Red Bud snapped a two-game losing skid with an impressive 48-6 win over Metro-East Lutheran Friday night in nonconference football action.
“It was nice to be on the winning side of one of these games,” said Red Bud coach Dave Lucht. “I have been on the other side a few times before and they are no fun.”
While the win was less than ideal , the game location was moved to Edwardsville High School’s artifical turf field.
“On the turf, we were able to get our running game going and we took control early and ran away with the win. This was one of those games where we were favored going into the contest and we didn’t play down to the level of our competition. We played like we were the better team and put the game away in the first half.”
With the win, the Musketeers improved to 5-2 on the season.
The potent Red Bud offense scored 20 points in the first quarter and 20 in the second quarter for a 48-0 halftime lead. Metro-East Lutheran scored six points early in the third quarter for their lone score of the game.
Mitchel Cleveland  started the scoring for Red Bud with a 23-yard interception return for a touchdown. Stefan Gregson added the extra point, and with 11:10 left in the first quarter, the Musketeers led 7-0.
Just over a minute later, Jake Hoffman, with an 11-yard touchdown run, gave his team a 14-0 lead.
Tyler Hubert kept the rout going as his one-yard touchdown plunge gave the Musketeers a 21-0 lead with 8:06 to play in the first quarter.
Tyler Magruder wrapped up the first quarter scoring with a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown, as Red Bud led 28-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Hoffman put the game out of reach early in the second quarter with a 56-yard touchdown run as his team’s lead ballooned to 34-0. Hubert added his second touchdown run of the game with a 45-yard touchdown dash, as Red Bud went up 41-0 with 4:47 left to play in the first quarter.
Cleveland rounded out the team’s scoring just 21 seconds later with a 34-yard touchdown run.
Red Bud finished the game with 289 yards rushing on 27 carries for an average of 10.7 yards per attempt.
Hubert led the rushing attack with 100 yards on 13 carries followed by Hoffman (79 yards on three carries), Alex Phegley (44 yards on five carries), Cleveland (34 yards on two carries), and Zach Siebold (29 yards on three carries).
The Red Bud defense didn’t get the shutout, but they did force five turnovers, including four interceptions. Magruder finished with a team high three interceptions, while Cleveland added one.
Trenton Guebert led the Musketeers with five solo tackles and four assists, while Phegley added four solo tackles and two assists.
Red Bud will host Columbia (5-2) Friday night.