The stage is set for Jacksonville football.

The Cardinals put themselves in position for an undefeated regular season and the outright Big Carolina 6-A/7-A Conference title on Friday night with a 41-24 home victory over D.H. Conley.

“They know what’s at stake,” Jacksonville coach Beau Williams said. “They know White Oak is a good team and gets after it, and that we have to be ready.”

A home win over White Oak next Thursday would give the Cardinals (8-0, 4-0) their first unbeaten regular season since 1982 and mark the first time Jacksonville won all of its conference games since 1990.

The victory over D.H. Conley (6-3, 3-1) already gives the Cardinals at least a share of the league crown, but they look for more against White Oak (4-5, 0-4) after finishing in a three-way tie for it last year.

It was Jacksonville’s first league title since 2000.

“Next week is big,” senior defensive back Jah’quez Robinson said. “It’s a short week and it’s homecoming so there are a lot of distractions.”

Senior offensive lineman Anderson Tant feels the Cardinals are up for the challenge of finding motivation against White Oak.

The Cardinals have won 14 consecutive games over the Vikings, which suffered their fourth straight defeat with a 35-30 loss to South Central on Friday.

“It’s going to be a big game … and it’s always a good game against them,” Tant said. “I’m very excited. I’d like to get coach Beau something like this because he deserves it.”

Williams, however, credited his team for taking care of business against D.H. Conley, which entered with a four-game winning streak. D.H. Conley pulled to within 21-17 in the third quarter before Jacksonville scored the game’s final 20 points. 

“The kids kept on stepping up,” Williams said. “We had a couple of injuries, but the next guy came in and made plays to beat a good Conley team that’s coached really well and has good athletes.”

But Jacksonville has solid athletes, and the Cardinals once again showed that.

Junior Amari Pearson continued his strong play by rushing for 237 yards and five touchdowns on just 13 carries. He scored on runs of 1, 37, 60, 14 and 1 yards while running behind the blocking of Tant and seniors Isaiah Hernandez, Koby Maready, Rashad Jenkins and William Kellum.

Pearson’s 60-yard score extended Jacksonville’s lead to 21-10 in the second quarter.

Junior SaRonn Thompson had five receptions for 109 and a touchdown while senior Anthony Washington completed eight of 14 passes for 140 yards.

Washington found Thompson for a 21-yard score with 21 seconds left in the second to extend Jacksonville’s lead to 27-17.

“We just need to score to help our defense,” Washington said. “They always help us out, so we needed to help them out.”

Jacksonville’s special teams also played a key role early.

After Pearson’s 1-yard score gave the Cardinals a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, senior Dylan Casebolt recovered the ensuing kickoff at the Vikings’ 37-yard line. One play later, Pearson darted 37 yards to make it 14-0.

Robinson also made a big play in the third with the Cardinals leading 27-17 as he recovered a fumble at Jacksonville 7 following nine-play possession.

“They had a long drive, and our defense was holding on,” Robinson said. “Our defense makes sure everybody does their jobs.”

Senior Linebacker Blake Moses intercepted a deflected pass in the fourth to help seal the win, which was the Cardinals’ fifth victory against a team with a winning record.

“We knew coming into week that this one of the biggest games of the season,” Robinson said. “We want to go 1-0 every week.”

And the Cardinals keep doing that.

“All of the coaches keep us level-headed,” Thompson said.

But that doesn’t mean the Cardinals are not looking forward to their clash against White Oak next week.

“We are excited. We will go as hard as we do for every game,” Washington said. “We know we have to go to work on Monday.”

Chris Miller can be contacted via email at cmiller@jdnews.com. Follow him on X @jdnsports.