Anson High had plenty to celebrate Friday, as the Bearcats not only took an important Rocky River Conference win from previously undefeated West Stanly, but they did so in impressive fashion with a 34-0 whitewashing of the visiting Colts.
The win gave Anson sole possession of first place with a 3-0 record in the conference and improved the Bearcats to 6-3 overall.
Anson opened the game with two touchdowns in the first frame and added another in the second quarter for a 21-0 lead at intermission.
The Bearcats scored a touchdown in the third, but missed the PAT, for a 27-0 edge and added a final score in the fourth to complete the shutout.
It wasn’t as easy as the final score indicates, however.
West Stanly held a 27:36 to 20:24 advantage in time of possession, and also were handed 115 yards in penalties by the Bearcats, while giving back just 20.
But senior quarterback Wesley Lear and senior running back Dequon Sturdivant combined for 336 yards of offense, while the Anson defense held the Colts to just 146 yards of total offense.
Lear was 10-for-21 through the air for 206 yards and a trio of touchdowns. Two of those scoring strikes went to R.J. Jackson, while the other was hauled in by Tyrek Hardison.
Sturdivant had one reception for 21 yards, while Jalen Marshall had a catch for 17 yards.
On the ground, Sturdivant rushed for 130 yards on 13 carries and scored two touchdowns.
All told, the Bearcats rolled up 410 yards of offense Friday.
On the defensive side of the ball, Anson got 14 total tackles from Rasheed Burns — including nine solo and one for loss. Darren Harrington added three tackles for loss, including two sacks; while Ronald Capel had one tackle for loss.
Burns also had a fumble recovery, as did Kyonta Burns. One of those fumbles was caused by Harrington.
Anson will close out its regular season on Friday with a home game against conference rival Forest Hills at 7:30 p.m.