Panthers start strong, pull away in third; Washington, Pungo win, Southside falls

Published 2:14 am Saturday, September 21, 2024

By Jason O. Boyd

YEATESVILLE, N.C. — As unreal as the opening kickoff was for Northside (and it was amazing), the defining moment for the Panthers in Friday’s 31-14 win over Rosewood came in the third quarter.

Northside won its second straight and first at home this season with several solid defensive moments and a little bit of luck at Bing Mitchell Stadium. Those moments were enough to spark the Panthers, who began a three-game homestand.

“Yeah, what’s killing us on some drives is we’re not an offense that can handle a whole lot of penalties because we’re not very explosive,” Northside coach Keith Boyd said. “So in the second half, we started picking up some of those penalties and killed our drives. But hey, we win, we win.”

The Panthers (3-2) held a 19-0 lead in the first half, but Rosewood rallied. Nazier Powell scored from 10 yards out to cut Northside’s lead to 19-14 with 11:02 left in the third.

The Eagles got it back and used seven plays to get to the Panthers’ 25. However, a fourth-down pass play was caught out of bounds by Jassir Myles, giving Northside the ball back with 4:01 left in the third.

Then lightning nearly struck. Sincere Columbus, who rushed for 175 yards and two touchdowns, broke free and raced 70 yards before being tackled at Rosewood’s 5. On fourth down, quarterback Chase Hewitt found Max Vansant, who jumped up and caught a 3-yard score to give Northside some breathing room at 25-14.

“I won’t say we came out flat, but they come out and made a few adjustments and took that ball right down and made it 19-14,” Boyd said. “We haven’t been in a good spot. I mean, I didn’t know which way we would go.

“I mean, we didn’t look around for someone else to come help us or do anything. We got out there in that huddle, offensively and defensively, and we said, ‘Let’s go to work.’”

The Panthers got two interceptions, one that led to a touchdown, to put the game on ice.

But how about that opening kickoff?

Northside got the ball to start the game. Rosewood kicked off, and Northside fumbled. The ball ended up in the hands of Rosewood’s Aldinio Previl, who ran in the same direction as Northside was running on the kickoff. Previl easily scored from about 60 yards out — but for Northside, giving the Panthers a 7-0 lead.

Columbus powered in from a yard out on the next series to push Northside’s lead to 13-0. The Panthers added to that lead with Columbus’ second touchdown with 11:55 left in the first half.

But that opening kickoff …

“I mean, that was … I have never seen anything like that in my life,” Boyd said. “I’ve never even seen it on TV. I mean, I’ve seen basketballs be put in the wrong goals, but I’ve never seen a fumble picked up and run the wrong way.

“They’re supposed to be picking it up, running in for a touchdown, and then we get seven points out of it. That kind of set the tone for the first half, and I don’t know whether they ever recovered or not.”

Washington 41, Pamlico County 28

BAYBORO, N.C. — The Pam Pack scored on their first offensive series and scored again shortly after, thanks to its defense to roll to its first win of the season.

Washington (1-3) took a 7-0 lead after Keondrick Melton scored on a 60-yard touchdown run. After Pamlico County got the kickoff, the Pack’s Landen Jones recovered a fumble on the Hurricanes’ 40. A few plays later, Anderson Thomas scored from 2 yards out to extend the lead to 13-0.

The Hurricanes eventually scored in the first quarter to cut the margin to 13-7. They even tied the game with a touchdown with around seven minutes left to tie the game at 13-all.

Washington countered with a 60-yard touchdown pass from Evan Makepeace to Thomas. Trenton Baldree’s conversion kick gave the Pack the lead for good at 20-13.

Washington then got the ball back via another Hurricanes fumble. A few plays later, Makepeace found Jarryn Payne for a 28-yard scoring pass and a 27-13 lead with around four minutes to go in the half.

Pamlico County got a touchdown in the third quarter before Washington wrapped it up in the fourth quarter. Melton tacked on another 60-yard scoring run with under 10 minutes left. Tyquez Nelson tacked on a 40-yard touchdown run with under seven minutes. Baldree got both conversion kicks for the final margin.

Pungo Christian 50, Mattamuskeet 14

ENGLEHARD, N.C. — Pungo Christian improved to 3-1 by beating Mattamuskeet for the second time this season.

The win was also the first on the road for the Raiders.

Pungo hosts Northeast Academy on Friday at 4 p.m.

Gates County 12, Southside 7

GATESVILLE, N.C. — Gates County improved to 4-1 by holding off Southside.

The Seahawks dropped to 0-4 and will travel to Rosewood next Friday.

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