NEW ALBANY - All the weapons were out for New Albany on Friday night, including the versatile Kareem Brown.

Hampered by leg cramps in his team's season opener against Booneville last Friday, Brown finally made his presence felt on the offensive side of the ball, accounting for 127 total yards and two touchdowns in leading the Daily Journal's fourth-ranked large school to an impressive 49-0 home victory over Ripley.

The Bulldogs have now won two straight against their northern rivals after last season's 33-28 victory at Ripley.

"It felt good to be back," Brown said. "This is a big game. It's a rivalry game, and it's been a rivalry game for years.

"We came out pumped up, and it ended on a good note."

In three quarters of work, New Albany senior quarterback Tyler Basil completed 12 of 13 passes for 216 yards and four TDs, including 9-yard and 50-yard tosses to Brown.

"When he goes to the sideline, that hurts us," Basil said of Brown not being on the field. "When he's out there, that just makes us 10 times better. He's a playmaker.

"The two touchdowns that he caught, that was all him. It was nothing on my part. He made the moves. This one on the far sideline (the 50-yard reception), he made about four or five guys miss."

Basil also hooked up with Luke Foley for a 25-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and wide receiver Joshua Googe for a 33-yard catch and score with 8:03 left in the third quarter.

For the second consecutive week, Basil sat out the fourth quarter with his team comfortably ahead - this time with a 49-0 advantage after three quarters of play. Spencer Day took his place behind center.

"We just carried over from last week," said Basil, whose 2-0 Bulldogs team plays another Division 1-3A team, Corinth, at home next Friday night. "Last week, in the second half, we didn't do too well.

"But tonight, all we wanted to do - we were preaching this through the whole week - is finish. We had to finish.

"The whole offense, you gotta give credit to the offensive line."

Basil went on to give credit to his receivers before - last but not least - giving props to New Albany's power back, Kelvin Worship. Worship rushed 11 times for 116 yards and two scores, one of them a 13-yard run to give the Bulldogs a commanding 28-0 lead just halfway through the second quarter.

New Albany led 35-0 at halftime.

The Bulldogs' last touchdown on the night, a 6-yard run by Worship with 6:13 left in the third, was set up by a 44-yard punt return by Josh Creekmore. Creekmore also had a 4-yard TD run at the start of the second quarter.

"They're probably the best team we'll play all year," said Ripley head coach Grady McCluskey, whose second-ranked Class 3A team dropped to 1-1 on the young season and will travel to Lewisburg next Friday. "They'll make some noise in 4A. They got everything you need: special teams, quarterback play, running backs, receivers, a good defense and a strong offensive line. They're the real deal."

And you can't forget to mention New Albany's defense, which didn't allow the Tigers to even come close to scoring.

"Those guys are pretty good," Bulldogs head coach Ron Price said about his team's defense. "They are not getting a whole lot of credit right now. Hopefully, as the season goes on, they'll get better and better each week, and hopefully they'll start to get some recognition as the season goes on."