Warren Ingram

Bentons Chris Michaels (White Number 4) and Dustin Williams (40) chase down Savannah Running Back Bryce George (Black Number 4) Friday night at Savannah.

SAVANNAH, Mo. — There is a good chance Savannah senior quarterback Travis Partridge wears a shirt under his pads that has a black and gold “S” on it somewhere. As far as the Benton Cardinals are concerned, the “S” Friday night was blood red outlined in gold.

Partridge pulled a Superman act on the Cardinals, rushing for more than 200 yards and one score in leading the Savages to a 31-6 win over Benton at Savage Field.

The win leaves the Cardinals at 3-3 overall, 2-3 in the Midland Empire Conference. Savannah remains undefeated at 6-0, 3-0.

Partridge barely got out of the phone booth before he reached the end zone against Benton. On Savannah’s third play from scrimmage on their first possession, Partridge took the snap and followed fullback Bryce George virtually untouched for a 75-yard scoring run at the 7:42 mark of the first quarter. Cameron Vulgamott added the extra-point for a 7-0 lead, and the homecoming win was in sight early for the Savannah faithful.

“He is the wheel that runs our engine,” Savannah coach Mark Cole said of Partridge. “Right now, no one has seemed to have an answer for him — inside runs, outside runs, whatever it is.”

Runs outside the hash marks were rare for Partridge throughout the night as the senior found most of his running room between the tackles in the double tight-end set.

For the game, Partridge rushed 28 times for 216 yards and a touchdown. As a team, the Savages rushed 47 times for 295 yards and three scores, much coming through tough running between the tackles.

“Our offensive line works really hard,” Cole noted. “They have been getting better every week. I think we are really just now starting to work our schemes a lot better.”

Savannah got a 4-yard touchdown run by Mike Scanlan and a 32-yard field goal by Vulgamott in the second quarter to lead 17-0 lead at halftime.

Partridge opened the scoring in the second half with a touchdown pass to wideout Lee McFadden from 11 yards out with 3:38 left. It put Savannah up 24-0 before Benton got on the board.

Benton scored its lone touchdown on a 34 yard scamper by running back Jake Kretzer with 10:11 left in the game.

The two-point conversion attempt failed. Savannah ended the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown run by George with 2:48 left.

Partridge wasn’t at his best through the air against the Cardinals going 7-of-21 for 59 yards, one touchdown and one interception. But the Savage ground game, led by Partridge, was too much for the Cardinals to handle.

“Travis Partridge single-handedly killed us,” Cardinals coach Matt Tabor said. “They have a good ball club, and they got us tonight, that is for sure.”

Benton’s offense was limited to playing catch-up throughout most of the night. Kretzer rushed for 75 total yards on 17 attempts and one score. Quarterback Zack Hart went 12-of-20 for 72 yards and two interceptions.

Sports correspondent Brett King can be reached at npsports@npgco.com