Washington 27, Kinston 14

An outstanding defensive effort from the Pam Pack translated to the offensive side of the ball in the second half. Each time the defense needed to make a big stop, they did. Each time the offense needed to convert on a third or fourth down, they did. For four quarters, the Pam Pack were the better team.

The Pam Pack drove into Kinston territory three times and weren’t able to punch it in the end zone until under a minute remained in the half. Terry Moore ran straight into a pile and forced his way into the end zone.

On the kickoff, Kinston took a pooch kick 65 yards for a touchdown, but missed the extra point to make it 7-6 going into half.

The first Kinston drive started with a 30-yard pass and catch, but on the next play Antwone Godley would intercept a pass at the goal line. Despite a holding penalty that negated a 50-yard run from Godley, the Pam Pack moved the ball down field and scored on a 25-yard touchdown pass to Xzaivious Moore to increase the lead to 14-6.

After stopping two Kinston drives, the Pam Pack got the ball back and Terry Moore took a run up the gut 40 yards in for the score.

The Vikings put together a two-minute touchdown drive to cut the lead to one possession, but it was the Pam Pack’s night.

On the ensuing drive, Washington milked away 5 minutes on the clock with a couple of crucial first down pick ups, capping it off with a Godley touchdown pass to Juan Rosario to ice away the game.

“This is what we expect every single week in this conference. It’s going to be an all out, knock-down, drag-out battle every single Friday night. We say have to be the hammer, and bring the hammer, and we did that tonight,” head coach Jon Blank said after the win. “I’m really proud of (our defense). This group wants to be great on defense again and that makes all the difference in the world. The great news is, most of them are underclassmen and they’re getting better every week.”

Kris Hill was a big part of the run-stopping game, and he talked about the challenges they faced in Kinston’s offense.

“They have a big offensive front,” Hill said. “But we just trusted our process in the weight room and on the track, and we came out on top.”

Offensively, the running game worked all night for the Pam Pack and rarely spent time behind the original line of scrimmage. Offensive lineman Ben Swinson said it was fun blocking for a talented backfield.

“We do good agains the off-front (Kinston was showing) and we just did our thing,” Swinson said. “It’s great (having a talented back field), we know if we do our job then they’re going to do there’s and get in the end zone.”

Offensive coordinator Perry Owens received an ice bath from the players after the game, and Owens opened up about the game plan this week against the Vikings.

“We felt like our offensive line had grown in the weight room, and we’ve outworked them,” Owens said. “We knew how they were going to defend the triple-option. If they were in the odd-front, we knew how they were going to play it. If they were in the even front, we knew how they were going to play it. It was just a matter of if our line could handle them. It’s finally coming together and we can’t stop. We need it again next week.”

Godley said that his offense was up to the task tonight.

“I’m not going to lie, they were struggling with the option, as for the passing I just found the open man,” Godley said. “Their offense is good. They have a lot of good receivers, we just had to keep our energy up.

The Pam Pack will host undefeated North Lenoir (6-0) next Friday night.

 

South Creek 38, Southside 26

Unforced errors and a momentum swing in the third quarter doomed Southside on Friday.

The Seahawks (1-4, 0-1 Coastal Plains 1A) couldn’t keep pace in a 38-26 road loss to South Creek (3-3, 1-0). Despite having plenty of scoring chances, Jeff Carrow’s squad was unable to cash in on good field position.

“We just couldn’t execute tonight,” he said. “I think we have to tackle better and be more disciplined. Offensively, we can’t turn the ball over especially in the red zone. The score doesn’t reflect how hard we played, but there were a lot of things we have to correct.”

Southside allowed two touchdowns to begin the contest and were in a 16-0 hole midway through the first quarter. The Seahawks fumbled inside the Cougars 25 yard line and turned the ball over on downs on their first two possessions. Davion Carter got the scoring started in the second quarter followed by Hundley Stallings touchdown pass to Jamari Nelson. 

With that, the Seahawks only trailed 16-12 at halftime. After allowing a touchdown to begin the third, the Cougars forced a punt and had a chance to put the game away. However, a Kenjray Coffield fumble return cut the deficit to six. 

Although they showed a lot of resiliency, the Seahawks had a tough time containing Demorion Smith. The Cougars senior running back scored a 52-yard rushing touchdown on the first play from scrimmage after Coffield’s score. 

On the ensuing kickoff, South Creek recovered an onside kick allowing for Smith to score another long rushing touchdown making it 38-18 with four minutes left in the third quarter. He finished with 12 carries for 253 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the night. 

“We did a great job getting him going,” Cougars head coach Will Harrell said. “It was great to finally play a home game and my team was energized from the start. This is the toughest 1A conference in the state, so we’re happy whenever we’re able to get a win like this against a quality program. Coach Carrow and the Seahawks have a really good football team and they played a great ball game.”

Coffield would add a two yard rushing touchdown late in the third for the final scoring of the night. The Seahawks will head on the road next Friday to take on Perquimans in a non-conference matchup. Their next conference game will be on Oct. 11 against Tarboro.

“We’ll learn from this,” Carrow added. “I think we shot ourselves in the foot a few times tonight, so hopefully we’ll be better next week. We’re overcoming a lot of adversity right now with some injuries, but it’s a next man up mentality on our end. Our season isn’t over, but we’re looking to get better one week at a time.”

 

Northside 63, Jones Senior 0

The Panthers put on a scoring display in their victory over the Trojans, scoring 49 points in the first half and getting a lot of younger guys some experience in their victory on Friday night.

Zakkai Wilson rushed for 88 yards and four touchdowns. Each of his four touches in the game went for touchdowns. Wilson now has 13 total touchdowns in his senior campaign.

Two Panthers scored their first varsity touchdowns of their high school careers tonight for the Panthers, as freshman running back Elijah Holloway had six carries for 75 yards a touchdown on the evening, and sophomore Keifer Boyd scored on a 36-yard touchdown run.

Omari Crandell also earned his first touchdown of the season on one carry that went for 79 yards.

 

Wayne Christian 56, Pungo Christian Academy 22

The Raiders put up the most points in a game so far this season, as Edward Credle scored his first two touchdowns of the season. One receiving and one rushing.

Ryan Bishop kept his scoring streak alive, as he has scored a touchdown in five straight games for the Raiders this season.

Pungo will be on the road next week at Northeast Academy.

Despite only having 10 players, head coach Stacy Keech said that his team his finally starting to play together as a unit.