Aaron McAllister throws for six TDs in Basic’s win over Clark

Basic football coach Jeff Cahill had some injury concerns Friday as he sent his players onto the field.

His worries lasted just 14 seconds, as the eighth-ranked Wolves scored on the opening kickoff and dominated the first half on the way to a 47-13 victory over visiting Clark.

Quarterback Aaron McAllister had a career performance, completing 16 of 23 passes for 267 yards and six touchdowns.

“We had a lot of guys down tonight,” said Cahill, whose defense gave up just 86 first-half yards. “We had four defensive starters out, and I knew we were going to have to play a lot of backups. They did a great job.”

But the Wolves’ efficient defense was barely necessary, as Quison Owens returned the opening kick 76 yards to give Basic (3-0) a 6-0 lead.

“That return was one of the biggest things for us tonight,” Cahill said. “It gave us a lift early and really got us rolling.”

McAllister followed with a 7-yard TD pass to DeShawn Eagles to make it 13-0.

The Chargers’ only successful drive in the first half was made possible by a 55-yard pass from Isaiah Bigby to Nick Kinnard late in the first quarter. Kinnard capped the drive with a 3-yard TD run, but Basic was just getting started.

McAllister threw two TD passes to Patrick Lustin, another to Eagles, and one to Jordan Gallegos before the end of the half to give Basic a 40-6 halftime lead.

“Everything worked well tonight,” McAllister said. “I just put the ball where I needed to and my receivers caught it.”

McAllister, who came out of the game after Basic’s first second-half series, connected with Zack Grismanauskas for a 42-yard TD pass early in the third quarter.

“He’s been throwing the ball well,” Cahill said. “And he pretty much just played one half and one series tonight.”

Cahill was able to play his reserves for the remainder of the game, and Clark (1-2) finally found the end zone again when Justin Aguilar connected with Kinnard for a 10-yard score with 1:15 remaining in the game.

Eagles caught five passes for 79 yards, and Rasheem Newsome led the Wolves’ running game with 51 yards on five carries.

Bigby was 3-for-6 for 78 yards passing for Clark, but he also threw two interceptions that led to Basic touchdowns.