The public address announcer at Fairgrounds Stadium screamed "Code Red!" into the microphone each time East High punched it into the end zone Friday night against visiting Hardin County.

By the end, it was hard to say who got more of a workout -- Hardin County's defense or that announcer as the Mustangs routed the Tigers, 64-36, in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.

Senior fullback Mark Guyton scored four times and was one of three Mustang backs to rush for more than 150 yards as Region 8-4A champion East (9-2) advanced past the first round of the playoffs for just the second time since 2003.

The Mustangs now play Melrose on Friday at Fairgrounds -- a rematch of an Oct. 31 game won by East, 30-25.

"The (offensive) line has pretty much been doing that all year. But we had to challenge our backfield," East coach Marcus Wimberly said. "(Junior quarterback) Jaszy (Parker) did most of the work last week against Melrose, and our backfield really didn't show up.

"They came to play (Friday)."

Guyton finished with 179 rushing yards on 15 carries, speedy junior tailback Jamison Knox had a game-high 201 rushing yards and a touchdown and Parker added another 154 rushing yards and three touchdowns as East rolled up 664 total yards.

"Last week we kind of felt like we let the team down because we didn't show up that much against Melrose," Guyton said. "This week we had something to prove."

East's offense took control of the game on its opening possession, as Parker burst through the Hardin County defense on third-and-14 for a 59-yard scoring run. Knox's two-point conversion run made it 8-0 with 7:51 left to play in the first, but the Mustangs were just getting started.

East would go on to roll up a gaudy 396 total yards in the first half, scoring touchdowns on five of its six possessions before the break to take a 38-6 advantage into halftime.

Parker, Knox and Guyton combined to rush for 341 first-half yards against a Tiger defense that had allowed an average of 45 points per game in its three regular-season losses.

Leading 16-0 early in the second quarter, Parker tacked on scoring runs of 1 yard and 95 yards.

Guyton added an 8-yard touchdown run for East after Hardin County (7-4) scored its lone touchdown of the first half on a 29-yard scoring pass from senior quarterback Will Gilchrist to Charles Porter.

Gilchrist, a 6-2, 190-pound University of Memphis commitment, finished 13-of-25 passing for 143 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.