Salado Eagles ran into a buzzsaw on the road, falling to the China Spring Cougars 48-7 in a District 9-4A contest to fall into second place. The Eagles will look to bounce back when they host the Jarrell Cougars Oct. 29.

The Cougars scored three touchdowns in the second quarter to take control of the game with a 28-0 halftime lead.

Salado got a first down after taking the opening kickoff and it looked briefly as if the Eagles would start off with their clock-controlling running offense, but China Spring early on found an answer to the Slot T: stacking the line and filling the gaps with bodies.

Forcing Salado to punt on fourth and 11, China Spring then showed off their explosive mixed offense with Kyle Barton besting Salado for 37 yards on his first touch.

Barton scored on the sixth play of the drive on a 1 yard dive. Thomas Barr toed the extra point for a 7-0 lead at 5:55 in the first.

Salado was forced to punt again with 2:53 left in the first. Eleven plays later, the Cougars scored on an 11 yard run by Isaiah Williams at 10:40 in the half. Barr converted the kick to push the lead to 14-0.

The Eagles again went three-and-out and China Spring took over at their own 43, Barton ran for 17 yards to score his second TD at 7:58 in the second. Barr was good again for 21-0 lead at 7:58 in the second.

The Eagles could only manage a yard on the next series and punted away with 2:22 left in the half.

It was enough for the Cougars to score again, this time on a 29 yard run by Barton to cap a 77 yard drive with  4:00 let on the clock. Barr’s kick gave the Cougars their 28-0 lead.

China Spring took 84 seconds to score on the opening drive of the second half, with Major Bowden needling his way through the defense for a 42-yard touchdown. Barr again converted for a 35-0 lead.

The Eagles downed the kick at their own 24-yard line. The Eagles then chipped away at the Cougar defense with five running plays of 4 to 6 yards each by Aiden Wilson, Seth Reavis and Adam Benavides. Hutton Haire had a 14 yard run and Benavides added an 18-yarder to set up a short pass from Hair to Benavides. A false start moved the ball back to the Cougar 13 yard line, but Wilson and Haire had 5- and 4-yard carries to bring up fourth and 2 to go at the Cougar 4.Reavis was good for the 2 yards and a first and goal at the 2. Wilson bulled his way in from there and Daniel Chtay converted the kick to make the score 35-7. 

The Cougars answered with a four play drive, capped by a 54 yard run by Major Bowden. Bowden bobbled the PAT snap and was stopped for a 41-7 lead with 2:07 left in the third.

China Spring added the final touchdown on a 47-yard pass from Bowden to Jackson Battles with 9:24 left in the game. Barr converted the kick for the 48-7 final score.