“Watch for (junior) Austin Darwent to become a big part of our passing game,” said coach Steve Hopkins last week after watching Darwent make some big plays against last week against Milan. Friday night, Hopkins’ prediction came to fruition as Darwent contributed big plays in Harrisburg’s 54-16 rout of Salisbury.

Darwent brought down seven of senior quarterback Tanner Lanes’ 14 completed passes on his way to two touchdowns and 131 receiving yards.

Lanes shared the wealth by also completing six passes to senior Jace Carr, who was able to turn those receptions into two more touchdowns and 81 yards of his own. Junior receiver Braden Wyatt also got in on the action with one catch for 17 yards.

Lanes completed 14 of 20 passes on the night for 229 yards and four touchdowns, the longest being a 55-yard beauty to Darwent.

Sophomore running back Hayven Samuels continued to be steady every time he touched the ball. Last week Samuels averaged slightly over 2.5 yards per carry. Friday night he upped that to more than 6.6 yards per carry as he rushed for 127 yards on 19 carries. In the process, he crossed the goal line twice.

Senior Gavin Curtis rushed four times for 14 yards while junior Bryce Rowden accumulated 11 yards on three carries.

Senior Tanner Fike made the most of his two carries by scoring one touchdown and gaining six yards.

On the defensive side, seniors Fike, Curtis, and Eric McIntyre along with Butts each recorded a quarterback sack.

Darwent had seven tackles and five assists while junior defensive back Harley Whitaker had four tackles.

Seniors Carr and Brayton Stephenson each wrapped up three tackles as did juniors Butts, and Logan Fritts along with sophomore Hunter Cole.

Fike and Wyatt each recorded two tackles.

Curtis, Rowden, and McIntyre along with sophomore Devon Diaz and freshman Bryce Ott each contributed one tackle apiece.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 16-0 lead in the first quarter on the strength of touchdowns by Carr and Fike.

Salisbury threatened to get back in the game with a touchdown and two-point conversion of their own early in the second quarter Harrisburg answered with two touchdowns of their own by Samuels and Darwent to take a 30-8 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Lanes came back onto the field after intermission firing as he hit Darwent for his second touchdown followed by a 15-yard run by Samuels.

Lanes and Carr finished the Bulldog scoring in the fourth quarter before Salisbury scored late in the game to make the final 54-16 in favor of the Bulldogs.

Harrisburg moves up in the Class 1 rankings from No. 10 to No. 8. They take their show on the road Friday night to face the team that took over their No. 10 spot, 2-1 Westran, in what could be the Class 1 game of the week. Westran is coming off a 24-0 loss to No. 5 ranked Marionville.