East Limestone wasn’t in the mood to play around with its overmatched opponent Friday night. The Indians raced out to a 35-point halftime lead and cruised to a 42-0 victory over Brewer to improve to 3-0 in Class 5A, Region 8.

It was the third straight dominating region victory for East, following big victories over Lee-Huntsville (50-28) and Mae Jemison (43-15).

East Limestone’s defense was especially dominating Friday. The Indians held Brewer to just 81 total yards and forced four turnovers, returning two of them for touchdowns.

“We wanted to put pressure on their quarterback because he’s got a good arm and they have some good receivers,” East Limestone coach Jeff Pugh said. “We did that, and made him throw the ball early. I think we got a lot of contact on him too, and kept him a little rattled.”

East Limestone only attempted two passes in the game and didn’t complete either, but it wasn’t necessary as the Indians rushing attack ran for 263 yards on 27 carries.

However, the remainder of East Limestone’s schedule is much tougher, beginning with Friday’s game against West Limestone, and Pugh said the passing game must improve.

“We’ve just got to get better in the passing game,” he said. “We haven’t had to throw the ball, so that’s been a good thing because our running game has worked so well. Dillon (Parris) is a capable quarterback. He’s got a good arm and knows the offense, but we’ve got to work more on it. We’re about to play some teams where we’re going to have to throw the ball to loosen the defense up.”

But the passing game wasn’t needed Friday against Brewer. East got on the board early thanks to some long runs.

Kollin Swart capped of the Indians’ first drive with a 52-yard scoring run less than 3 minutes into the game. Fortune Wheeler got in on the act a few minutes later when he raced 71 yards for a touchdown run of his own.

Less than a minute after that, East had its third score of the night when Blake Cross scooped up a Brewer fumble and returned it eight yards for a touchdown that put the Indians up 21-0 after the first quarter.

East added two more touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 35-0 halftime lead. Swart scored his second touchdown of the night on a 16-yard run before Wheeler got his second score with a 10-yard run less than a minute before halftime.

Swart finished the game with 96 yards and two touchdowns on just three carries, while Wheeler had 89 yards and two scores on five carries.

The only touchdown of the second half came on Garrett King’s 47-yard interception return late in the third quarter.

The win was the third straight for East Limestone, which now sits 3-1 overall and 3-0 in region play. The Indians step out of region Friday to host West Limestone in a county rivalry game. Following that, the Indians have region games against Lawrence County, Ardmore and Russellville. Pugh said while the second half of the schedule is much tougher, he believes his team can continue to win.

“If we can not give up the big plays on special teams, and not turn the ball over, we’re going to be able to have a chance to win every game we play,” he said.