Carthage’s Junior Henderson hauls in a pass against Rusk Friday. (Carlee Permenter/Panola Watchman)

RUSK — The Carthage Bulldogs football team — the No. 1 ranked team in 4A Division II — approached their final regular season road game against Rusk as a business trip.

Carthage took care of business and then some.

Junior quarterback Jett Surratt threw for 233 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions on 21-of-30 passing as Carthage dominated Rusk 49-7 on Friday at Eagle Stadium.

“We came and took care of business,” Carthage Coach Scott Surratt said. “Obviously we want a shutout every game and we didn’t get that, but it’s alright. We scored on most possessions and played really good in the kicking game, so a lot of positives.”

It started raining midway through the second quarter, and it didn’t bother Jett one bit in throwing for 194 of his 233 yards in the first half to go along with four touchdowns.

The junior connected with six different receivers in his two quarters, plus two drives in the third quarter performance.

Junior Cade Ross led Carthage with 92 yards receiving on five catches, including an 11-yard touchdown reception; Junior Henderson had four catches for 76 yards, including a 39-yard reception; and senior Cale Preston had three catches for 22 yards, including a pair of touchdowns.

“I was proud of how we threw the football in these elements,” Surratt said. “KJ (Edwards) got kind of banged up, but that’s part of football and he’ll be alright before it’s over. He’ll rehab hard and I wouldn’t count him out next week.”

The Bulldogs set the tone early going 60 yards on eight plays — caped by an Edwards 12-yard touchdown run.

Edwards rushed for 99 yards on 10 carries, including a touchdown in just one half of play, and Benny Smith rushed for 66 yards on six carries, including a 35-yard touchdown run.

Carthage (8-1, 4-0) scored touchdowns on all six of their first half drives in taking a 49-7 lead over Rusk going to the break.

Rusk (2-7, 1-3) got on the board when running back Drew Lane scored on a one-yard touchdown run that made it a 35-7 game with 2:07 left in the first half.

Coach Surratt pulled his starters after Jett connected with Henderson on a 39-yard touchdown pass with 7:07 left in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs defense was tremendous yet again in holding Rusk to just 92 yards of offense in the game.

Rusk quarterback Jermichael Sterns threw for 85 yards on 7-of-15 passing, and the Eagles combined for seven rushing yards on 22 carries in the game.

Carson Crawford and Braylin Allison each had a sack and two tackles for loss, while Colt Hodges had a forced fumble and Ethen Portley a fumble recovery in the victory.

Carthage has won eight-straight games, including all four of their true road games this season. The Bulldogs will now shift their attention to next week where they will host Brownsboro for Senior Night with an attempt to capture an eighth-straight undefeated district title.

Carthage will host Brownsboro who picked up their first victory of the season on Friday in defeating visiting Bullard 31-30. Kickoff at Bulldog Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.