Northside 28, South Creek 8The defense was dominant for the Panthers on Friday night. Northside did not allow a single offensive touchdown in the game and that was key in sealing the sixth win of the Panthers’ season on Homecoming.

Northside found the end zone for the first time late in the first quarter with a 10-yard touchdown run from James Gorham to put the Panthers up 7-0.

On the next Cougar’s possession, South Creek quarterback Jeffrey Cobb threw a screen behind the line of scrimmage. Northside’s Omari Crandell scooped it up and ran it in for the touchdown for the 14-0 lead.

After South Creek attempted an unsuccessful fake punt, Northside took over with good field position, but South Creek picked off a deflected pass and took it the 65-yard distance for their only score.

A kick out of bounds gave the Panthers the ball inside Cougar territory right before half. Zakkai Wilson carried the ball inside the red zone, and Gorham capped off the drive with his second touchdown of the night. Gorham had 99 yards on 12 carries with two scores.

Late in the third quarter, a tipped pass from Carter Boyd landed in the hands of Tyler Turner, and he took it in for a 55-yard touchdown reception. Turner was also crowned Homecoming King on Friday night.

Northside’s defense wreaked havoc on the Cougars running game and forced them to pass late in the game. Panthers defensive back Keifer Boyd was inserted into the game, and the sophomore recorded his first career interception.

“It’s pretty exciting honestly,” Boyd said about his first INT. “Right place, right time, I guess. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it in the air coming to me.”

Defensively, the Panthers couldn’t have done a better job. Senior defensive lineman Clark O’Neal said that his team did a good job containing the Cougars.

“They tried to run outside and they couldn’t really do much. Then they tried to run it up the middle and just blitzed them,” O’Neal said. “It feels amazing. We just have to keep going to practice every day and work hard. Do what we can do (against Tarboro).”

Defensive back Antonio Brooks got a shout out from head coach Keith Boyd after the game for containing the outside jet play all night.

“They couldn’t get much going on the outside. It looked like they just had to push on them a little bit,” Brooks said. “I feel great right now. We’re 3-0 in homecomings, but we just got to keep working.”

Keith Boyd was pleased with his defense’s performance, calling it the best they’ve played all season.

“I thought we did pretty well. We jumped out to a 14-0 lead and the kids hung in there when they got a little frustrated,” Boyd said. “We just had to pound the football tonight. They researched our pass game and did well on guarding it. But, we found the running game and had some success. Our defense was definitely the MVP tonight.”

The Panthers (6-3, 3-1 Coastal Plains 1A) will now have a date with Tarboro (8-0, 4-0) on Friday night for senior night.

 

Washington 42, South Lenoir 8

Washington spoils senior night, cruises past South Lenoir

BY LAEIKE ABEBE

For Washington, business was taken care of on Friday night.

The Pam Pack (7-2, 4-0 Eastern Carolina 2-A) bounced back from a tough road loss against D.H. Conley last week with a 42-8 win over South Lenoir. It was senior night for the Blue Devils (2-7, 0-5), and head coach Jon Blank knew his team had to get the job done.

“This was a huge trap game for us,” Blank said. “I didn’t want our team to look ahead to next week and I thought we did a good job focusing on tonight’s game. We got out of this game healthy and we executed the way we wanted to.”

Washington racked up 450 yards of total offense against South Lenoir and scored touchdowns on their first three possessions of the game. Terry Moore, Antwone Godley, and Mykel Warren each had a first half rushing touchdown for the Pam Pack.

“It felt good to score,” Warren said about his 42-yard touchdown in the second quarter. “Overall, we’re in a good spot and we’re going to continue to do what we do.”

The Pam Pack defense nearly pitched a shutout, and special teams blocked a punt late in the first half. Washington didn’t allow a score until South Lenoir’s final offensive play of the night. Jaden Hambric added a 10-yard touchdown late in the first half to make it 28-0 at halftime.

“We want to make a statement,” Hambric said. “We’re a really good football team and we’ve been proving that in conference play.”

Godley scored two more touchdowns in the second half to finish with 132 yards and three scores on the night. The Washington offense has been run heavy all season and it’s been tough to stop, 398 of the Pam Pack’s 450 total yards came on the ground.

“I thought we played well tonight,” senior offensive lineman Stephen Hartley said. “We have a big game next week, so we just have to stay focused and work hard. After that, the rest will take care of itself.”

Washington faces West Craven next week in Vanceboro and if they win that game, they’ll win the Eastern Carolina 2-A conference title outright.