TROY — Escambia Academy scored 15 points in 1 minute, 30 seconds in the first half as the Cougars went on to rout Pike Liberal Arts 36-7 in a big region contest last night.

The Cougars and Patriots were scoreless after the first quarter, but EA was driving going into the second when it drew first blood.

Junior tailback Kris Brown, who accounted for three touchdowns on the night, connected with Fred Flavors from 20 yards with 11:53 to go before halftime. Less than a minute later, the Cougars got a safety on a bad snap on a punt to go ahead 8-0.

On its next offensive possession, Escambia Academy went ahead for good when quarterback Kainoa Gumapac hit Flavors from 30 yards for another score with 10:27 left in the first half. With the extra point attempt, the Cougars lead 15-0.

“That was a good win for us,” EA head football coach Hugh Fountain said. “That was a really good win for us.”

Fountain said the boys played well on both sides of the ball, especially on defense.

“Our first possession was our only bad possession we had in the game,” he said. “We kind of got rolling after that first possession. I was really proud of them because we were North-South like we told them.”

With this win, the Cougars improve to 6-3 overall, and 4-2 in AISA Class 3A, Region 1. EA put itself in a good position to secure the No. 2 seed going into the playoffs.

Fountain said this win gave his team a good chance to roll into the postseason in good position.

Tonight’s game was so important, Fountain showed a lot of emotion on the sideline.

He had good reason to.

“This is a big game for us,” he said. “We’re all about giving ourselves a chance. We had a lot of emotion in this game because this game is so important to us.”

Defensively, the Cougars held the Patriots to only 185 yards as they came close to a shutout.

Brown scored his second touchdown on the ground with 2:30 left in the second quarter on a 42-yard scramble, in which he shoved three defenders out of the way and bowled through a few more to get into the end zone. Brown finished the night with 166 rushing yards on 23 carries and two scores.

Brown’s second touchdown run came with 1:34 left in the third to give the Cougars a 29-0 lead.

With the game well in hand, the Cougars put in their second string and Patrick McGee screamed into the end zone from the 49-yard line with more than 6 minutes left.

Pike Liberal Arts scored its only touchdown of the night when Reed Jinwright found Marquese Christian for a 65-yard bomb down the right sideline.

EA is back in action next week at home against Glenwood.

In other area action, Northview, Fla., topped Jay 7-0. The Chiefs visit Walton.

Escambia County lost 38-8 to St. Paul’s. The Blue Devils finish their season next week at home against Monroe County.