RICHMNOND — Talan McClurg had a night to remember.

McClurg ran the ball 30 times for 313 yards and two touchdowns leading the Edison football team to a 49-14 mercy rule victory against Buckeye 8 rival Harrison Central Friday Night on Senior Night at the Edison Unified Sports Complex.

“That says a lot about our offensive line,” Edison (8-0) head coach Mike Collopy said. “They really played well. They have allowed us to coach them hard. They have done a great job for us.”

All told the Wildcats amassed 443 yards and six touchdowns on the ground on 48 carries. Quarterback Gage Cline tallied 124 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries, while also throwing for 107 yards and another touchdown.

Thanks to a pair of big plays, the Huskies scored two touchdown on 56 seconds, however, the rest of the night belonged to the Wildcats.

“I don’t think we were lacking in confidence,” Harrison Central (4-4) head coach Anthony Hayes said. “We have been lacking in execution. I have to figure it out. We’re not executing. If we don’t start to execute, we are going to be in trouble these next two weeks. We are not executing on offense or defense.”

The boys from Harrison County led by two points at the end of the first quarter, but it was all downhill after the boys in white took the lead.

The Huskies led 14-6 with 5:43 remaining to be played in the first. Harrison Central took the lead on a 7-yard pass from Hayden Cassidy to Parker Hutton with 6:47 left in the quarter. Then after recovering an errant snap and an Edison penalty, the visitors took over at the 2. Hutton then bulldozed his way into the end zone on the next play scoring his second touchdown of the night. Standout kicker Jace Madzia slpit the uprights with bot extra points giving his team an eight-point advantage.

Harrison Central’s first touchdown was set up by a 72-yard kick off return by Nico Wurshum. Wurshum returned the ball all the way down to the Edison 7.

“We started off slow,” Collopy said. “We got what we wanted to start. We got a stop, and then we went down and scored. Then, we had the mistake on the snap.

“I thought our defense played really well. I am really proud of them. They have taken our coaching. They did what we asked them to do. It was just our night.”

Cassidy completed 12-of-18 passes for 85 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Hutton contributed five catches for 38 yards to go along with his 2-yard touchdown run, and Kaden Jurasko delivered four catches for 31 yards.

The boys in white only ran for 23 yards on 14 carries.

Madzia punted the ball four times with an average of 53 yards a punt.

Cline opened the scoring on a 1-yard run, however, Liam Watson’s extra point attempt was blocked keeping the score at 6-0 with 7:55 left in the first.

After the Huskies scored two straight touchdowns to take the lead, the Wildcats marched right down the field for their second TD of the night. This one came courtesy of McClurg, who broke through the Harrison Central defense on his way to a 38-yard score making the score 14-12. A penalty pushed back the extra point try, and kicked sailed wide keeping the Huskies ahead by two with 4:12 left to play in the quarter.

The Wildcats regained the lead early in the second, and the boys in black never reliquinshed it.

Cline capped another scoring march with a 2-yard run giving the boys from Jefferson County an 18-14 lead with 10:07 remaining in the half. The 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete keeping the victors ahead by four.

Avante’ Hayes then hauled in a 13-yard score from Cline, and this time Watson’s PAT split the uprights giving the Wildcats a 25-14 advantage with 6:37 left in the second stanza.

Late in the half, Edison drove down toward Harrison Central’s goal line, however, the Wildcats had to settle for a 29-yard Watson field goal to increase their advantage to 28-14 at halftime.

“They did what we expected them to do,” Hayes said.

The Wildcats had a 17-0 advantage in first downs in the first half. Edison ended the night with 31, while Harrison Central picked up four.

The scoring onslaught continued in the third.

McClurg found the the end zone for the second time – this time from 7-yards out – and Watson booted the PAT increasing Edison’s advantage to 35-14 with 7:55 left in the third. Cline then scored on his third short touchdown run of the night – this one covering 4 yards, and Watson’s third extra point of the night made the score 42-14.

Senior offensive linemen Ashton Ellis scored the final touchdown for the Wildcats in the fourth. He plowed his way into the end zone from the 2, and Watson nailed the extra point making the score, 49-14, with 4:50 bringing the running clock into play.

“That is something we have had in for awhile, but we have not been able to use it because of us scoring on long runs,” Collopy said about the touchdown by Ellis. “Ashton is super athletic. He’s a great kid.”

Decker Lancaster collected four catches for 57 yards to lead the way for the Wildcats, while Deacon Rawson snagged two receptions for 38 yards.

Lancaster and Hayes each intercepted a pass on defense.

The Wildcats are 8-0 for the first time in school history. The eight straight wins are also a school record.

The game was the Wildcats final regular season game at home, however, it may not be Edison’s last home game of the season as the team may possibly play at least one home game in the upcoming playoffs.

“We are happy we could send the seniors out with a win,” Collopy said. “They were 0-10 as freshmen. We picked up some other guys along the way. They stuck together. I am really proud of them.

“Every week it is something different. One week it is the running backs, the next week the quarterback and the next week the receivers.

“It’s all about the team. They let us coach them. We want to continue to see improvement every week.”

Both teams are scheduled to play at 7 p.m. Friday night on the road.

Edison is scheduled to play Jefferson County rival Buckeye Local down at War Memorial Stadium, while Harrison Central returns to Jefferson County to take on Buckeye 8 rival Indian Creek at Kettlewell Stadium.

Edison 49, Harrison Central 14

HC 14 0 0 0 – 14

Edison 12 16 14 7 – 49

E-Cline 1 run (kick blocked)

HC-Hutton 7 pass from Cassidy (Madzia kick)

HC-Hutton 2 run (Madzia kick)

E-McClurg 8 run (kick fail)

E-Cline 2 run (pass fail)

E-Hayes 13 pass from Cline (Watson kick)

E-Watson 29 field goal

E-McClurg 7 run (Watson kick)

E-Cline 4 run (Watson kick)

E-Ellis 2 run (Watson kick)

RUSHING: Harrison Central 14-23 TD (Cassidy 2-(-2), Quito 4-8, Cowans 1-1, Hutton 1-2 TD, Rinkes 5-14, Hyre 1-0); Edison 48-443 6TDs (Cline 18-124 3TDs, McClurg 30-313 2TDs, Hayes 4-17, Henderson 1-10, Ellis 1-2 TD, Team 1-(-23)))

PASSING: Harrison Central 12-18-85-1-2 (All by Cassidy); Edison 8-13-107-1-0 (All by Cline)

RECEIVING: Harrison Central 12 (Hutton 5-38 TD, Jurasko 4-31, Quito 1-(-3), Vermillion 1-15, Rex 1-4); Edison 8-107 TD (Rawson 2-38, Lancaster 4-57, Hayes 1-13, Team 1-(-5))

FIRST DOWNS: Harrison Central 4; Edison 31

PENALTIES-YARDS: Harrison Central 11-85; Edison 9-66

FUMBLES-LOST: Harrison Central 0-0; Edison 2-1