South Warren is dominating to the point where Brandon Smith is worried his team might forget what it’s like to play four quarters.

Such are the first-world problems of a running clock by halftime in every game played so far.

The Spartans did it again Friday night, coming out of the gate hot and scoring every time they touched it in a 59-0 drubbing of Central Hardin in South Warren’s home opener.

The Spartans (4-0) led 38-0 at halftime after the offense scored on all five drives in the first half while the defense chipped in with a safety.

But in all four blowout wins, South Warren hasn’t kept starters in the game to start a second half. Smith trotted the varsity offense out to start the second half Friday, needing to see if they could keep it going longer than one half.

“You’ve got 20-30 minutes without doing anything and you’ve got to come out and execute a drive and we brought them out,” Smith said. “That’s a good situation for us to practice and they did a nice job with it.”

Practice is what the second half has become for the Spartans, who start district play next week at unbeaten Grayson County.

South Warren has started a running clock in the first half of every game this fall against Hopkinsville, Warren Central and last week at Franklin-Simpson.

Historically, Central Hardin (1-3) marked a game where Smith didn’t believe another running clock was possible. South Warren is now 4-0 all time against the Bruins, but the last meetings were wins by 10 points, an overtime win and a 24-3 victory in 2015.

The Bruins lost quarterback Chase Elmore to an injury last week against Christian Academy-Louisville, leaving running back Deonco Wilkerson playing double-duty most of the night on offense.

Even with reserves in a clock-winding second half, the Spartans couldn’t keep from scoring with a touchdown pass from Caden Veltkamp to Jason Putman and a late 41-yard score from Dayvion Holloway.

The game was over by 8:50 p.m.

“I didn’t expect the score,” Smith said. “Every year they’re a big strong team and they’ve got three or four skill guys that are really athletic and really well-coached and I was expecting a four-quarter game like we’ve had in the past. Our guys just executed well defensively and offensively.”

The Spartans defense swarmed the Bruins with nine plays for negative yardage in the first half while the offense shined.

By halftime, running back Cameron Harrison had seven carries for 124 yards and two first-quarter touchdowns on runs of 29 and 38 yards. His 18-yard run to the 1-yard line also set up Clayton Bush’s touchdown run on a direct snap in the first quarter.

Gavin Spurrier was 10-for-13 for 166 yards in the first half.

Up 24-0, Spurrier hit Tanner Gallahair and Tomi Mustapha over the middle for long touchdown passes in the second quarter. His short toss to Mustapha went for 43 yards and started the KHSAA-mandated running clock with 4:08 left in the first half.

“Last year we didn’t really start off strong like we have this year and that was a big problem for us digging a hole and having to come out every week,” Harrison said. “We just emphasized starting strong and keep going and put our foots on their throats.”

With the starters back on the field to start the second half, the Spartans marched down in seven plays and scored on Spurrier’s 7-yard pass over the middle to a wide open Chidi Afam.

South Warren recovered a fumble on Central Hardin’s first snap on the ensuing drive. That’s when Veltkamp hit Putman on a crossing route from the left side for a 20-yard score to go up 52-0.

“It’s just all-around effort,” Harrison said. “Great play calls from the coaches, great blocking by the O-line and great effort all around. We just put it all together and you see the result after tonight.”

Central Hardin 0 0 0 0 – 0

South Warren 24 14 14 7 – 59

First quarter

SW – Harrison 29 run (Teague run), 8:13

SW – Bush 1 run (Eldar Dervisevic kick), 4:34

SW – safety, 4:14

SW – Harrison 38 run (Dervisevic kick), 2:24

Second quarter

SW – Gallahair 56 pass from Spurrier (Dervisevic kick), 7:58

SW – Mustapha 43 pass rom Spurrier (Dervisevic kick), 4:08

Third quarter

SW – Afam 7 pass from Spurrier (Dervisevic kick), 5:39

SW – Putman 20 pass from Veltkamp (Dervisevic kick), 2:23

Fourth quarter

SW – Holloway 41 run (Dervisevic kick), 5:31{&end}