Three Christian Burnette touchdown runs, plus a stout defense, propelled Class 5A, No. 9-ranked Faith Academy to a 26-0 win Friday night in 5A, Region 1 action at Baker’s Clem Richardson Field.

Burnette’s touchdown runs covered 22, 5 and 43 yards as the Rams (7-1, 5-1) won their sixth straight game. Burnette finished with 140 yards on 13 carries, and he also caught a pass for 15 yards.

“My line definitely came out here ready to do their job,” Burnette said. “Something just told me, ‘You’re going to be unstoppable,’ and I felt great.”

Faith took advantage of a Williamson error on the opening kickoff. A Lion player apparently thought the ball was going out of bounds and failed to field it. The Rams recovered on the 22, and Burnette scored on the next play. With about 1:50 left in the first quarter, Faith used two plays after a Williamson punt to cover 61 yards – Burnette going for 56 and then 5 to make it 13-0.

“We talked about how sometimes we start good and sometimes we don’t, but luckily this was one of those nights we started hot,” Rams coach Jack French said.

The Rams made it 20-0 in the second quarter when Ty Goodwill went up high over a Williamson defender and snagged a 21-yard touchdown pass.

The Lions (6-3, 4-3) had a chance to get on the board following a Taijh Overton interception of a Jarrett Daughtry pass. Williamson drove down to the Ram 4-yard line with time running out, but on second-and-goal, quarterback Jeremy Williams was sacked, ending the threat and the half.

“We just missed the read,” Lion coach Antonio Coleman said. “The kid was wide open for a touchdown.”

Williamson had only one more substantial drive. It reached the Ram 48 in the third quarter, but a pass on fourth-and-2 resulted in a 2-yard loss. Faith’s final score came with 10:02 left on a Burnette 43-yard run.

Star of the game: No doubt it was Burnette but give credit to his offensive line for creating some big holes.

Play of the game: As much as Burnette shined on offense, it was the defense that came up with a big play to stifle any momentum Williamson would have gotten with a score. With the Rams up 20-0 and the Lions threatening to cut the lead to 14, the sack of Williams on second-and-goal with time running out in the half kept Faith with a comfortable lead.

Key stats: Faith Academy — Goodwill had five receptions for 87 yards in addition to the touchdown, Daughtry was 12-for-17 passing for 164 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions. Dorian Smith had four receptions for 28 yards. … Williamson — Ellis McGaskin had eight carries for 26 yards. Williams was 9-of-18 passing for 30 yards and an interception.

By the numbers: 3, first downs for Williamson; 13, first downs for Faith Academy; 33, net rushing yards for Williamson; 63, offensive yards for Williamson; 177, rushing yards for Faith Academy.

Coachspeak: “Christian’s a senior running back, and he’s learned a whole lot. Tonight, he kind of put it all together. We’ve just been waiting on that for a couple of weeks, and he got out there again tonight. We contained their quarterback (Williams) and got a couple of sacks, and we were able to do the fundamentals on offense.” French.

They said it: “The key next week (against UMS-Wright) is going to be having the line do what they did tonight, making holes. When we get our run game going, our passing game follows.” Burnette.

“We’re not applying what we do every day. We got some kids who are in their first year of playing varsity football, but I’m not making excuses—we’ve got to do better. It’s not the X’s and O’s; we’ve got to run the ball, and we’ve got to tackle. It’s about these kids understanding what we need from them.” Coleman.

Up next: Faith visits No. 1 UMS-Wright on Friday night. Williamson is idle and travels to UMS-Wright on Oct. 28.