There wasn’t much to write home about from Washington’s season-opening shutout at the hands of Havelock. Rams quarterback Corey Cooper accounted for a pair of first-half touchdowns that helped push his side to a 38-0 win.

The hosting Rams fumbled the ball nine times. While it helped stall their offense, the Pam Pack couldn’t capitalize on any turnovers. It had trouble picking up much yardage, so special teams played an important role. The return specialists were able to make plays. Quashawn Gaynor took a fourth-quarter kickoff across midfield by dodging Havelock’s massive defenders.

It was the size and raw skill of the players opposite the Pam Pack offense that made moving the ball challenging.

“As a team, we battled,” coach Sport Sawyer said. “They outmanned us, position by position. That’s not saying our guys didn’t play hard. I’m not saying that, but, position by position, we were outmatched.”

Punter Ben McKeithan was instrumental in holding back Havelock’s offense by giving it a longer field to work with. He had two exceptional boots and, with as many times as he was called upon, was consistent throughout the game. He was able to get each punt off despite the wet conditions in the first half and the rushing Rams trying to block it.

“He’s going to be good, special teams wise,” Sawyer said. “So is (placekicker) Alban Paul. He didn’t get a chance to kick much tonight. (McKeithan) has a good leg. This is his third year on varsity. We expect big things from him.”

The performance on special teams was impressive not only considering the championship-caliber team Washington faced, but also the fact that it had hardly done much live work on that facet of the game.

Sawyer found the performance on that side of the ball to be a positive takeaway, but still sees a ton to work on ahead of another tough game Friday at Tarboro. He’s not worried about the team’s morale. Rather, he’s eager to see who rises up in the face of adversity.

“You’ve got to go next man up,” he said. “We’ve already been hit by injuries this summer. The quarterback position wasn’t an injury, but we’re used to things already. Sharwan (Staton) has been out, Gunnar (Hardt) has been out. That’s just part of football. Next man up.”