East Limestone closed its season with a dominating 57-13 win over Tanner Friday night, but Indians coach Jeff Pugh was left to wonder what might have been if his team had played a little better earlier in the season.

“It just feels like we let this season get away,” Pugh said after East finished with a 4-6 record and failed to make the playoffs. “This team should definitely be one of the playoff teams, and I think everybody we played kind of knows that. We let four games get away from us that we could have won. It’s tough to know you are a better team than what your record shows and you’re not getting a chance to extend your season.”

After suffering through a five-game losing streak during the season, East came back to win three of its final four games, with the only loss being a 28-26 heartbreaker against Guntersville. However, it wasn’t enough to crack the top four in Class 5A, Region 8 and make the playoffs.

“As the year went on, we got some more depth and played a few more kids that we weren’t able to play early in the year,” Pugh said. “Maybe if we had those guys ready earlier in the season, we’d have had some more depth and not had to play so many guys both ways.”

Everything came together for East in the season finale, as the Indians rushed for 294 yards and had 371 total yards, while Tanner was held to just 152 total yards, including 31 in the second half.

The East Limestone defense also forced five turnovers, intercepting four passes and recovering a fumble.

East wasted no time taking control of the game, as they scored 21 points in the first quarter. D.J. Davis capped off the Indians’ opening drive with a 41-yard touchdown run. Syrus James added the first of his four extra points.

Fourteen seconds later East was on the scoreboard again, as J.D. Farrar fell on a Tanner fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.

T.J. Tyson put East up 21-0 with an 11-yard touchdown run midway through the opening quarter. Tanner finally stopped the bleeding, as Skylar Townsend scored on a 2-yard run and Gabriel Gonzalez added the PAT.

However, any momentum Tanner might have had from the touchdown quickly evaporated, as East scored two more touchdowns. Davis scored on a 22-yard run to re-establish the 21-point lead, and Dillon Parris then tossed a 51-yard touchdown pass to Kollin Swart. Angel Cortes added the first of his three extra points to put the Indians up 35-7.

Tanner (1-9) closed the scoring in the first half with a touchdown on the final play of the half. Townsend threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to J.J. Jones as the clock struck zero to pull Tanner within 35-13.

However, the second half completely belonged to East Limestone, as the Indians defense smothered Tanner’s offense.

East got its second defensive touchdown of the night when Jed Sutherland intercepted a pass and returned it 82 yards for a touchdown midway through the third quarter. Isaiah Sutherland ran in the 2-point conversion to put the Indians up 43-13.

East Limestone added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Tyson scored on a 25-yard run and Fortune Wheeler closed the scoring with a 5-yard touchdown run.

Davis led East Limestone with 147 yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries. Tyson had 53 yards and two touchdowns on three carries.

Davis’ 147 yards allowed him to get over 1,000 rushing yards on the season, which Pugh said is the first time East Limestone has had a 1,000-yard rusher since 2009.

“As far as players go, the way he practiced, ran his sprints, the way his attitude was during the games and how hard he ran the football, nobody deserved getting 1,000 yards more than D.J.,” Pugh said. “D.J. just made play after play for us. He really put his heart into this year. I was really proud for him to get that 1,000 yards because I know that means a lot to him.”