PUCKETT – The optimistic side of St. Aloysius coach Jim Taylor certainly hoped his team could go into Puckett and steal a victory. The realistic side may have figured that playing the No. 3 team in Class 1A on the road would probably result in a loss.

In no scenario did he or anyone else associated with St. Al conceive of this.

Puckett scored 34 points in the last 12 minutes and 5 seconds of the first half, amassed 690 yards of total offense – 569 of it on the ground – and embarrassed the Flashes 69-7 on Friday night. Four of Puckett’s six scoring drives in the first half were one-play drives, and another lasted three plays, but only 36 seconds. The Wolves (8-0, 6-0 Region 3-1A) had 396 rushing yards in the first half and outgained the Flashes 465-12 through the first two periods.

No Puckett back had more than eight carries in the game, yet five rushed for at least 75 yards and six different runners scored touchdowns. Quarterback Wilbert Lee completed 4 of 5 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran for 102 yards and a score. Tailback Matthew Willis only carried the ball twice, but ran for touchdowns of 52 and 99 yards.

St. Al fullback Alex Halinski was one of the few bright spots for the Flashes (5-3, 4-2), rushing for 65 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.

&#8220I knew coming in that they were real good, but they were better than I thought they were,” Taylor said. &#8220They had a tremendous amount of team speed. In any league, that hurts you bad. Against us, it’s double trouble.”

St. Al actually stayed in the game for a quarter.

Lee broke a 74-yard touchdown run on Puckett’s first offensive snap, but he also threw an interception and fullback Dewayne Floyd fumbled on the Wolves’ two other first-quarter possessions. St. Al converted the first turnover into a 1-yard TD run by Halinski, but was forced to punt after the other. Marsh Willis’ kick was partially blocked, giving the ball to Puckett at its own 48 and starting the Flashes’ demise.

On the next play – the last of the first quarter – Willis picked his way through the middle of St. Al’s defense and worked his way to the right sideline, then cut back at the 30 and sprinted all the way across the field to complete the 52-yard touchdown run.

His next carry was even better.

Willis pinned Puckett at its own 1-yard line with a great punt on St. Al’s next possession. Willis took a handoff on the next play, though, and broke through the middle of the line and went the distance for a 99-yard touchdown run.

The Wolves scored three more TDs to take a 41-7 lead at halftime, and added four more TDs in the second half.

When the carnage was over, Puckett had 15 plays that went for 10 yards or more, only one that went for negative yardage, and never punted.

&#8220It probably could have been 105-0 if they had left their kids in,” Taylor said