Eastern Greene quarterback Gunnar Porter (15) watches the ball fall out of his hands during a running play against Paoli Friday night at Eastern Heights. (By B.J. Hargis/Greene County Daily World). [Order this photo]

EASTERN HEIGHTS -- Paoli accounted for over 500 yards of total offense and scored seven touchdowns as the Class 2A No. 12 Rams improved to 8-0 with a 49-24 victory over host Eastern Greene here Friday night in a non-conference football game.

The Rams, who were using the option offense led by quarter Logan Laswell, used numerous big plays to knock off the Thunderbirds, who slipped to 1-7.

Paoli had scoring plays of 37, 48, 62 and 43 plus non-scoring plays of 47, 34, 23, 18, 18, 14, 13 and 10.

Laswell completed 7 of 12 passes for 199 yards and two TDs. He added three short scoring runs among his 68 yards on the ground.

Tyler Dillard had 127 of the Rams' 304 yards on the ground and TD runs of 62 and 43. The later was the lone scoring of the fourth quarter.

"At times we played well on both sides of the ball," said Eastern Greene coach Luke Dean. "But at times we did not play so well.

"The biggest problem for us was the big play. We are not used to seeing their option offense and they have some kids that can turn a mistake on defense into a big play. You have to carry out your assignments and at times we did not do that so well."

Paoli coach Brian Balsmeyer's Rams, who have won 14 of 16 games after winning just twice in 43 games before that, jumped out to a 14-0 advantage and led 28-18 at the half.

"You have to give Eastern Greene all the credit in the world," said Balsmeyer. "They really came to play, there was no doubt about that.

"I was very impressed with their kids last year."

The Thunderbirds put together three long scoring drives in the second quarter. A 17-play, 69-yard march concluded with a a 15-yard TD pass from Gunnar Porter to Michael Love with nine minutes and 37 seconds remaining in the first half. The first of four failed conversion attempts left the Thunderbirds behind 14-6.

After Laswell hit Tate Smith with their second TD hook-up in the first half, the Thunderbirds responded with a 74-yard drive. Miguel Olvera carried the final 5 yards, trimming the deficit to 21-12 with 76 seconds to play in the half.

But Dillard went around left end virtually untouched, racing 62 yards for another Ram TD. Kris Molina booted the second of five PATs as the lead reached 28-12.

"We have some pretty good football players," said Balsmeyer. "We have some quickness and was able to come up with some big plays."

But the Thunderbirds weren't finished. Porter ran for 26 yards up the middle, then connected with Tanner Bailey (four catches for 64 yards) with a 40-yard pass and then Love made a juggling catch over Paoli defender Josh Reef for a 25-yard touchdown with 36.5 ticks left on the clock.

Porter completed 14 of 22 passes for 184 yards and the two TDs. Zach Ingram had five receptions for 54 yards and Love had four grabs for 56.

"I was really pleased with what we were able to accomplish with our passing game, at times," said Dean. "Gunner did a nice job of throwing the ball and our line gave him time to throw.

"Michael, Zach and Tanner, all sophomores, are really starting to mature and develop. They all made some very good catches, at times even juggling catches."

A Laswell 1-yard scoring run put the Rams ahead 35-18, but then Josh Holtsclaw pressured Laswell into an interception. Ingram picked the ball off just outside the goal line and scampered into th end zone. The defensive TD would be the last for EGHS, who got back within 11 points -- 35-24.

"Some times you've got to know when the throw the ball away and start over," said Balsmeyer. "But other than that, I thought the kids came out and played much better in the second half."

Eastern Greene will conclude the regular season at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Eastern Pekin while Paoli faces undefeated Perry Central at 7 p.m. Friday.

RAMS 49, THUNDERBIRDS 24

First Quarter

P -- Logan Laswell 1 run (run failed), 7:44.

P -- Tate Smith 37 pass from Laswell (Josh Reef run), 6:45.

Second Quarter

E -- Michael Love 15 pass from Gunnar Porter (run failed), 9:37.

P -- Smith 48 pass from Laswell (Kris Molina kick), 5:45.

E -- Miguel Olvera 5 run (run failed), 1:16.

P -- Tyler Dillard 62 run (Molina kick), 1:04.

E -- Love 25 pass from Porter (pass failed), :36.5.

Third Quarter

P -- Laswell 1 run (Molina kick), 9:10.

E -- Zach Ingram 1 interception return (pass failed), 6:19.

P -- Laswell 5 run (Molina kick), 4:28.

Fourth Quarter

P -- Dillard 43 run (Molina kick), 11:21.

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Paoli, Tyler Dillard 6-127, Logan Laswell 8-68, Josh Reef 7-48, Breck Eubank 4-17, Ethan White 4-14, Drew Owen 1-8, Caleb Andry 2-8, Justin Warren 1-7, Jacob Randolph 1-6, Brian Wilson 2-1. Eastern Greene, Gunnar Porter 19-89, Miguel Olvera 19-70, Jonathon Davis 6-33.

PASSING--Paoli, Laswell 7-12-1-199. Eastern Greene, Porter 14-22-1-184

RECEIVING--Paoli, Tate Smith 2-85, Michael Buskirk, 2-55, Josh Reef 2-41, Ethan White 1-18. Eastern Greene, Zach Ingram 5-54, Tanner Bailey 4-64, Michael Love 4-56, Olvera 1-9.