South Warren and Franklin-Simpson are no longer district rivals, but it didn’t lessen the Spartans’ enthusiasm following a 36-7 win over the Wildcats on Saturday at Warren East High School.

After losing to Franklin twice last season, including a season-ending 33-16 loss in the Class 4A playoffs, South Warren (3-0) built an early cushion and let the defense do the rest to get a measure of revenge for last year’s setbacks.

“It was a big game for us,” South Warren junior defensive lineman Jacob Lacey said. “We prepared all week like never before. We knew there would be some different factors with them beating us last year. There was definitely some emotion going in. We just had to focus and do our job and do the best we could. That’s what we did today.”

The Spartans took control in the first half, using some big plays on offense and a trio of defensive stands to build a three-touchdown advantage.

South Warren scored on the opening possession when Gavin Spurrier found Clayton Bush wide open in the seam on a third-and-16 play with Bush rumbling 59 yards for the score.

Spurrier and Bush connected again with a 15-yard touchdown catch early in the second quarter and Tryce Jackson scored on a 25-yard run to make the score 21-0.

The Wildcats were able to move the ball into South Warren territory three times in the first half, including getting to the 11 on one possession, but the Spartans defense stopped Franklin on downs all three times.

“That was big for us,” Lacey said. “They had some good plays. That happens in games, but the way our defense came together when it was time to make plays and stop them, that is going to be big in the future.”

The Spartans added to the lead early in the third period with Jackson’s second touchdown run of the day.

South Warren scored one more time in the fourth on a touchdown run by Cody Eblen and a Jackson 2-point run to start the running clock with 5:46 left.

Franklin-Simpson (1-2) was able to avoid the shutout with a late drive that ended in a 12-yard touchdown pass from Rylan Thomas to Jevon Covington.

“That’s a good program, a good team,” South Warren coach Brandon Smith said. “I thought we got sloppy at times defensively and then at times we looked good. The second half offensively we were really sloppy. We started doing the penalty thing again and (weren’t) real sharp.”

South Warren outgained Franklin-Simpson 373-269.

Spurrier finished 12-of-20 passing for 254 yards. Bush had three catches for 112 yards, while Jackson had 66 yards rushing.

Thomas threw for 53 yards for the Wildcats. Tre Bass ran for 64 yards, while Carlos McKinney ran for 63.

Franklin-Simpson coach Doug Preston said the game was a lot like the week one loss to Elizabethtown, when the Panthers pulled away in the second half.

“We are so close,” Preston said. “We had some alignment issues on defense, but give them credit – they threw the ball and they threw it well. We are just trying to grow up right now, especially in our skill positions. We knew it would be a tough game. We have to learn from it, grow and get better.”

The Wildcats had a scary incident in the first half when junior lineman Trevon Goodnight collided with a teammate trying to tackle Spurrier near midfield and lay on the field face down for about 15 minutes before being taken out on a stretcher.

“That really does take a lot of wind out of your sails, any time something like that happens,” Preston said. “I did get a chance to tell (the team) he seemed OK, but we didn’t want to take any risks. He’s got a sore neck and we thought we better get him checked out to be safe.”

Both teams were plagued by penalties. Franklin-Simpson had 10 for 111 yards, while South Warren finished with 14 penalties for 107 yards.

“That’s embarrassing,” Smith said. “We do it one week and the next week we are good with it, but we went right back to it. If you do it twice, it is on the coaching, and we’ve got to fix it.”

Both teams return to action at 7 p.m. on Friday. Franklin-Simpson will host Greenwood, while South Warren travels to Central Hardin.

FSHS 0 0 0 7 – 7

SWHS 7 14 7 8 – 36

First quarter

SW – Clayton Bush 59 pass from Gavin Spurrier (Alex Cohron kick), 5:42

Second quarter

SW – Bush 15 pass from Spurrier (Cohron kick), 10:32

SW – Tryce Jackson 25 run (Cohron kick), 2:46

Third quarter

SW – Jackson 11 run (Cohron kick), 9:31

Fourth quarter

SW – Cody Eblen 9 run (Jackson run), 5:46

FS – Jevon Covington 12 pass from Rylan Thomas (Cole Hollingsworth kick), 0:11.3