DELPHOS — Any way you look at Jefferson’s home gridiron battle versus Allen East Saturday night, you can only come to one conclusion.

Mustang coach Cam Staley put it well: it was a good old-fashioned butt-whipping.

The Jeffcats dominated every phase in a 45-7 Northwest Conference crushing on a warm and humid evening at Stadium Park.

“I challenged the offensive line to move people off the ball and they did an outstanding job. Allen East’s ‘D’ line had given teams like Grove and Spencerville a hard time; our offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage,” Jefferson coach Damon Ulm began. “The defense did a great job of controlling its side of the line of scrimmage. We gave up one touchdown and it was a blown coverage but beyond that, we gave them nothing.”

That was most definitely true and the stats proved it: 23 first downs for the Red and Black to 5 for the Mustangs; 464 yards of total offense for the Jeffcats (4-0, 3-0 NWC), 87 for the Mustangs (1-3, 1-2 NWC); 322 yards rushing (44 totes) for the hosts to 33 (23 tries) for the visitors; 6-of-10 passing for 142 yards for Josh Miller to only 54 passing for Allen East.

“We got our (butts) kicked. They were far more physical than we were,” Staley added. “They did nothing we didn’t expect and we did nothing they didn’t anticipate. We couldn’t stop them and we couldn’t do anything offensively. They pushed us around.”

It started from the beginning as Jefferson’s ‘D’ forced a 3-and-out on Allen East’s first series and the offense began at its 45. Miller connected with Matt Antalis for 16, Aaron Schuerman (8 rushes, 105 yards; 3 grabs, 89 yards) ran for 38 and then Bubba Shivley bulled in from the Mustang 1. Antalis made it 7-0 with 9:07 left in the first.

“Aaron is one of those we need to step in for Tim Sanders (out for the year). He’s a veteran senior,” Ulm added. “Tyree (DeWitt) picked up the slack and both of our fullbacks (Shivley and Eric Short: 7 tries, 42 yards) ran hard. Josh threw well again; I’d like to open it up a little more to back people off the running game, like we did today, but the chances don’t always present themselves.”

On the ensuing kickoff, DeWitt (10 totes, 91 yards) recovered a fumble and put the hosts at the visitor 10 but on the next play, the Red and Black gave the ball back at the 1.

On their next possession, they needed three plays to travel 40 yards. At the Mustang 13, DeWitt swept left end, jumped inside and found the hole to the end zone. Antalis made it 14-0 with 6:06 left in the period.

Allen East had its only reponse of the night, a 3-play, 69-yarder, aided by a late hit call on Jefferson. At the 47, Grant Dues (4-0f-10 passing) threw deep down the left sideline to a wide-open E.J. Laing (2 catches, 54 yards), who hauled the pigskin in at the 25 and scored. Blake Truex added the PAT for a 14-7 scoreboard with 5:09 left in the first.

Jefferson later got back to its dominating ways on a 5-play, 58-yard series. At the Mustang 27, Schuerman swept right, jumped inside a would-be tackler, got through traffic and exploded to paydirt. Antalis made it 21-7 with 11:22 showing in the half.

The next series was even quicker: four plays, 67 yards. This time, from his 34, Miller dropped back and unleashed a throw down the left sideline to Schuerman, who got behind the defense. He grabbed the pigskin at the 40 and they weren’t gonna catch him. Antalis made it 28-7 with 8:31 to go.

Antalis finished off a 7-play, 59-yard sojourn with a 24-yard field goal at the 3:24 mark to extend the lead to 31-7.

The Wildcats then took over on their 32 with 2:13 left and two timeouts. On play six — with a pass interference penalty on the visitors a key play — at the Mustang 2, Shivley powered in off of left guard with 38 ticks left. Antalis made the halftime bulge 38-7.

The Jeffcats put the finishing touches on the night on their first series of the third period: a 10-play (all runs), 73-yarder. From Allen East’s 32, DeWitt swept the left side, found the hole to the sideline, broke a tackle at the 20 and finished it off. Antalis made it 45-7 with 6:31 showing in the third.

The second-teamers and further backups got much of the playing time from then on.

Jefferson takes on NWC foe LCC Saturday night at Lima Stadium. Allen East hosts Crestview Friday.