It only took a few minutes for Jefferson City to take control.
And then the Jays went into cruise control.
Jefferson City scored three first-quarter touchdowns before rolling to a 48-6 win Friday against Confluence Preparatory Academy on Homecoming night at Adkins Stadium.
"A fast start leads to good things," Jefferson City head coach Ted LePage said. "We started very fast. I thought that was very good for us."
Denzel Wilson carried the ball 17 times for 95 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Jays, who improved to 5-2 on the year.
Senior quarterback Isaac Roling was 5-of-7 for 58 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a score to help pace the Jays offense, which finished with 275 total yards - 137 passing.
Backup quarterback Gunnar See also took some snaps under center. The sophomore was 5-of-10 for 79 yards and a score.
Sophomore tight end Allan Roettgen caught two touchdown passes and Jake Pridgin added one for the Jays, who bounced back from a 36-31 loss in the final seconds last week to Rock Bridge in decisive fashion.
Izaya Sands and Zach Bond each had an interception and Bond also scored on a 1-yard run after returning a punt 29 yards for the Jays.
"I felt like our (starters), on both sides of the ball and special teams, performed very well," LePage said. "They came out and did exactly what we wanted to do. We accomplished every goal we set out to do."
Senior quarterback Charles Cannon was 4-of-9 and also ran for 53 yards on five carries, including a 42-yard touchdown to lead Confluence, which lost two fumbles.
Defensively Jefferson City limited Confluence (3-4) to 147 yards - 33 through the air - and six first downs. The Titans were also forced to punt six times for a net average of 14.6 yards.
It started on the defensive end for Jefferson City. Confluence lost 15 yards on its first drive and the Jays were able to take over at the Titans 22-yard line to set up a 7-yard touchdown pass from Roling to Pridgin.
That set the tone for the rest of the evening.
"We felt like tonight, very early in the game - our kickoff unit, right into our defense, right into our punt block unit, right into our offense - those phases worked just the way they were supposed to to start the game," LePage said.
Sands intercepted Confluence on its next possession and Wilson took advantage of the short field with an 11-yard run to give Jefferson City a 14-0 lead with 6:30 left in the first quarter.
The Jays forced another three-and-out before blocking Confluence's punt and recovering the ball four yards shy of the Titans end zone. Roling took it the rest of the way to give the Jays a 21-point lead with 3:59 to play in the opening period.
Confluence picked up its first first down with 52 seconds left in the first quarter and Charles Cannon completed the drive with a 42-yard run on a broken play to make it 21-6 with 10:49 left in the first half.
That's all the Titans would get the rest of the night.
Jefferson City responded a minute and a half later when See found Roettgen for a 24-yard touchdown pass to give the Jays a 27-6 lead with 9:17 remaining in the second quarter.
Confluence and Jefferson City both lost fumbles on the ensuing drives, but Bond gave the Jays the ball back with an interception and Roling capped off the 42-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Roettgen to make it 34-6 with 4:11 left in the first half.
The Jays didn't slow up after coming out of the lockerroom.
Darryl Williams returned the kickoff 33 yards to open up the second half to the Titans' 47-yard line and Wilson completed the drive with a 1-yard run to give Jefferson City a 41-6 lead with 9:29 remaining in the third quarter.
Jefferson City forced another three-and-out and Bond returned the punt 29 yards to the Titans 1-yard line before getting the carry in the backfield on the next play to extend the Jays' lead to 42 with 4:52 to play in the third.
Confluence threatened to score one more time, but the Titans fumbled on Jefferson City's 11-yard line and Jalen Martin recovered the ball to seal it for the Jays.
Jefferson City didn't have to punt until just over a minute to play in the contest.
The Jays will return to action Friday at Battle.