TARBORO — Washington was on the doorstep twice in the second half, but couldn’t find the end zone. The Pam Pack, with a 28-0 shutout loss at Tarboro, dropped to 0-2 to start the season. The offense is still chasing its first points of the campaign after being blanked by Havelock six days earlier.

The Pam Pack started 2015 with consecutive losses to Havelock and Tarboro, too. The team went on to bounce back the following week with a one-point marquee win over a stout Conley team, setting up a season that would end with a share of the 2-A Eastern Plains Conference championship.

Coach Sport Sawyer is hoping the Pam Pack can rebound in a similar way this season. There are some things that need to happen to make that possible.

“As a whole, you’ve got to be on the same page. Our guys, that’s yet to be seen,” Sawyer said. “At times tonight, we fought. At times, we moved the ball. At times on defense, we stopped them. We could be a good team, but you’ve got to cut out the mental mistakes. Guys, in practice and just in everything they do, you’ve got to do a little bit better than what we’re doing.”

Viking running backs Deontae Williams and Jaquez Edge each scored a pair of touchdowns to lead Tarboro to its second win in as many games.

“They played — lined up offensively and defensively — just like we anticipated,” Sawyer said. “We’ve been playing them for a long time. They executed and we didn’t. Mentally, we didn’t play very well.”

Those mental mistakes came in the form of penalties that derailed a few drives that could very well have resulted in Washington’s first score of the season.

The Pam Pack, trailing 21-0 at halftime, stormed out in the third quarter. The boys received the opening kickoff of the second half and pieced together their best offensive series of the young season. Hykeem Ruffin set the tone on the first play of the second half by exploding on a 20-yard run. Suae Poe later ripped off a 32-yard run of his own to take them all the way to Tarboro’s 10-yard line, but quarterback Frederick Holscher was sacked well behind the line of scrimmage and they turned the ball over on downs at the 21-yard line.

The Vikings took the air out of Washington’s sails shortly after when Edge took off for a 51-yard touchdown run, extending his team’s advantage to 28-0 with 5:18 left in the third quarter.

Rontavion Floyd blocked a punt late in the third quarter to give Washington another prime opportunity to get on the scoreboard. The offense got in its own way again, though, and turned the ball over on downs at Tarboro’s 20-yard line.

“All the mental mistakes we had tonight were terrible,” Sawyer said. “(Tarboro) is a good team, a physical team, they played well, but you can’t have mental mistakes like jumping offside, not knowing the count, and holding. That’s unacceptable.”

The Vikings first struck with 56 seconds left in the first quarter. With the exception of a three-and-out by Washington, they had the ball for the entire period when Edge punched in a short touchdown.

After another three-and-out by the Pam Pack, Williams doubled Tarboro’s lead with a 37-yard touchdown run 22 seconds into the second quarter. Logan Little came up with an interception later in the quarter, but Washington fumbled it away two plays later to set up another touchdown run by Williams.

While the result is ultimately another shutout loss, things are coming together for the Pam Pack. The defense had another good showing considering how long it was on the field. Holscher looked more comfortable running the offense and moved the ball well through the air.

Washington’s next test is another challenging one. It will host its first home game of the season Friday night against Conley.