Big plays highlighted Searcy’s opening-night victory where new heroes emerged for the Lions against a stunned Batesville team on Friday, resulting in a lop-sided 45-7 victory at Lions Stadium.

Sophomore quarterback Jacob Miles had impressive first outing for the Lions, completing 8 of 14 pass attempts for 213 yards and 3 touchdowns, including long tosses of 61 and 62 yards for scores. Senior utility player Deandre Shockley carried the load on the ground for Searcy with 14 carries for 95 yards and 3 touchdowns, as well as a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown. In all, the Lions put up 327 yards of total offense, but the negative on the night were penalties as Searcy accrued more than 120 yards worth of yellow hankies.

The home stands were filled to complete capacity, and fans were treated to a state-of-the-art light show as Lion Stadium is now equipped with new LED lights which blink red following Searcy touchdowns.

“I like this team,” Lions head coach Zak Clark said. “We’ve got some good football players, but we’ve got to clean up the penalties. The operation wasn’t real smooth tonight. I thought the first quarter, we came out really well in all phases, had a safety, a punt return for a touchdown, defense played real well. And then we just fell asleep in the second quarter, and that can’t happen down the road, but overall I’m pleased with the first game. I thought most of the time, we played.”

Things immediately went Searcy’s way as Batesville took first possession, went three-and-out, and then snapped the punt high and into the end zone, resulting in a safety. The Lions quickly turned that into a two-score advantage on their first offensive play from scrimmage as Miles found junior receiver Will Manning in the flat for a screen pass. Manning picked up a block and got to the sideline where he simply outran the Pioneer defense from there for a 61-yard touchdown pass at the 10:19 mark of the first quarter. Jackson Smith pulled in the two-point pass from Miles to make it 10-0 Searcy, and the Lions were just getting warmed up.

The next score came following another three-and-out from Batesville as Shockley took the ensuing punt 65 yards for a touchdown. Shockley also came up big in the third quarter, scoring on consecutive drives, including five straight carries from 39 yards out. That ended with Shockley punching it in from a yard out before putting up the final points for the Lions with 1:42 remaining in the third quarter to give the Lions a 45-7 lead.

“Shockley, he can play anywhere on the field,” Clark said. “I don’t love playing him at tailback, just because we need him on defense, we need him some at receiver, but he’s just a gamer. We know we can count on him.”

Miles also spread the ball around to four separate receivers, hitting junior Bryson Thompson for a 21-yard touchdown as well as 62-yard TD throw to Jackson on the opening drive of the second half.

“I thought there would be some big plays,” Clark said. “I knew we had the ability, and would have some opportunities to make some big plays, which we did. What I’m disappointed in is, we had way too many three-and-outs. We just weren’t as efficient as I would have hoped.”

Clark also noted the big crowd on hand Friday night.

“It’s unbelievable, just the support from the community,” Clark said. “I told the coaches on the headset, look up there, the home side is packed, and it’s that way every Friday night. It’s an awesome environment, and I’m just happy to be here.”