Theodore coach Steve Mask wasn’t thrilled with the way his team played overall Thursday night coming out of an off week.

But he was happy with the outcome.

The Bobcats forced four Blount turnovers and smothered the Leopards defensively for a 35-0 Class 6A, Region 1 victory at C.A. Douglas Field.

“I thought we looked like a team that hadn’t played in 13 days and didn’t handle the open week very well. Maybe we didn’t handle homecoming very well,” Mask said. “Very sloppy, but we had 35 and they didn’t have anything, so we are going to take that.”

Theodore led 14-0 at the half and pulled away after intermission to improve to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in region play. The Bobcats were idle last week following a 16-10 win over Class 7A Opelika on Sept. 29.

Blount fell to 1-6 overall, 1-4 in the region in coach Ray Nelson’s return to Theodore where he coached a year ago and starred as a high school quarterback.

“It’s disappointing,” Nelson said. “It was an opportunity to claw your way back into the playoff race. It always hurts to lose. Short week of prep. We have to come out and perform better. We’ve got to coach better. We’ve got to learn how to overcome adversity from the top down when things don’t start off our way.”

J.J. Bush had a pair of interceptions for the Bobcats. Miami commit Bobby Pruitt also an interception and forced a fumble. Deon Morris recovered that fumble. Blount also had a 2-yard punt and snapped a ball over the punter’s head, resulting in a short Theodore TD drive.

“We were only down two scores at the half,” Nelson said. “We got the ball coming out. I thought we could claw our way back into the game, but special teams killed us, giving them a short field. Against a team that really doesn’t like to pass, you can’t do that. We also gave up a third-and-long and a fourth-down conversion, so that allowed them to stay on offense and lean on our defense a little more.”

Sophomore quarterback Crishon Overton scored on a pair of short runs in the first half to give Theodore the lead. His 1-yard sneak capped an 8-play, 54-yard drive on the Bobcats’ first possession of the game. Overton scored on a 2-yard sneak with 3:26 left in the half following Pruitt’s interception of a Charles Taldon pass.

“I didn’t think we looked very sharp offensively,” Mask said. “Our short-yardage package helped us a lot.”

Theodore put the game away in the third quarter. Braxton Clark’s 6-yard run followed Bush’s first interception. Then, after a high snap on a punt attempt gave Theodore the ball at the Blount 5, Overton hit fullback Rashard Earl with a TD pass for a 28-0 lead. Devin Draper added a 53-yard, fourth-quarter run to cap the scoring.

“I felt really good after the Opelika game, and I still feel good about this team,” Mask said. “I think really and truly the off week did not help us. It helped us as far as rest, but if we were getting in a plane and taking off, I’m not real sure we even got in the terminal tonight. But we are going to get better. We are better than we were two weeks ago. We just didn’t look it tonight.”

Key play: Following Pruitt’s interception, Theodore faced a fourth-and-6 from the Leopard 44. Overton lofted a pass to Cam Rigby for an 8-yard gain and a first down. Five played later, it was 14-0.

Injuries: Theodore kicker Miguel Frias missed the game due to an illness over the weekend. Bryce Cunill kicked five extra points. … Clark missed the final quarter with an ankle injury.

They said it:

“No excuses. We are banged up. We are young. We’re thin. But the kids fought. I thought we played to the last snap. It stinks to come back home and lose.” – Nelson.

Next up: Both teams face a tough stretch run. Blount hosts St. Paul’s next week before traveling to play McGill-Toolen (Oct. 27) and Murphy (Nov. 3). Theodore hosts McGill-Toolen next week before hitting the road to play No. 1 Saraland (Oct. 27) and St. Paul’s (Nov. 3).