The atmosphere at Sunset Chev Stadium Friday night included Panthers, Gators and other wild creatures of the night, even a large white horse pulling around the homecoming court.

In the end, though, it was Bonney Lake’s football team that prevailed in the law of the jungle. The Panthers capitalized on numerous Decatur High miscues to defeat the listless Gators 49-6, getting back into the South Puget Sound League 3A swing of things with a 1-2 league mark and 5-2 record overall.

The Gators fumbled the opening kickoff and Bonney Lake was able to quickly take advantage when a Panther defender alertly came up with the loose pigskin.

One minute later Bonney Lake capitalized when Chris Brown and Zach Zaragoza hooked up on the first of four touchdown strikes they would account for on the evening, a 27-yard dart.

Brown received great protection from his linemen to go 17-for-34 passing in the lopsided affair for seven touchdowns and nearly 400 yards.

Running back E.J. Harris looked fully recovered from an injury he suffered earlier in the season, as he used his open-field running abilities to turn a couple of short-range screen passes into long touchdowns in the first and second stanzas.

“It was great to have E.J. back,” coach Chad Barrett said, “and even though we didn’t run him very much directly into the line we were throwing the ball all over the yard and E.J. smoked the Gators on those two long touchdowns.”

Brown is taking the SPSL 3A by storm this season, as he leads the league in passing with more than 2,500 yards through the air in seven games. With only two league encounters remaining, on the road against Enumclaw and Lakes, Brown has notched 31 touchdown passes.

Bonney Lake will visit Enumclaw Friday and needs to keep winning in order to fan its flickering playoff aspirations.