PLYMOUTH — Across the country it may have been Black Friday, but at Foster Field it was more like Black and Blue Friday as Plymouth beat down Pamlico 54-0 in the third round of the NCHSAA 1-A playoffs.
The No. 1-seeded Vikings (13-0) dominated defensively, causing seven turnovers while holding the No. 2 Hurricanes (9-5) to under 100 yards of total offense.
The shutout was the third straight for Plymouth, who has now outscored teams 130-0 in the postseason and extended its winning streak to 26 games.
“Defensively we just came out and played really, really well,” Plymouth coach Robert Cody said. “The kids have really bought into what we’re doing and they’re playing really good team defense.”
The Vikings set the tone on the game’s first possession as safety Adrian Moore picked off Pamlico’s first pass attempt at the 50-yard line and sprinted down the left sideline for a touchdown and an 8-0 lead.
“That was a really big play,” Cody said.
The score would stay that way until the Vikings blocked a punt attempt and proceeded to piece together a 41-yard scoring drive that ended with a 16-yard touchdown run by Demarkice Price.
And that was just the warm up.
On a frigid night where the air was as crisp as a kettle-cooked potato chip, the Vikings snapped the Hurricanes’ spirit by scoring 24 points in the final 1:42 of the first half to take a 38-0 lead into the break.
The run started when Demetrius Davis held on to a tipped Pamlico pass to give the offense the ball at the 9-yard line. One play later Chad Dance sprinted into the end zone for a 24-0 lead.
The Hurricanes would fumble on the first down of their ensuing possession, which lead to a 1-yard TD run by Davis.
Pamlico wouldn’t even get a first down on its following possession as it coughed up the kickoff at the 10-yard line.
This time Plymouth scored via the pass, as quarterback Malik Webb connected with Raequan Purvis on the right side of the end zone with 16.9 seconds left in the second quarter to extend the lead to 38-0.
“We really had all three phases of the ball working together,” Cody said. “The defense, offense and special teams all worked hand-and-hand.”
The Vikings took a 48-0 lead in the third on a 9-yard run by Hollingsworth, and closed out the scoring in the fourth with a 65-yard punt return by Jatron Simpson.
With the win Plymouth advances to the East Regional round of the playoffs where it will host Lejeune.

Pamlico           0    0    0    0    —    0
Plymouth        8    32    8    6    —    54
           Pamlico          Plymouth
First downs            10           14
Rushes-yards         26-25      37-218
Comp-att-int          6-15-3        2-30
Passing yards        73            35
Fumbles-lost          7-4           1-0
Penalties-yards      3-30           1-15
Punts                  5-33          2-31
Scoring Summary
P  — Adrian Moore 50 interception (Demarkice Price two points), 9:59, 1st.
P — Price 16 run (Price two points), 8:36, 2nd.
P — Chad Dance 9 run (Raequan Purvis two points), 1:42, 3rd.
P — Demetrius Davis 1 run (Dance two points), :33, 2nd.
P — Purvis 10 pass from Malik Webb (Dance two points), 16.9, 2nd.
P — William Hollingsworth 9 run (Price two points), 5:38, 3rd.
P — Jatron Simpson 65 run (two points failed), 10:50, 4th.