

Gage McKelvey had 74 yards passing for West Limestone, with Christian Clemmons hauling in a reception for 33 yards.

West Limestone (2-1, 1-0 Class 4A, Region 8) will host Central-Florence next Friday while Elkmont (0-4, 0-2) has an off week.