ELLAVILLE — Jim McFather has a way with motivation.

The Schley County football coach said his team wasn’t playing well despite a 14-0 halftime lead and holding Pacelli to 30 yards of offense. That’s when he gave the team the news.

“Maybe I shouldn’t, but we challenged the (offensive) line the second half,” he said. “I came in there with a letter and said, ‘Hey, guys we’ve just been informed,’ and I called each one of them out by name, and the tight end, too, ‘that your momma just got burned up because you didn’t bust the door down.’ Their eyes all dropped, got big-eyed and mouths dropped. Then they said ‘we could do it.’

They did it and then some. The Wildcats rushed for 416 yards (217 in the second half) and had 457 yards of total offense as they whipped Pacelli, 28-7, for homecoming.

Carmetrick Ross had 159 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and three other players had 60 yards or more rushing as Schley improved to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in Region 4-A.

After Trae Mann and Jesse Colter stuffed Pacelli’s Drew Spikes on a fourth-and-3 on the first drive of the second half, Schley marched 65 yards on 10 plays with Trae Mann capping it with a 3-yard touchdown for a 21-0 lead.

Mann and Ross shredded the defense on the drive, and McFather said they did a good job of finding running lanes.

“If the hole was shut, they’d bounce outside,” he said. “They did a good job of using the stiff-arm and getting that extra two-three yards. A lot of times that was vital. A lot of times that got us a first down by a yard or two.”

Pacelli (2-4, 2-3) cracked the scoreboard with 11 minutes left in the game after quarterback Stuart Wilkerson avoided a rush and scrambled 17 yards for the score. The Wildcats’ last touchdown was scored after the Vikings turned it over on downs.

Schley went 34 yards in four plays with Ross finishing it off from five yards out.

After scoring 50 points in two of the last three games, McFather wanted to see if the Wildcats could respond at home since they were 0-2 so far this season. They didn’t disappoint, especially on the defensive side.

Tyler Tondee and Tony Lizarraga led a swarming defense that allowed 191 yards for the game and held Pacelli to its lowest point total of the season by 14 points. Tondee made 13 tackles while Lizarraga had 10 with a sack. Jeremy Blue and Chad Harmon also had a sack.

Ross had an interception and Kyle Brock picked off a pass and forced a fumble.

“The defense stepped up, it was the best effort we’ve had this year,” said McFather. “We’ve got to build off it.

“They played more consistently, didn’t get out of position and hustled. We squeezed a whole lot better.”