DEKALB, Mo. — Like most good backs, Christian’s Luke Mathes took time to thank his offensive line Friday night.

The versatile Lions back benefitted from gaping holes, scoring on his first three carries against DeKalb. Finally back to full strength, Christian’s three-pronged rushing attack shone for a second straight week, this time in a 50-0 rout at DeKalb High School.

Last week, Daniel Gregory led the Lions in yards and touchdowns. But Mathes rolled this week to team-highs of 137 yards and three touchdowns. So maybe the unit of Tim Schmitz, Jordan Strandell and James Martin is picking favorites when blocking.

After all, DeKalb barely touched Mathes on his first three carries.

“It just kind of works out that way,” said Mathes, who again started at quarterback against DeKalb. “They definitely don’t pick favorites; it’s just some nights go better for others. It’s just great having a line like that.”

Christian (7-2) benefitted from quick-strike scoring behind dominant line play during a first-quarter onslaught.

After taking the opening kickoff, Mathes scored on the sixth play from scrimmage on a 35-yard keeper. DeKalb managed one first down on its initial drive before punting, and Mathes took the next play after the exchange of possession 58 yards for his second score.

Another DeKalb three-and-out led to a four-play drive with Mathes running 26 yards for his third touchdown of the first 8 minutes, 21 seconds.

The Lions converted 2-point conversions on each of Mathes’ scores to build a 24-0 lead and went on to put up touchdowns in all but one of their six first-half possessions. Christian led 38-0 at the break after taking a knee to run out the time on the first half.

The three top runners for the Lions — Mathes, Gregory and David Welchert — combined for only eight second-half carries. Mathes tweaked his injured left knee on their first play after halftime, a 3-yard run on a fumbled snap.

Gregory put up 110 yards on 12 carries, while Welchert had 77 on a team-high 13 totes.

“You never want to see any of your starters get hurt,” Christian coach Mark Juhl said. “We just want to keep everybody intact for the playoffs, and we have some decent backups. I was really conscious of the score and even in the second quarter didn’t want to run it up or anything. We just want to win the district that’s all.”

Christian did win the district with the victory. Despite the loss, DeKalb already qualified for the playoffs prior to playing Christian.

The Tigers will go into the playoffs as district runner-up after finishing the regular season against Chilhowee next week. They last reached the postseason in 2003.

DeKalb (6-3) ran for only 40 yards as a team, and Dustin Zabel completed only 2 of 11 passes against Christian’s first team defense with two interceptions. Christian sophomore Matt Dahlgren, making his first start, recorded both interceptions and recovered a fumble on DeKalb’s third turnover.

“This is the best team we’ve played all year,” DeKalb coach Vernon Pike said. “(Juhl) is loaded with talent. He’s got great strength. He’s got great speed. He’s got good size. He’s got a great mind to coach with. That’s a tough combination to work against.”