The big play was the enemy of East Limestone Friday night, as Mortimer Jordan scored four touchdowns in excess of 40 yards en route to a 41-9 victory over the Indians in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.

It was the 11^th consecutive win for Mortimer Jordan (11-1), which will face Jasper in the quarterfinals next Friday.

Mortimer Jordan quarterback Kourtlan Marsh was the offensive catalyst, rushing for 106 yards and a touchdown, while throwing for 91 yards and another score.

East Limestone got on the board first, after recovering a fumble at the Mortimer Jordan 25-yard line. The Indians failed to move the ball, but kicker Syrus James nailed a 41-yard field goal to give East a 3-0 lead.

Unfortunately for the Indians, the lead would be very short-lived. On Mortimer Jordan’s first offensive play after the kickoff, Marsh found a wide-open Garek Hall over the middle for a 60-yard touchdown pass.

After forcing an East Limestone punt, Mortimer Jordan would quickly drive the field, aided by a pass interference and facemask penalty. Daniel Franklin capped off the drive with a 4-yard touchdown plunge late in the first quarter.

East Limestone would suffer a huge blow on its next possession, as senior quarterback Andrew Parris suffered an injury to his throwing shoulder that would keep him out basically the remainder of the game, although he did come in on East’s second-to-last possession of the game to hand off a few times.

Coupled with the absence of star wide receiver C.J. Yarbrough, who missed the game due to a concussion he suffered last week against Boaz, Parris’ injury was a critical loss.

Mortimer Jordan extended the lead to 21-3 on its next possession, after a roughing the punter penalty continued the drive that should have been stopped. The Blue Devils were fortunate to score, as Hall fumbled the ball into the end zone on a rushing attempt, but Franklin was right there to fall on it in the end zone for the touchdown.

Mortimer Jordan got its second long touchdown of the game late in the half, as Franklin rumbled 41 yards for a score on fourth and one with just 48 seconds remaining in the second quarter to put the Blue Devils up 28-3 at halftime.

East Limestone had a chance to cut into the lead early in the third quarter, but were stopped on fourth and goal. Three plays later, Marsh put the game away with an 80-yard touchdown run down the sideline.

East got its only touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter on a 35-yard run by Kollin Swart, but Mortimer Jordan concluded the scoring when Keondrick Hankins galloped 48 yards for a touchdown.

D.J. Davis led East Limestone with 98 rushing yards on 15 carries, while Swart had 52 yards and a touchdown on four rushing attempts.

East Limestone concluded its season with a 9-3 record.