Running back Zac Thompson powers his way past a group of Highland defenders in hot pursuit. (Democrat Photo/Mark Randall)

HIGHLAND -- There's an old saying that in sports any win is a good win.

But a win on the road is a really good win.

Wildcats head coach Greg White reminded his players on the way to Highland that in order to be champions they had to win on the road.

The team responded with a big 35-7 road win over conference rival Highland last Friday.

"It's a great win," White said. "They stepped up and did what they had to do. I'm real proud of them. They have a little bit of confidence now. And they're going to need it this week."

The win improves the Wildcats record to 3-2 and 2-0 in the 4A-3 conference and sets up a big game this week against powerhouse Osceola, who is also undefeated in conference play.

Highland battled the Wildcats to a scoreless first quarter and only trailed Trumann 7-0 at halftime.

Trumann got on the board first on a 34 yard run by Zac Thompson. Luis Gutierrez's PAT made it 7-0 with 9:58 to play in the half.

But it was all downhill for the Rebels after that as they never could put together a sustained offensive drive.

White said his coaching staff made some adjustments to their defense after halftime and were able to shut down Highland the rest of the way.

"They were doing something a little different than what we had worked on all week," White said. "They ran a 3-3 stack against us and we had been working on a 4-2 which is a different look. They had a nose man and we practiced all week without a nose man. That gives your center a little trouble not knowing where to block on certain plays. So it created some problems.

"We weren't getting certain people blocked and the kids get frustrated. It's hard for the kids to adjust on the fly. We saw it as coached but had to wait until halftime to draw it up on the board. But we adjusted real well in the second half after we caught on. I was really proud of out defense. I think they played real well."

Trumann scored again with 9:08 to go in the third on a seven yard run by Colton Turner and Gutierrez's Pat extended the lead to 14-0.

Gutierrez would finish the night 5 for 5 and is 10 for 10 in his last two games including the game winning kick against Gosnell.

An interception by Dustin Miller set up another run by Thompson who scored his second touchdown of the night on a 27 yard run to give Trumann a 21-0 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Thompson finished the night with 179 yards on 19 carries.

"Zac had another great game," White continued. "I know it gets redundant, but that's just Zac being Zac. He ran hard the whole night when there wasn't a lot there at times."

Tommy Harris extended Trumann's lead to 28-0 with 8:39 to go in the fourth.

Rebels running back Michael Tarver finally got Highland on the board to make it 28-7 with 5:24 left to play in the game.

But the Wildcats weren't finished. The Rebels recovered an onside kick on their own 36 yard line but whatever hope Highland had of getting a quick score was dashed by an interception by Dustin Miller who ran it in for the Wildcats to complete the 35-7 rout.

The Wildcats finished with 417 total yards for the night -- 355 on the ground and 62 passing. The team had been averaging 400 yards per game this year and over 30 points a game.

Quarterback Blaike Jones had another big game on the ground collecting 101 yards in 10 carries and was 5 for 8 passing.

Running back Colton Turner chipped in 57 yards rushing on seven carries and a touchdown.

Defensively for the Wildcats, Tommy Harris had 13 tackles, Turner 10, Ethan Heavener 10 tackles and an interception while B.J. Carter, Anthony Byrd and Derek Kemper each contributed six tackles on the night.

Dustin Miller had two interceptions, barely missed a third and scored a defensive touchdown.

White said the team faces a big challenge this week against Osceola. The winner of the game will most likely be in the driver's seat to win the conference.

The Seminoles (4-1, 2-0) only setback so far is a 6-0 loss to Blytheville.

White said the biggest challenge this week is to keep the team from letting Osceola intimate them. Osceola uses a wishbone offense and they can expect the Seminoles to try and take the running game away from them this week.

"You can see on film they are big," White said. "We can't come in there and be intimidated. We know we are good. We'll have to keep popping them in the mouth."

White said they plan to work on their passing game all week in practice

"They are going to make sure we don't run the ball," White said. "We know that. Osceola is going to rush seven right up there in what's called a box. So we're going to have to throw the ball. Blaike was a little bit off passing and that's something we're going to have to work on. We've got to get better passing the ball. Period. He takes so much punishment running the ball and he is kind of frail as it is. We're going to have to do a better job passing the ball and keep him from getting hit as much. If we can't beat them deep we're going to have to hurt them with some short passes and try to sneak in a run every now and then."

White said he expects the team to treat this game as if it were championship week.

"We're sitting on the verge of winning a conference championship and our kids need to understand that," White concluded. "You have to bring a different attitude to practice. We beat one of the best teams in the conference in Gosnell. And Highland was a good test for us because it was a road game. If you can win on the road in this conference, you're pretty good."