The Cougars of Canoe celebrated a big homecoming win over the Southern Academy Cougars, beating their region rivals 53-6 in front of a large crowd at Bachelor Field on Friday night.

The EA Cougars (4-3, 3-2) started their scoring bonanza on their second series and never looked back as they scored on all but three possessions for the rest of the game.

The offensive play was big way for the Cougars to continue their dominance in the last two games.

Eliminating penalties and turnovers was the big thing in jump-starting the offense, Cougars head coach Heath Gibson said.

“Cutting out penalties and turnovers was the big thing for us,” he said. “If we do that and our defense plays well then we put ourselves in a position to win like we did tonight.”

Things got started on Escambia Academy’s second possession when quarterback Michael Thompson and receiver Wesley Steadham connected on a 59-yard pass that put EA up 6-0 after a failed extra point attempt.

The Cougars then blocked a Southern field goal try and drove down the field in two plays with Thompson scoring on a nine-yard touchdown run to put EA up 12-0 after another missed kick.

Things got even worse for Southern on their next series as a backwards pass was fumbled and Escambia Academy’s Tanner Boatwright returned it 10 yards for another touchdown to put EA up 20-0 after a two-point conversion.

Southern put their only touchdown on the board halfway through the second quarter with a 29-yard run from their quarterback that put them down 14 points.

The Cougars would bounce right back on the first play of their next series as Thompson would score another touchdown this time torching Southern with a 66-yard dash to the end zone. The Cougars would go up 27-6 with the extra point, which is where it would be at halftime.

Following the break, the Cougars picked up where they left off forcing a punt on defense and then scoring on a 20-yard pass from Thompson to Austin McGhee that gave the Cougars a 33-6 advantage after the extra point.

McGhee made another play on defense, picking off a pass to give EA the ball back.

EA running back Jaylen Henry got in on the action scoring on the first play from scrimmage. Henry got the toss from Thompson and take the ball 68 yards to pay dirt to put EA ahead 39-6.

After another Southern punt, the Cougars gave the ball to Henry again who took the ball 76 yards this time to put EA up 46-6 following the extra point by Robert Whatley.

Escambia Academy got back to the end zone one more time with Henry leading the way on a 31-yard scamper to the end zone to put the hosting Cougars ahead 53-6 as time wound down in the fourth quarter.

With the big win behind him, Gibson said his team fought off a weak start to finish strong for the final three quarters.

“It was a big win for us,” he said. “We started slow, but we bounced back after our first possession and got things going.”

With the final stretch of the season ahead, the Cougars will look to their final region game against Wilcox Academy.

Finishing with a win will be the key in seeing how far the Cougars have come, Gibson said.

“They’ve come a long way,” he said. “Things are going well for us, but we need to finish strong in region play next week against Wilcox.”

The Cougars next game will be on the road at Wilcox Academy next Friday. Kick off is set for 7 p.m.