For the first time since 2010, the Pineville Mountain Lions open their season with a 4-0 start after defeating the East Ridge Warriors 49-8 on Friday night.

Pineville’s potent rushing attack and stout defense proved to be too much for East Ridge as both Scooby Morris and Colby Frazier rushed for over 100 yards each. The Mountain Lion’s defense held the Warriors to 96 total yards throughout the game.

Frazier led the Pineville rushing attack with 110 yards on five carries and three touchdowns. Morris provided an additional spark for the offense, as well as the special teams, rushing for 108 yards on five carries for one touchdown, returning a punt 54 yards for a touchdown, and receiving one pass for a 47-yard touchdown.

Reece Capps completed 2-of-4 passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. Hagan Teague connected on 1-of-1 passing for a 55-yard touchdown. Evan Biliter was the recipient of the 55-yard Teague touchdown pass. Pineville accumulated 446 yards of total offense.

“We did a good job at coming out fast again,” said Pineville coach Randy Frazier. “Scooby really got us off to a great start by scoring the first two times he touched the ball. That builds a lot of confidence and spills over into the rest of the game. It takes a lot of pressure off and allows us to play a little more relaxed for the rest of the game.”

“Our defense came out ready to play,” said Frazier. “They’re always out there flying around and hitting people, making plays in the open field. They’re very coachable. This whole team is very coachable. You will see guys on the sidelines cheering on their teammates and encouraging them to do better instead of wanting the ball on every snap.”

It didn’t take long for the canon to sound in the Lion’s Den on Friday night, as Pineville’s first play from scrimmage resulted in six points on a 47-yard screen pass from Reece Capps to Morris. The Lions missed the PAT to leave the score at 6-0.

After a successful defensive stand, Pineville forced the first East Ridge punt of the night. Morris fielded the punt cleanly and returned it 54 yards for a touchdown, giving the Lions a 14-0 lead following a successful two-point conversion with 10:32 remaining in the first quarter.

After yet another successful defensive stand, Pineville regained possession of the ball and wasted no time marching down field. Capps connected with Landon Couch on a 40-yard pass to set the Lions up with good field position. On the ensuing play, Frazier barreled across the goal line for six points on a 20-yard run, giving Pineville a 21-0 lead after the Luke Naylor PAT.

After forcing East Ridge back inside their own 10-yard line on a muffed kick off, the Pineville defense forced a safety, giving them a 23-0 lead with 6:17 remaining in the first quarter. After regaining possession, Pineville gave the ball to Frazier, who found the end zone for the second time in the first quarter on a 37-yard run. After a successful PAT from Naylor, the Lions held a 30-0 heading into the second quarter of the game.

In keeping with the night’s theme, the Lions wasted no time delivering another touchdown when played resumed in the second quarter. Frazier found the end zone for the third time of the night on a 30-yard rushing touchdown. Naylor added the PAT to give Pineville a 37-0 lead early in the second.

With the game already getting out of hand, Morris delivered one more touchdown before the half on a 32-yard touchdown run. Naylor converted the PAT, giving Pineville a 43-0 lead at the half.

With the game in hand, coach Frazier decided to get his back-ups some playing time. After inserting the junior varsity, the Lions gave up their only score of the night. With the East Ridge touchdown, the score sat at 43-8 with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Junior varsity quarterback Hagan Teague connected with freshman tight end Evan Biliter on a 55-yard touchdown pass to secure the 41-point victory.

“Any time you can get a win is a good night,” said Frazier. “We are very happy to start off 4-0, but we’ve got a big game with Middlesboro coming up this week and that’s where our focus is after this game. We are proud of both the offense and the defense for their performance during this game, but we’ve got to put it behind us and focus on the next one, there’s still a lot of work to do.”

With the victory, Pineville improved to 4-0 on the season. The Mountain Lions travel to Middlesboro to take on the in-county rival Yellow Jackets on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.