KILLEEN — Different jersey number, same Darrell Harris.

Harris ripped Killeen for 327 yards on 24 carries and a pair of touchdowns, leading Waco High to a 31-21 victory Thursday over the Kangaroos at Leo Buckley Stadium.

Harris’ usual No. 5 away jersey suffered a five-inch tear down the side last week in the Lions’ District 8-4A-opening win over Midway, forcing him to make a change. He chose No. 45 in honor of Boobie Miles, the former Odessa Permian running back made famous by Friday Night Lights.

Harris can certainly claim a similar skill set. His average of 13.6 yards per carry Thursday was even better than when he ran for 319 yards on 35 carries in this stadium in a win over Ellison earlier this year. Harris has now had three 300-yard games this year.

“Nothing’s ho-hum for that guy,” Waco High coach Danny Ramsey said. “He just sees the end zone.”

More importantly, Harris’ huge day, which inches him ever closer to John Hubert’s city rushing record, gives the Lions (5-2) a 2-0 start to district and keeps alive the program’s hope for its first district title in four years.

It’s not entirely accurate to say Harris was the Lions’ offense in its entirety, but he was close. Of Waco High’s 417 yards of offense, 359 belonged to Harris. His two touchdown runs in the first half led the Lions to a 21-0 edge, and he helped keep their lead out to 31-7 at its largest with a bevy of elegant runs aided by his hefty offensive line, which punched moon-sized holes in the Killeen (5-2, 1-1) front seven all night.

“Our offensive line, they were moving boys,” Harris said. “My wide receivers were blocking downfield, and every time I saw a hole I just hit it.”

Not only was Waco High’s defense on point, its special teams unit was nearly flawless. Killeen’s best starting position was its own 34 until late in the fourth quarter when the Lions held a 31-7 lead on the back of a Keimon McDowell rush with 6:06 left in the third quarter.

The defense held down Killeen’s talented trio of running backs, allowing none of them to reach the century mark. The Lions’ suddenly super defense was especially effective in the first half, when Killeen didn’t have a running back top 15 yards rushing. Naaman Young was the most effective of the bunch, rushing for 85 yards and a touchdown he got with less than 30 seconds left in the game that only served as window dressing in a game that had long been over.

“I’ve been telling people those boys are crucial,” Harris said. “We had a few messups on offense, but (our defense) held them good, though. Especially those three running backs they’ve got, they come back-to-back and they’re fresh, but we held them pretty good.”

The Lions scored touchdowns on each of their first three possessions, and it only took them 11 plays to get to 21 points. Harris took the Lions’ first play 52 yards, and Michael Branch scored a play later on an eight-yard carry to cap a 16-second drive for a 7-0 lead three minutes in.

Another lightning-quick drive, highlighted by a 36-yard screen to Harris, was capped by Harris’ four-yard plunge later that quarter. Killeen responded with a 17-play drive that wove downfield and included a successful fake punt at midfield and a pair of third-down conversions. 

But the Lions forced a turnover on downs at their 35, and the menacing Harris stuck it back in the end zone two plays later. He led off the drive with a 22-yard run and then went 43 yards to paydirt on the next play, traipsing past the front seven and running it in for a 21-0 edge.

Killeen’s offense was kept between the 20s for the most part, but the Kangaroos’ only big play of the half led to their only touchdown. Gaskamp hit Devarri McCray for 47 yards, and Naaman Young’s two-yard touchdown two plays later cut it to 21-7 with 4:21 to go in the half.

The Lions kept moving the ball but Ben Diaz missed two field goals in the final three minutes of the first half. He atoned with a 37-yard make early in the third quarter, and McDowell’s rush expanded the Lions’ lead out to its largest point at 31-7 midway through the third quarter.