Seventh-seeded Gilbert Higley marched over second-seeded Buckeye like Sherman burned through Georgia, amassing 478 yards rushing on the way to a 53-7 win in the 4A-II state football playoffs at Buckeye on Friday.

Alex Jentzen broke loose on TD runs of 83 and 31 yards in the first half, then added a 60-yarder that featured two 360-degree spins in the third quarter as Higley (10-2) went up 28-0.

“My line has great blocking, I just keep my feet chopping,” said the senior, who finished with 218 yards on 12 carries.

Jentzen’s third TD started a string of three in just more than four minutes for the Knights in the third quarter. Kyle Byrne, who had caught a 48-yard pass in the first half to set up a 1-yard TD by Taylor McArthur, hauled in a 31-yard TD strike from Trey Grey.

Higley’s J.P. Beall grabbed his second interception to set up the Knights’ third score of the quarter — Chris Campbell’s 93-yard TD run. His first had set up Jentzen’s 83-yard scoring run.

Buckeye (9-3) featured a solid running attack this year, but lost leading rusher Ryan Taborn, who had more than 1,000 yards this season, in last week’s win over Phoenix Arcadia.

“We didn’t know how they would respond to that,” coach Jim Beall said. “Sometimes a team will pull together after something like that.”

“We knew they were really good running the ball,” said senior Scott Farnsworth, who had a sack to set up a TD. “We were really focused and ready for them.”

The game didn’t have the makings of a blowout in the early going. Steve Hardy recovered a fumble on the Hawks’ first play from scrimmage but the Knights only netted a yard on four plays. Neither team had moved the ball with any consistency until Jentzen’s 83-yard TD run at 4:17 of the first quarter. The Knights netted only 34 yards on 17 of their first-half rushes before breaking the game open.

“You’ve got to really be patient — both the coaches and the players,” Beall said. “You don’t want to break the big play too soon.”

Higley will meet Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep in the semifinals Nov. 30 at a neutral site.