On paper, it was an obvious mismatch.

Entering Friday night's meeting with Lancaster Catholic, Pequea Valley had given up a league-worst 1,354 rushing yards in five games and had the second-worst defense in the league, allowing an average of 392.8 yards per game.

Not the best scenario, considering the Braves were about to square off against a fully-equipped Catholic team that has its sights set on returning to the PIAA Class AA Eastern final.

Things went as one might expect.

Scoring on each of its eight offensive possessions in the first two quarters, and getting a 36-yard interception return for a touchdown from senior linebacker Tyler Purvis, Catholic steamrolled to a 62-0 halftime lead before hanging a 62-7 loss on Pequea Valley in Rossmere.

"You put 11 people out there and you play football, and what happens, happens," Catholic coach Bruce Harbach said afterward. "Good teams come out and take care of business, and we did that."

In the end, the biggest highlight reel belonged to Crusaders junior running back Jordan Stewart, whose 5.4 yards per carry average ranked fifth in Section Three entering Friday's contest.

Against PV (0-3 Section Three, 1-5 overall), Stewart finished with 242 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries. He had scoring runs of 7, 18 and 64 yards, in addition to breaking off a 43-yard run midway through the second quarter that set up another Catholic TD, which made it 35-0 with 7:30 left in the first half.

"I liked that we were efficient on the offensive side of the ball," Harbach said. "Kyle (senior quarterback Kyle Smith) had a better zip on the ball tonight, and Stewart did a great job running the ball.

"And I like the way the offensive line played as a unit," he added. "That's what we're going to have to do over the next four weeks."

After taking on Northern Lebanon, Columbia and Annville-Cleona in its next three games, Catholic (3-0, 5-1) will host Elco in its regular-season finale Nov. 6.

Elco (2-1, 5-1) was tied for the section lead with the Crusaders going into Friday, but dropped a game off the pace with a 40-14 loss to Lampeter-Strasburg Friday night.

It was obvious early that the Crusaders would have no such worries against PV.

Led by Stewart's efforts, Catholic churned out 381 ground yards on 35 carries as a team.

Smith, meanwhile, completed 11-of-18 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns before being pulled to the sideline at halftime.

Smith's favorite target in the first half was senior wideout Kevin Cotchen, who hauled in four passes for 89 yards. The Crusaders also got catches from Purvis (2-56, 1 TD), Andrew Millay (3-28, 2TDs) and Seth Graham (2-37) in the first two quarters.

Conversely, the Braves, who totaled 192 yards of offense — most of which came in the second half — were having no such luck.

PV ran the ball 22 times for a total of 90 yards, 51 on a Chad Tyson burst midway through the first quarter.

Meanwhile, Braves quarterback Ben Myers completed 12-of-27 passes for 102 yards and was intercepted three times.