Easton Smith scored four touchdowns and West Limestone had its best region game of the season so far with a 55-8 rout of East Lawrence on Friday.

Cade Carpenter had one rushing and one passing touchdown for West Limestone (3-2, 1-2 Class 4A, Region 7). Travis McCluskey and JT Winter each scored as well and Ethan Reece returned a fumble for a touchdown.

“We had a great week of practice,” West Limestone coach Shelby Davis said. “Guys did a great job of regrouping after a tough loss.”

The Wildcats fell to Brooks last week after opening region play with a loss to Deshler.

“You can just tell (by) the demeanor,” Davis said, regarding his players’ readiness. “We were able to do the things we practiced all week.”

West Limestone hosts East Limestone next week.

Class 3A, Region 8Clements 50, Colbert Heights 37Clements coach Michael Parker suspects his team will need to win a bit more to get its confidence where it needs to be.

To that end, Friday should be a step forward.

The Colts (2-3, 1-2 Class 3A, Region 8) opened a big lead and then held on late against Colbert Heights (1-4, 0-2).

“We pretty much did what we wanted to do offensively. When it came down to needing to get a yard, we got it,” Parker said. “The execution was a whole lot better tonight than it was the last two weeks.”

Parker was pleased with the defense’s work in the first half but pointed out the team will need to finish games better.

“It’s a four-quarter game,” he said. “We played three of them tonight.”

Clements travels to D.A.R. next week.

Mars Hill Bible 76, Elkmont 0The top-ranked Class 3A team in the state made it a rough Friday for Elkmont as Mars Hill (5-0, 3-0 Class 3A, Region 7) scored seven first-half touchdowns.

Elkmont (3-2, 1-2) hosts Ardmore next week.

Class 2A, Region 8Tanner 48, Sheffield 14There’s plenty for Tanner coach Oscar Bonds to like about the 2023 season so far, particularly the way his players are capitalizing on opportunities and the fact that effort has them unbeaten in the region.

The Rattlers stayed that way following Friday’s rout of Sheffield.

“I thought we made adjustments and started playing pretty well on defense,” Bonds said. “The defense has just been able to create turnovers.”

Skylar Townsend caught two touchdown passes and returned an interception 100 yards for a score.

Bonds said he thinks it’s the third game this year Tanner (3-2, 3-0 Class 2A, Region 8) has returned an interception for a touchdown. Tailan Hall and Kian Jackson also intercepted passes.

Hall rushed for two scores and Karl Parham added one, Endymion Tyus caught a touchdown pass and K.C. Hale stood out at linebacker.

Bonds sees a couple big-picture explanations for success like he saw in Friday’s win over Sheffield (0-5, 0-3).

“Guys being more focused and just making plays one-on-one,” he said. “We try to get them in position to make plays one-on-one, and a lot of them did.”

Bonds is in his sixth year as Tanner’s head coach and the Rattlers are on a three-game winning streak.

They have now had at least one such streak three years in a row.

Tanner hosts Columbia next week.

Class 7A, Region 4James Clemens 14, Florence 7A strong team defensive performance and Cam Berry’s 28-yard run early in the fourth quarter combined to lift James Clemens to a key Class 7A, Region 4 win over Florence at Braly Stadium.

The Jets (4-1, 3-0) trailed 7-0 at halftime, but Ty Doughty’s 28-yard touchdown pass to Devon Cooper tied the game in the third quarter.

Berry broke off his touchdown run with 9:09 to go and the Jets held on from there.

The result moved James Clemens one game ahead of Florence (2-3, 2-1) in the region standings.

James Clemens hosts Muscle Shoals next week.

Class 5A, Region 7Russellville 53, East Limestone 7Jake Cochran’s 15-yard TD run early in the second quarter prevented a shutout, but East Limestone remained winless after a tough night against Russellville.

Russellville (5-0, 3-0) is unbeaten through five games for the fifth time in six seasons.

East Limestone (0-5, 0-3) visits West Limestone next week.