Just seven days removed from one of the most significant regular season victories in recent memory, a 53-13 rout of once undefeated Southwest Edgecombe, Washington’s offense seemed to have little left in the tank for Beddingfield on Friday at Choppy Wagner Stadium. The underdog Bruins held the Pam Pack scoreless in the second half, a 19-12 victory giving the visitors sole possession of first place in the Eastern Plains Conference with a 3-0 record.

“I thought we defended well, but we had so many penalties,” said head coach Sport Sawyer after the game. “We didn’t play with a lot of fire tonight, but give Beddingfield credit. We overlooked them, we shouldn’t have and the beat us.”

Despite entering with a 4-4 overall record, it’s Beddingfield that hands Washington its first Eastern Plains Conference loss, snapping a 12-0 start dating back to 2013 when Washington joined the 2-A classification. And while the Bruins defense played admirably through four quarters, the Pam Pack recorded 14 total yards in the second half, while committing enough penalties to surely put them in the red.

“We need to cut down on penalties and (have) a little more fire because we didn’t have that tonight,” Sawyer said. “We had a lot of intensity last week, but tonight we didn’t have a whole lot of fire, especially offensively. We missed a lot of plays and just didn’t look sharp at all.”

Washington’s leading rusher, Suae Poe, carried the ball just three times, but lead the offense with 59 yards on the ground. Clinton Pope finished with 50 yards on 13 carries and senior Jarquez Keyes found the endzone twice in the first half, recording 43 yards, but did not have a carry through the final 24 minutes.

Beddingfield’s sizable defensive line contained a normally dynamic Pam Pack backfield. And through the air, Washington was also ineffective, completing just one pass attempt for five yards.

For Beddingfield, quarterback Lamont Morgan may have been the difference on offense, completing 8-of-18 passes for two touchdowns, including a 26-yard corner endzone fade to Kenneth Sims in the third quarter. Running back Keshai Lindsey, the team’s leading rusher, ran the ball 12 times for 37 yards, a testament to the Pam Pack front seven’s solid outing.

“Our defense keeping them out of the endzone was big,” Sawyer said. “They had a short field with the fumble on the opening kickoff and then the fumble on the turnover,” which were the only two offensive scores of the game.

Ultimately, the deciding touchdown came with about 7 minutes remaining in the contest. Backed up on its own 13-yard line, Washington coughed the ball up and linebacker David Bryant was there to scoop it up, running it 10 yards for the score.

With the loss, Washington drops to 5-4 (2-1 EPC) and will close out the regular season with two winnable games — at North Pitt next Friday and vs. North Johnston on Nov. 6.

 

JONES SENIOR 13, NORTHSIDE 6

PINETOWN — Northside was held scoreless through the first three quarters in Friday’s 13-6 loss to conference foe Jones Senior.

Junior quarterback Jackson Midgette ran the ball five times for 43 yards, while completing just 1-of-6 passes for 6 yards and an interception. Running back James Barrow notched 89 yards on 18 carries, scoring the Panthers’ only touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Northside tallied just 157 yards of total offense. The loss drops Northside to 2-7 (0-3 CPC) heading into next week’s matchup with first-place East Carteret (7-2, 3-0 CPC) in Pinetown.

 

EAST CARTERET 62, SOUTHSIDE 42

BEAUFORT — East Carteret ended Southside’s undefeated season on Friday in what was an offense-driven shootout, a 62-42 loss for the Seahawks.

The Mariners tallied 691 yards of total offense to the Seahawks’ 453.

Despite the loss, it was a career day for Southside running back Lawrence Brown, who carried the ball 34 times for a game-high 328 yards and three touchdowns. Matt Baxter notched 90 yards on 10 carries, while Brandon Sullivan finished with 27 yards on six carries.

With the loss, Southside drops to 7-1 (2-1 CPC) heading into next week’s showdown with winless Lejeune (0-8, 0-3 CPC).