Senior Albert Haywood ran for three touchdowns and McGill-Toolen’s offense took advantage of a host of Murphy turnovers to rout the Panthers 42-0 in a Class 6A, Region 1 game at Lipscomb Park Friday night, aptly dubbed the “Battle for the Cannon.”

The all-purpose athlete Haywood, who also split time at wide receiver, ran in from 3, 5 and 1 yard out, and also chipped in with four receptions for 45 yards as the Yellow Jackets improved to 2-2 (2-1 in region play).

Murphy remained winless at 0-5 (0-4 in region).

“I was dialed in,” said the 5-foot-9, 170-pound Haywood, who ran bigger than he looks all night.

“We have such a thing as an ‘opposite’ call, so when they loaded to one side after the first touchdown, we just called ‘opposite’ and ran it to the short side of the field the next time.”

Murphy showed surprising toughness against the Jackets throughout the opening period, as the youthful Panthers … who start nine sophomores on defense … hung with McGill until Haywood’s 3-yard run finally broke the scoring ice with just :27 seconds left in the quarter.

It stayed that way until late in the second period, before Ladarien Miller sprinted up the middle for 22 yards and a touchdown with 4:21 left to the half.

That’s when the wheels came completely off the cart for Murphy as Jackets linebacker Jay Gonzales recovered an errant pitch from Panthers quarterback James Holbrook at the visitors 40-yard line and Haywood cashed in on the gift four plays later with his 5-yard blast to make it 21-0 with just 1:15 left in the half.

It only took McGill a minute and 35 seconds into the 3rd period to make it 28-0 as they took the kickoff and went 47 yards in four lightning plays capped by Haywood’s 1-yard TD run.

Ashton Zuniga caught a 27-yard TD pass from quarterback Andrew Murchison and Derrick Benard ran in from a yard out after the Jackets Brandon Murillo recovered a Murphy fumble at the Panthers’ 1.

Henry Green was good on all 5 of his PAT kicks, while sophomore Johnathan Bender kicked the other.

Students from the winning team usually rush to the intersection of Government and Houston Streets to paint the landmark cannon in school colors after the game, but the City of Mobile declared the relic off limits again this year and had police guarding it all night.

So, the Jackets had their own cannon made and, after the game, students sprinted over to the adjoining baseball field to slosh it with orange paint.

Play of the Game: Gonzales’ fumble recovery opened the flood gates for McGill-Toolen and they took advantage of the dreaded double whammy, scoring late in the half then taking the second half opening kickoff to the house for a 14-point swing.

By The Numbers: 28 — First downs for McGill-Toolen; 75 — Penalty yardage assessed against the Panthers, including 55 yards in the first half alone; 178 — Number of points Murphy has allowed in their five games, while only scoring 22 itself.

Game ball: Haywood.

They Said It: “We struggled a little bit early and missed some opportunities, and that had a lot to do with Murphy. I thought they played well really early, but I thought Andrew got dialed in. I thought he played really well himself and got us clicking offensively.” — McGill-Toolen coach David Faulkner.

“We are very young and inexperienced when it comes to approaching a game and playing the game. But the most important thing is that I have to mold and cultivate young student-athletes. They’ve not been coached up to this point to understand the importance of running and tackling. And that’s my job.” — First-year Murphy coach Justin Hannah.

Next week: Murphy hosts Gulf Shores, while McGill-Toolen travels to the Eastern Shore to tangle with 4A St. Michael.