By Damian Juneau

Special to the American Press

WELSH — The ninth-seeded Welsh Greyhounds started off fast and never looked back in taking a 44-8 victory over the 24th-seeded Varnado Wildcats Friday night in a Division IV non-select bi-district playoff game.

Welsh (10-1) advanced to the regional round and will travel to play No. 8 Oak Grove.

“I thought we came out better than we expected,” said Welsh head coach Cody Gueringer. “The kids were a little flat at practice this week and came out and were much more aggressive. We were able to adjust some things and do something offensively that we haven’t done a lot all year.”

The Greyhounds wasted little time on the opening drive. They scored on a Gabe Gillett-to-Caleb Miller 7-yard pass with 4:30 to play in the first quarter. The lead increased to 15-0 with 1:59 to play in the first quarter when Kennon LeGros scored on a 47-yard run.

Welsh’s scoring continued in the second quarter as Gillett threw his second touchdown of the night to Miller to increase the lead to 23-0. Gillett threw his third touchdown of the half on a 41-yard pass to Grant Daigle with 4:14 to play in the quarter.

The Greyhounds’ final score of the half came when Jonavon Begnaud scored on a 51-yard punt return with 1:34 to play. The Greyhounds led 37-0 at the break.

Welsh scored a touchdown in the third quarter when LeGros scored on a 22-yard run with 6:37 to play in the third quarter.

Varnado avoided the shutout with 8:16 to play when Quadavius Bickham scored on a 35-yard run.

The Greyhounds finished with 174 yards rushing and 125 passing yards. LeGros finished with 147 yards on 13 carries. Gillett was 8-for-14 passing and threw three touchdowns.

The Wildcats were limited to 99 yards of total offense, most of that coming in the second half.

“Our defense played really well and did a real good job limiting them on offense,” Gueringer said. “We were able to take care of business and move on and move forward like we need to and it’s a positive.”