The Collinsville Pirates remained undefeated in district action after swatting the Era Hornets by the score of 63-20.
After building a 21-14 lead, the Pirates stepped up on both sides of the ball to blow the game wide open.
The Pirates received the opening kickoff and wasted no time, needing only three plays for quarterback Paxton Davidson to throw a 34yard touchdown pass to Chad Davidson.
Kicker Isaiah Smith hit the extra point attempt, giving Collinsville a 7-0 lead with less than a minute expired off the game clock.
A sack by Pirates defensive lineman Russell Carney ended the Hornets’ first drive.
Collinsville found the end zone again when Landry Spivey completed a four-play drive by running into the end zone from 6 yards out and giving the Pirates a 14-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Hornets capped a 12-play drive when quarterback Cole Thompson called his own number and scored a 2-yard touchdown run on its ensuing possession.
Thomason then threw a dart to Brayden Bagley for the 2-point conversion to make the score 14-8.
Era would score another second-quarter touchdown, this time a 14-yard pass from Thompson to Levi Harris.
The Pirates responded with four second- quarter touchdowns to effectively ice the game.
The first shot from the Pirates’ scoring barrage was a 33-yard pass from Paxton to Caysen Schafer, followed by a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Chase Sheppard, who scored a 1-yard touchdown run.
Chad then caught his second touchdown from Paxton, this one from 7 yards out, and the proverbial “nail in the coffin” came on the last play of the second quarter when Schafer picked off a Thomason pass and returned it for a 30-yard Pick-6.
That sent both teams to the locker rooms at halftime with the Pirates dominating 42-14.
Era got the ball first to start the second half but could only muster 2 yards in 3 plays and was forced to punt.
Once again, Collinsville needed only 3 plays to score this time on an 11-yard rushing play, giving Sheppard his second touchdown of the night and extending the Pirates’ lead to 49-14.
The Hornets showed they had a little sting left by moving the ball downfield in an eightplay drive, culminating in a 27-yard touchdown pass from Thompson to Zane Shivers.
Carter Larance capped off the first Collinsville possession in the final period of play with a 17-yard touchdown catch, pushing the Pirate lead to 56-20.
Collinsville would get the ball one more time, and Larance caught a short pass from Paxton; he then turned in one of the more impressive plays of the season as he weaved through the defenders for 41 yards, finally being brought down at the Hornet 6-yard line.
Reserve running back Rylan Brown plunged into the end zone on the next play, giving the Pirates the 63-20 victory.
Collinsville’s defense held Era to only 61 yards rushing, intercepted a pass, and had multiple sacks.
Offensively, quarterback Paxton finished 1420 for 217 yards and 4 touchdowns, while the Pirates’ ground game rushed for 192 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Collinsville will go on the road Friday to face another swarm of hornets in a matchup with the defending 2A State Champion Muenster Hornets.
The pivotal contest will kick off at 7 p.m. and could decide the district championship as well as affect playoff seeding.
Assistant editor Martin Edwards contributed to this report.
