And Friday night at Cary High School it was simply more of the same.

In 35 offensive plays the Bengals ran the ball 33 times and piled up 388 yards and five touchdowns en route to a 34-0 rout of the Imps, who had only allowed two scores in the past two games combined.

“This was huge,” Fuquay-Varina coach Ryan Habich said. “We were not very excited about our first conference game being at Cary. Cooper Field is a tough place to play. We knew it would be physical and it was. We knew we would have to play well to win.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Fuquay-Varina quarterback Nate Budde finally broke through with 7:44 left in the first half. The senior scampered around the right end on a keeper and went 19 yards for a touchdown – giving the Bengals a 7-0 lead.

“We started sluggish, but Nate and Cory kept running hard,” Habich said. “And eventually the offense got going and they popped open.”

Habich was especially complimentary of the way Budde managed the game.

“Most of Nate’s big plays came on read plays where he made the call at the line,” he said. “He kept making the right call and he kept making plays.”

Fuquay (4-0, 1-0) did not wait long to build on its newly-found offensive momentum, scoring again two minutes later on a Malcolm Thaxton 38-yard run to push its lead to 14.

Cary (2-2, 0-1) moved the ball to the Bengals’ 11 yard line as time ran down in the first half, but was unable to take advantage. Imps kicker Saul Rodriguez’s 28-yard field goal attempt fell short with one tick left in the first half. Cary would never threaten again.

“(Fuquay-Varina) was just a little too much for us tonight,” Cary coach Ben Kolstad said. “We didn’t capitalize on our opportunities in the first half and we didn’t complement each other on defense the rest of the game. They’re physical and they’re relentless.”

Fuquay led 14-0 at the break.

The second half was all Bengals. They found the end zone two more times in the third quarter to push the score to 28-0. The first touchdown came on a Cory Hunter 9-yard run, the second on a Budde 46-yard sprint down the right sideline.

Hunter tacked on the Bengals’ final six points with 10:17 left in the game on an 8-yard touchdown run. The two-point try failed.

Hunter finished with a game-high 191 yards and two scores on 15 carries. Budde needed just eight carries to tally 119 yards and two touchdowns of his own.

Both teams continue conference play next week as Fuquay-Varina hosts Panther Creek in what should be one of the biggest games in the conference while Cary travels to traditional rival Apex.