RED SPRINGS — Dominant defense and a big night from running back Xavier Wooten helped lead visiting East Bladen past Red Springs on Friday, 34-6, in a Three Rivers Conference game.

The Eagles improved to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the conference, while Red Springs drops to 3-2, 1-2.

East Bladen got on the board mid-way into the first quarter when Wooten put the finishing touches on an Eagles drive with a 1-yard touchdown. Pierce Melvin booted the PAT and East Bladen was up, 7-0.

Just 1:14 into the second quarter, Wooten capped another Eagles drive with another 1-yard touchdown burst and, when Melvin split the uprights, East Bladen had a 14-0 edge.

The Eagles took the ball with barely enough time in the first half to manufacture another march to the end zone. This one ended with quarterback Sincere Smith’s 14-yard scoring pass to Adonis Avery with less than 10 seconds on the clock. Melvin’s extra point put East Bladen up 21-0 at halftime.

After some early back and forth to start the second half, East Bladen got things going and Wooten finished a drive with a 6-yard touchdown run. The point after was missed, but the Eagles had built a 27-0 advantage with 4:12 left in the third quarter.

Red Springs finally put something on the board when it got a 92-yard kickoff return that found the end zone. The kick was no good, but the Red Devils had pulled to within 27-6.

They got no closer.

While the East Bladen defense mauled the Red Devils’ offense the rest of the way, the Eagles mounted one ore scoring drive. Halfway through the fourth quarter, Eric Chancy put the ball into the end zone on a 2-yard run and Melvin’s PAT gave East Bladen its 34-6 margin.

In all, the Eagles outgained Red Springs by a 312-17 margin.

Wooten led the East Bladen ground attack with 129 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries, while Chancy had 76 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

Smith was 2-for-4 for 27 yards and a touchdown through the air with one interception. He also picked off a pass on defense.