By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
Washington suffered its first Coastal Conference loss of the season on Friday as it could not keep up with Havelock in the second half as the Pam Pack fell 35-13 to the Rams.
Washington (3-4, 2-1) went into halftime down only 14-7, and at one point in the fourth cut Havelock’s lead to 21-13, but the Rams (5-2, 3-0) ran away with it late as they scored two unanswered TDs to seal their victory.
Havelock used a good mixture of running and passing plays out of its spread formation and tallied 137 rushing yards on 26 attempts while racking up 206 passing yards.
The Pam Pack leaned heavily on the run as it rushed 32 times for 116 yards. Washington’s star running back William Ellegor saw limited action on Homecoming Night as he was sidelined by a toe injury.
At halftime, Ellegor was named Homecoming King while Haley Hiatt was named Homecoming Queen.
Havelock dared the Pam Pack to throw as it stuffed eight and nine guys in the box, but Washington could only complete 7 of its 14 passing attempts for 72 yards.
In the end, Washington coach Sport Sawyer said the biggest difference was the Rams’ toughness.
“I think they were just a little more physical than us,” Sawyer said. “They are well coached and they were just more physical than us.”
The Rams struck on their first possession when quarterback Garrett Crowe connected with Jarrell Wallace for a 30-yard TD pass to take a 7-0 lead.
Washington answered with a TD drive of its own and tied the game after quarterback Jimmy Williams ran into the end zone from 21 yards out.
The Rams countered with a heavy dose of wide receiver screens and scored right before the end of the quarter when Andy Keel lined up in the wildcat formation and ran for a 6-yard TD.
After a scoreless second quarter, Washington failed to score on its first possession of the second half and punted to Havelock, who drove 55-yards down field and took a 21-7 lead when Pharoh Cooper scored from the wildcat formation on a 7-yard run.
The Pack was held scoreless in the third, but scored early in the fourth quarter to get back into the game.
With Ellegor in the game, the Washington offense pieced together a 70-yard scoring drive that ended when Williams rolled to his left and scanned the field to find tight end Johnny Broadway in the back of the end zone for a 5-yard TD pass.
The Pack was poised to cut the lead to seven, but botched the PAT and instead trailed 21-13.
In the end it didn’t make much of a difference as the Rams scored on their very first play of their ensuing possession to put the game out of reach as Crowe connected with Cooper on a post pattern for a 57-yard touchdown pass and a 28-13 lead.
Havelock would add another scored with under two minutes left in the game when Brandon Weaver intercepted a Williams pass and returned it 30 yards for a score.
After the game Sawyer credited the Rams’ defensive line.
“I think at times we ran the ball well. We are not really a throwing team but we threw some good passes. Overall, they were just more aggressive on the line,” Sawyer said. “They did a good job of stopping us from running the ball.”
Washington Havelock
12 First Downs 16
32-116 Rushes-Yards 26-137
72 Passing Yards 207
7-14-1 Pass-Comp-Int 14-206
4-33 Punting 2-35
2-1 Fumbles-Lost 4-2
4-40 Penalties 9-73
Havelock 14 0 7 14 — 35
Washington 7 0 0 6 — 13
Scoring Summary
H — Jarrell Wallace 30 pass from Garrett Crowe (Tyler Cooper kick), 10:35, 1st.
W — Jimmy Williams 21 run (Jack Rodman kick) 8:40. 1st.
H — Andy Keel 6 run (Cooper kick), :41, 1st.
H — Pharoh Cooper 7 run (Cooper kick), 4:49, 3rd.
W — Johnny Broadway 5 pass from Jimmy Williams (two points failed), 8:24 4th.
H — P. Cooper 57 pass from Crowe (Cooper kick), 7:55, 4th.
H — Brandon Weaver 30 interception (Cooper kick) 1:04, 4th.