LIVERMORE — The Spruce Mountain Phoenix put several days of controversy behind them and then staged dazzling display of air power and a dominating ground game that moved the ball at will Friday night.

Assistant coach David Frey, who took over as head coach after Walter Polky resigned earlier this week, called the shots from the sidelines.

The fired-up Phoenix (3-2) easily held the Poland Knights in check and cruised to a 46-0 victory at Griffin Field.

“They (Knights) were a tough team. The fought hard until the end of the game,” Frey said. “I think tonight was just a night that our guys played really well.

“I wanted to mix it up a little bit. Defensively, I was concerned that over the weeks we haven’t been really tough, defensively. Tonight could be a real confidence booster for these guys going into next week against Yarmouth.

“Tonight, my seniors stepped up and showed their leadership and we got through this together. The leadership of Caulin Parker, Dillon Webster, Austin Darling and Devan Pomeroy — they were a big help tonight. They stepped up tonight and were actually true leaders tonight.”

Junior Brett Frey and Darling each scored three touchdowns. Parker scored the first touchdown of the game and reeled off three TD passes. He was 6-for-8 in passing for 126 yards.

The Phoenix got a jump on things in the first quarter, using just four plays to march from the 37-yard line to 18 where Parker took it from there and scored. Pomeroy made the first of four extra-point kicks in a row.

The Knights coughed up the ball on the next set of downs when they fumbled and Frey recovered the ball on the 32.

Spruce Mountain took it from there and moved to the 8 where Darling scored his first of three touchdowns, giving the Phoenix a 14-0 lead.

The second quarter was like seeing a rerun of the first.

Parker started tossing passes all over the place. He threw three passes for 31 yards and put the Phoenix on the Knights’ 30-yard line where Darling delivered his second touchdown.

Spruce Mountain held the Knights on the next set of downs and got the ball back on the 32 and then moved to the 6. Parker connected with Frey in the end zone, putting the Phoenix in firm command with a 28-0 lead going into halftime.

The Phoenix owned the second half as well.

Frey scored on an 8-yard pass from Parker who really out outdid himself on the next set of downs. The Spruce Mountain quarterback hurled a 60-yard pass to Darling. The Phoenix now led 40-0.

The Phoenix’s Frey stunned the crowd when Spruce fumbled on the 23. But Frey was there to pick the loose ball up and run it in for a touchdown.

Offensively speaking, the Phoenix had a field day. They rushed the ball 34 times for a whopping 329 yards. The Knights struggled on the ground and in the air, rushing the ball 31 times for 34 yards.

“Hey, they were better than us,” Poland coach Gene Keene said. “That’s the bottom line.

“I thought we had a good game plan going in, but we just didn’t execute it very well as coaches and we didn’t execute it well as players.

“Our option defense I think was not solid at all. Like I said, we have to do a better job coaching and the kids have to do a better job playing.”