Southview passed the final stiff test of the regular season in convincing fashion once again as the Cougars rolled Friday night over visiting Anthony Wayne.

Behind a stingy defense, Southview took full control of the race for the Northern Lakes League title with a 36-14 win. The Cougars (7-1, 5-0 NLL) are in prime position to capture their fifth straight title.

"We do have a good team," Southview coach Jim Mayzes said. "We're playing hard for it every week."

Senior quarterback Austin Valdez completed six of 15 passes for 125 yards, including a 69-yard touchdown. Valdez, who also rushed for 57 yards, helped his team take a momentum-building 22-7 lead late in the first half with runs of 12 and 28 yards.

PHOTO GALLERY: Southview defeats Anthony Wayne.

"We came into this game, and we executed in the beginning really well," Valdez said. "It's good because they are a great team with a lot of good players. We came out ready to play."

The Cougars held the Generals' usually productive run game to just 15 yards. They held Aaron Dulay, who entered the game leading the NLL in rushing with 7.9 yards per carry, to minus-nine yards.

Overall, Southview yielded only 79 total yards, and 40 of those came on one pass play.

"Anthony Wayne played real hard, and they have good players too," Mayzes said. "They usually have three kids that each can get 10 yards a carry. But we have a bunch of strong kids and great linebackers."

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The Generals (6-2, 3-2) are the last team on the Cougars' schedule with a winning record. Southview finishes at Springfield and against Northview.

The Cougars outscored the teams expected to give them a battle for the title, Maumee, Perrysburg, and Anthony Wayne, 110-48.

"I just have to credit Southview," AW coach Craig Smith said. "They have athletes. They have size. That's a really good NLL team. Our kids played hard. Too many turnovers killed us."

The Generals threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles on squib kicks.

Southview senior Jalen Marable finished with a game-high 90 rushing yards. Senior Jay Fisher, who came in leading the NLL in scoring, tallied two more touchdowns.

Southview took the first possession of the third quarter and marched 54 yards to take a 22-point lead. Senior JQ Bowers capped it with a six-yard TD run.

"They are a great team. But we came out playing harder from start to finish," Bowers said. "We had confidence. It's exciting because you don't have to do it all yourself. Someone else will make a play."

AW showed resiliency, however, answering with a 40-yard TD pass from Josh Lindke to Sam Bruno. The sophomore was wide open on the short pass, and he made it 29-14 with 5:53 left in the third quarter.

But the Cougars kept the pedal down as Valdez hooked up with sophomore Nate Hall on a 69-yard TD pass play with 1:36 left in the third quarter.

At the half, Southview had 184 total yards and held AW to just 15.

But Anthony Wayne scored first following an interception by Hunter Lonseth. Bruno then went in from five yards out as the Generals went up 7-0 just 4:54 into the game.

Southview responded just two plays after that when Marable scored on a 74-yard run. The Cougar offensive line opened a huge hole for Marable who sprinted in untouched.

Southview then went for two following an offsides call on AW and converted on a run by Fisher to grab an 8-7 lead.

Allen Gant followed that when he came up with an interception for the Cougars, and they cashed in on Fisher's one-yard run for a 15-7 lead with 1:51 left in the first.

Fisher scored on another one-yard tote and Southview seized a 22-7 lead with 48 seconds left in the first half

Southview's Joe Felker then recovered an on-side kick that deflected off of an AW player. But Valdez threw an interception with no time left on the clock as Josh Schwerer hauled in a deflection.

Schwerer was on his way for a long score when David George made a touchdown-saving tackle.

Contact Mark Monroe at: mmonroe@theblade.com, 419-724-6354 or on Twitter @MonroeBlade

First Published October 15, 2011, 4:36 a.m.