HENDERSON — Henderson’s Del Barnes avoided a tackle, bounced to the outside and found a receiver wide open in the corner of the end zone.

It was that kind of night for the senior quarterback.

In the 77th meeting between rival programs, Barnes passed for 416 yards and four touchdowns to lead Henderson past Kilgore 35-7 in front of a standing-room-only crowd Friday night at Lion Stadium.

Barnes, the Class 3A Division I state final MVP last season, was 17 of 22 for 353 yards and four touchdowns in the first half alone to help the third-ranked Lions (3-0) enter the break with a 29-7 lead. That put him on pace to challenge the state’s single-game passing record, but the aerial attack was rarely needed in the second half.

Barnes, whose scores were from 70, 15, 26 yards and 87 yards, threw the ball with pinpoint accuracy en route to finishing 21 of 27 with no interceptions. He found multiple receivers wide open on fly routes and placed the ball perfectly in front of them.

Following a scoreless eight minutes, Barnes led the Lions on their first scoring drive with less than four minutes left in the first quarter. The drive lasted only four plays, thanks to Barnes finding Anthony wide open down the field for the 70-yard score with 2:31 left. The PAT was blocked, leaving the score 6-0.

After junior defensive end Travon Roquemore recovered a fumble at Kilgore’s 29 less than a minute later, Barnes put the Lions up 13-0 when he escaped trouble and found Anthony open in the corner of the end zone with 1:07 left in the quarter.

The touchdowns came on Anthony’s lone catches of the night.

Henderson increased the lead to 26-0 in the second quarter, thanks to a 26-yard touchdown screen to Jay O’Neal with 6:20 to go and an 87-yard bomb to Patrick Brown with 4:01 on the clock.

Kilgore (0-2) pulled within 26-7 on a 62-yard throw from Toler to Shelton Tolliver, but the Lions answered back with a 37-yard field goal by William Mann with no time remaining in the second quarter. On the field goal, the ball hit the cross bar and bounced through the uprights to perhaps reflect the way the night was going for Henderson.

Lamarcus Brown finished with six catches for 160 yards to lead the Lions’ in receiving, plus ran for a score. The other top receivers were O’Neal (7-59), Patrick Brown (4-101) and Anthony (2-85).

Toler finished 10 of 25 for 183 yards and the touchdown, while Tolliver caught three passes for 104 yards.

Kilgore running back Dondra Halton carried the ball 18 times for 78 yards in place of L.D. Anthony, who sat out for the second straight game.

Notes: Kilgore leads the series 42-29-6. At halftime, the public address announcer led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance in remembrance of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Local soldiers, firemen and police were honored with a standing ovation during the patriotic halftime celebration.

No. 3 Henderson 35, Kilgore 7

At Lion Stadium, Kilgore

Kilgore          0    7   0   0 — 7

Henderson   13  16   0   6 — 35

First Quarter

HEN – Jamie Anthony 70 pass from Del Barnes (kick blocked), 2:31

HEN – Anthony 15 pass from Barnes (William Mann kick), 1:07

Second Quarter

HEN – Jay O’Neal 26 pass from Barnes (pass failed), 6:20

HEN – Patrick Brown 87 pass from Barnes (Mann kick), 4:01

KIL – Shelton Tolliver 62 pass from Riley Toler (Hugo Orta kick), 2:39

HEN – FG Mann 37,:00

Fourth Quarter

HEN – Lamarcus Brown 1 run (kick blocked), 10:51

                                  KIL             HEN

First Downs          13           18

Rushes-Yards      30-70       28-106

Passing Yards      183          416

Comp.-Att.-Int.    10-25-1    21-28-0

Fumbles-Lost       2-2          2-1

Punts-Avg.           7-35.9     5-38.6

Penalties-Yards    8-63        8-57

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Kilgore, Dondra Halton 18-78, Cornelius Bell 5-5, Ladarius Austin 2-(-6), Riley Toler 5-(-7). Henderson, Jay O’Neal 10-52, Patrick Brown 3-27, Diamante Wright 2-16, Lamarcus Brown 5-13, Davondrick Biggers 1-1, Del Barnes 3-0, J’Korrie Centers 1-0, Stephen Reese 2-(-1), Tre’ Hollins 1-(-2).

PASSING – Kilgore, Toler 10-25-1—183. Henderson, Barnes 21-27-0—416, P. Brown 0-1-0—0.

RECEIVING – Kilgore, Shelton Tolliver 3-104, Matthew Dickey 2-26, Rashaad Edwards 2-24, Halton 1-15, Bell 1-9, Austin 1-5. Henderson, L. Brown 6-160, O’Neal 7-59, P. Brown 4-101, Jamie Anthony 2-85, Jeffrey Holt 1-8, Wright 1-3.