Through one quarter Friday night, the St. Aloysius Flashes were hanging right with Adams County Christian. By halftime, they were watching the Rebels run off into the distance.

Sterling Yarbrough threw three touchdown passes, including two in a two-minute span of the second quarter, as ACCS won 40-0 to spoil St. Al’s home opener at Balzli Field.

Yarbrough finished the game 11-of-21 passing for 246 yards, as ACCS (1-0) rolled up 447 yards of total offense. Jakarius Caston scored twice, on a 54-yard run in the first quarter and a 17-yard pass in the second.

Caston’s touchdown reception came less than two minutes after Yarbrough threw an 18-yarder to Kemari Clark and was part of a 20-point burst in the second quarter that gave the Rebels a 26-0 lead.

“We started off pretty much like we wanted to. We moved the ball a little better than we did last week, and defensively we looked OK. Then all of a sudden they made a big play and the bottom fell out in the second quarter,” St. Al coach Michael Fields said. “They had a very athletic bunch. I felt like we got a lot of positives out of tonight. The two teams that we played were no slouches. I still feel good about the season and about our chances of making the playoffs.”

St. Al (0-2) continued to struggle on offense. It had just 129 yards of total offense on Friday, and 199 through two games. Nearly a third of that came on a 65-yard touchdown pass last week against Leake Academy, on the first series of the game.

“We’ve got to find our niche. We’re getting better in spurts, but we can’t sustain. So we’ve got to find something that we can sustain and go over and over,” Fields said. “The running game was a lot better tonight. We’re still struggling to pass the ball because our pass protection hasn’t come along as well as I’ve wanted it to.”

Things might have gotten even worse on Friday, too. Starting quarterback Phillip Upshaw left the game with a foot injury. It’s unclear if he’ll be ready for next week’s District 3-AAA opener against Central Hinds.

Alvin Brown subbed in for Upshaw against ACCS and finished with 65 rushing yards on 12 attempts. He was 0-for-4 passing with three interceptions, however.

Upshaw completed 2 of 3 passes for 21 yards, with both completions to senior wide receiver Ryan Theriot.

“We’re just going to have to come up with something and be a little more physical, because Central Hinds is going to be physical. They’re going to be no-nonsense and we’re going to have to play the same kind of ball. I think we’ve got a great chance if we don’t make turnovers, get off the field on third down, and we sustain drives,” Fields said. “We’ve got to make the plays when we need to make the plays. We’re going through a learning curve, and our kids are getting better. But we’re running out of time. It’s district time, so it’s time to get better.”

Michael Robinson and Tyler Breithaupt each had eight tackles for St. Al on defense.

Paul Cupstid caught a 52-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter for ACCS, and Jason Martin recovered a fumble in the zone for its final touchdown.