ORRVILLE — The Keith Bears dominated on both sides of the ball on their way to their first 4-0 start since 2008, as they defeated the Holy Spirit Titans 51-6 Friday at J.V. Caldwell Stadium in region play.

Harry Crum, head football coach of Keith (4-0, 3-0 Class 1A-Region 3), said his team played well and he was glad he was able to get some experience for his young backups, but there’s still room for improvement.

“We kind of did some of the things we wanted to do. We were able to turn the corner on them,” Crum said. “We have some kids that can really run and we felt like if we could turn the corner on them they would have a problem with our speed. We made a couple of mistakes — had a long run by Walton Young called back because of someone holding on the back side away from the play. That didn’t make any sense. We’ve just got to minimize the little things and correct them.”

The Bears got rolling early, scoring on their first drive, as fullback Terrell Valazquez pounded the ball in from three yards out to make it a 6-0 game with 10:00 left in the first.

After shutting down the Titans (0-4, 0-3 Class 1A-Region 3) on offense, the Bears called on Valazquez again, as he ran it in from a yard out to push the Keith lead to 12-0 with 4:59 left in the first quarter.

Keith kept leaning on its running game in the second quarter, as Young ran in from 15 yards out on a sweep that padded the Bears’ lead at 18-0 with 11:28 left in the second quarter.

The Bears opted for on change of pace on their next possession, scoring through the air this time, as quarterback Maurice Crumpton found Rodney Ellis on a 25-yard go route for a touchdown that made it 24-0 with 8:21 left to play in the half.

After Keith defensive back Delmuss Irby picked off Holy Spirit quarterback Garrett Anderson’s pass at the Bears’ 40-yard line, it was Irby who finished off the ensuing possession for Keith with an 18-yard touchdown run that made the game 31-0 after a successful extra point with 3:09 left in the half.

Keith added one more score in the first half, as Crumpton capped off a drive with a 2-yard quarterback sneak that made the score 37-0 with 1:27 left in the second.

Keith rested its starters in the second half, but continued to find success from its offensive unit as Deanthony Griffin scored on a 47-yard run in the in the third quarter and Domonique Jones scored on a 5-yard run in the fourth quarter to round out the scoring for the Bears.

The Titans’ lone touchdown came on a 4-yard pass from Anderson to Jon Dever with 3:44 left in the game.

The Bears’ defense forced two turnovers on the night and held the Titans largely in check, allowing less than 100 yards of total offense from Holy Spirit.

The Bears will take the field again next Friday at in-county rival Southside High School with kickoff at 7 p.m.