Stepping into your first game as a high school quarterback is not the easiest job in the world, but East Ridge's Alonzo Russell made it look fairly simple Friday night.
The sophomore kept his poise on both sides of the ball and helped lead the Pioneers to a 34-6 victory over Brainerd at Raymond James Stadium. He gathered 132 total yards and also came away with a key interception in what looked to be a promising drive for the Panthers (0-2) in the second quarter when they trailed by a score.
Through the air the Pioneers (1-1) totaled 161 yards and were 8-of-10 with three touchdowns, including a 57-yard strike from Russell to sophomore receiver Marquis Hinton in the third quarter to take a 20-6 lead.
Russell entered in relief. After junior starting quarterback Eric Bennett threw two first-quarter touchdowns, he was held out the rest of the game with concussion symptoms after taking a shot to the head on a two-point conversion.
"We have been working on the passing game every week and keep getting better at it," East Ridge coach Tim James said. "But what I'm most proud of is we are beat to pieces and our backups did a great job. Bennett early on handled the game really well, and he got dinged on the early conversion.
"When somebody gets dinged it's next man up, and I was real proud of Alonzo coming on. I was proud of our O-line, too. They took control of the ballgame."
Russell completed 5 of 7 passes for 121 yards and added 16 yards on four carries.
"We didn't really get nervous like we did last week," Russell said, referring to East Ridge's 35-28 loss to Polk County in its season opener. "Both of us made good reads at quarterback, and our linemen did a good job pass blocking. I settled down because I realized the game wasn't over yet when I came in and I had to step up for my team."
Third-string running back Kashawn Cosey put the game out of reach on a very imposing drive. On his ninth carry of the possession, he dove in from a yard out for the score. The junior back gained 54 of his 86 rushing yards (on 15 carries) on the drive, which gave East Ridge a 27-6 lead with 3:59 left in the third quarter.
"The lanes opened up that entire drive, and I cut the ball back well on some runs as well," Cosey said. "The linemen were great tonight and I give them a lot of credit. They gave me room to run."
After tweaking his ankle last week, Lorenzo Stewart found paydirt with a late fourth-quarter touchdown from 2 yards out. He also had a two-point conversion in the first half.
Brainerd's score came from its big bruising running back, senior Jamaul Herman Jr. His 9-yard run on a pitch play up the middle was his fourth touchdown of the early season - he scored three times in a 37-27 loss to Chattanooga Christian last week.
East Ridge was led in receiving by Hinton, who had three catches for 86 yards, and senior Jordan Lindsey added three catches for 62 yards and a score. Jawuan Simmons also had a touchdown catch.
The win was the first for James in his second stint at East Ridge.
"I have always loved this field," James said. "It was part of my dad. We have all this pretty Bermuda (grass) out here because when I was in high school they brought in a pickup truck and my dad had us poking holes and putting sprigs of Bermuda in the field. It's really good to be home."