After struggling to finish drives last week, Sierra looked to simplify its attack Friday when it kicked off Valley Oak League action with visiting East Union.

The new strategy: Hand the rock to Brock.

The Timberwolves’ stalwart linebacker continued his eye-opening evolution as an offensive anchor, as Brock Felt pummeled EU for a career-best 325 yards and four touchdowns on a whopping 36 carries in the 44-32 win.

Sierra (1-0 VOL, 4-1 overall) led 44-19 early in the fourth quarter when Felt punched in the last of his four scoring scampers from 12 yards out. The Lancers were able to break away for two cosmetic TDs, but their defense could not get off the field. Sierra had possession for about 11 minutes, 30 seconds of the final period.

The T’wolves compiled 559 yards of offense, with quarterback Zak Willson contributing 196 yards and a touchdown on 10-of-15 passing to go with 40 yards on 12 rushes. His top target was Tali Vaipuna, who finished with five receptions for 119 yards and a TD. Trevor Sutton was 3-for-3 on field goals and made all five of his point-after attempts.

Jackson Fay led East Union (0-1, 4-1) with 240 yards and three touchdowns on six catches.

“We threw the ball 44 times last game (a 28-14 win at Sheldon), so we knew we needed to change it up and take some pressure off Zak,” Sierra coach Jeff Abrew said. “We wanted to establish Brock early, and he has been a wrecking ball the last few weeks. Our offensive line did a great job in the second half, and Brock continues to be tough to tackle.

“I’m just really proud of our team’s will to win tonight. There was a lot of outside noise about this game, and our guys just locked in and stayed focus all week. We came out and our boys played phenomenal tonight.”

The biggest moment came early in the third quarter when East Union started with possession while trailing, 23-7.

Quarterback Anthony Morales (10 of 25, 214 yards, two TDs; 68 rushing yards) quickly led the Lancers to the red zone, but running back Cesar Salinas was stopped at the 1-yard line on fourth down by Sierra lineman Mason Burke.

On the next play, the 5-foot-9, 203-pound Felt showed surprising burst on a 70-yard run that not only got the Timberwolves’ heels away from their own end zone, but had them on the doorstep of the other goal line. Felt finished the series with a 14-yard touchdown.

“The momentum shift was what we needed,” Felt said. “If we didn’t have that stop, I don’t know what the energy would have been like.”

The swing hurt East Union in many ways.

Salinas’ fourth-down carry was his last for the game, as he may have re-injured a collarbone that kept him out the last three weeks. He scored EU’s first touchdown of the game from 3 yards out, closing the Lancers in 13-7 in the second quarter.

In addition, two-way star Blake Mount, nursing a calf injury all week, was sidelined after tackling Felt on the Timberwolves’ first second-half drive.

“Losing him hurts the offense, because he’s an explosive player that can really break away at anytime,” EU coach Booie Daniels said of Mount. “Not having him was a big reason why our momentum went down a little bit. He’s a starting safety and receiver for us. I’m not sure about severity of the injury. We’ll have to see what next week looks like.”

His Lancers were stifled all game by penalties, some of which erased touchdowns.

They made things somewhat interesting in the fourth quarter after J.P. Abrew — the Sierra coach’s nephew — scored on on 82-yard kickoff return, and Kirk Simoni hooked up with Fay for an 86-yard pass catch-and-run. Those turned out to be the only two plays that East Union touched the ball in the fourth.

“We have a lot of two-way starters, especially in the interior (of the defense),” Daniels said. “Those guys were tired, and the reality of it is, when they put drives together like that it gasses us out. “Twenty-four (Felt) was hard to tackle; we had to put two or three guys on him, and that’s starts to wear and tear on the body over four quarters. They were able to keep feeding him and wear our guys down.”

It doesn’t get any easier for East Union, which hosts Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV runner-up Patterson next week.

“It stings losing a little bit, but it’s early in the VOL and we have time to improve,” Daniels said. “There’s a chance we see them again in the postseason. We have things we can improve on, and I think everything tonight is correctable. I don’t think we have peaked yet.”

Meanwhile, T’wolves will look to keep it rolling at winless Mountain House.

“I think this (win) just boosts our confidence,” Felt said.” Last year, we had four wins, and that was the most wins we had in the (previous) three years combined. Now, we have four wins already. That’s just a really good start for our team.”