Reagan 38, Churchill 0

Quick Take: Reagan (8-0, 6-0) remained unbeaten in emphatic fashion Friday night, scoring 21 points in the first quarter and never looking back en route to a 38-0 victory over Churchill (4-4, 2-4) in a District 28-6A game at Comalander Stadium.

The Rattlers, who have now won 16 straight regular-season games, have scored 35 or more points in seven of their first eight games this season — the lone exception being a 17-16 win at Smithson

Valley all the way back in Week 1.

Meanwhile, the Rattlers’ defense posted its fourth shutout of the season, limiting the Chargers to 118 total yards and five first downs. Churchill didn’t get its first first down of the game until there was less than three minutes to go in the first half and the Chargers didn’t cross midfield until the final play of the first half.

Highlights: Reagan scored on its first four possessions of the game, building a 28-0 lead by midway through the second quarter.

The Rattlers scored first on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Brad Jackson to Michael Yzaguirre with 8:49 to go in the first quarter. After a Churchill punt, Cole Pryor had an 18-yard touchdown run and Jeter Battles caught the first of his three touchdown receptions on a 1-yard pass from Jackson to give Reagan a 21-0 lead after the opening quarter.

Battles added a 16-yard touchdown catch with 7:43 to go before halftime, sending Reagan into the locker room with a 28-0 halftime lead. Battles got his final touchdown catch on a 13-yard pass from Jackson on Reagan’s opening drive of the second half and the Rattlers cruised from there.

What it means: Reagan, which has now beaten Churchill 17 straight times dating back to 2006, tied the largest margin of victory in the series with its 38-point win. The Rattlers also beat Churchill by 38 points in 2011, when Reagan took home a 52-14 victory, and Reagan also now leads the all-time series, 20-4.

The Rattlers remain atop the District 28-6A standings and move ever closer to a district title. Churchill has now dropped four of five since its 3-0 start and the Chargers’ hopes of returning to the state playoffs for the second consecutive season have taken a major blow with two weeks remaining in the regular season.

Quotable: “Our message to the kids coming into this week was to not let Johnson (last week’s opponent) beat us this week because we were overlooking Churchill. The kids didn’t rest on their laurels and they really had a solid week of practice leading into tonight. We got off to a really efficient start, but there’s a lot of things to clean up and improvements to be made. We haven’t peaked yet,” Reagan coach Lyndon Hamilton said.

Game balls: Jackson was 12-for-19 for 137 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Reagan offense. He also added 41 yards on five carries of his own.

Pryor finished with 87 yards and a score on 15 carries, Caleb Cappuccio hauled in five passes for 69 yards, Battles had four catches for 32 yards and three touchdowns, and Yzaguirre pitched in three catches for 36 yards and a touchdown.

Churchill quarterback Hunter Pavlicek completed six passes for 62 yards, but no Charger running back had more than 21 yards in the game.

Up next: Reagan next takes on Roosevelt (5-3, 3-3) in another district matchup on Oct. 27. Kickoff at Heroes Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Churchill faces Marshall (2-5, 2-3) on Oct. 27 as well, kicking off at 7:30 p.m. at Farris Stadium.