South Lenoir falls to Washington 50-8
By Scott Cole
With Hurricane Michael coming, the South Lenoir Blue Devils and Washington Pam Pack moved their game to Wednesday night. In a battle of two teams looking for their first Eastern Carolina 2A Conference victory, the Pam Pack came out firing.
Ten penalties, two turnovers, and failing to stop the run in the first half of the game doomed the Blue Devils. Despite a 101-yard performance by Jayden Carr, South Lenoir fell 50-8.
The Pam Pack took just three plays and 32 seconds to score the first touchdown on a Michael Clark 15-yard run. On their next possession, Montrice Selby took a 31-yard reception into the end zone for Washington. The Pam Pack ran for 129 yards in the first quarter, more than they had the week before against Ayden-Grifton.
“The penalties have been a big problem for us all year,” South Lenoir coach Jeremy Joyner said, commenting on the 65 yards lost to penalties. “We have a young team and they are excited to play. A lot of those penalties were offsides calls that killed our momentum. That is something we have to work on.”
Clark, who had a game-high 110 yards on the ground, scored on a nine-yard run to open up the second quarter. The Pam Pack recovered the ensuing kickoff after a South Lenoir fumble and Ka’Ci Foreman made them pay with a 32-yard touchdown run on the next play. After South Lenoir went three and out, Selby would cap another Washington drive with a two-yard run. The Pam Pack lead 36-0 at halftime.
“The kids were really excited tonight,” Washington coach Jon Blank said. “It was homecoming. They wanted some redemption after losing a close game to Ayden last week. They were hungry for a win in the conference and made a statement tonight.”
The Blue Devils went three-and-out to start the second half, but Carr forced and recovered a fumble on Washington’s first offensive play. Carr would end the ensuing drive with a seven-yard drive run up the middle for a touchdown, the first one that the Blue Devils have scored since Aug. 30 against East Duplin.
“It felt really good,” Carr said, reflecting on his touchdown. “We haven’t scored in weeks. It felt good to get that off our backs. I got a good block from our sophomore back and I took it. We played more physical in the second half. We came out ready to play and it showed in how we moved the ball.”
Coach Joyner agreed with Carr.
“We changed some schemes up and adjusted how we played,” Carr said. “Jayden is our leader and the boys follow his lead. He has been our rock for the three years since I’ve been here.”
South Lenoir would march to the Washington 2 after the Pam Pack responded with a score, only to be backed up with a penalty and have the drive end with a Forman interception. Jaden Hambric would later score on a 7-yard run for the Pam Pack to kill any momentum by the Blue Devils.
“We’re not as explosive as some of the other teams in our conference,” Joyner said. “Most of the teams we face, they can score in an instant. But if we can control the ball and protect it, we can move down the field and take time off the clock. That is time that the other team doesn’t have to put points out on us.”
Washington faces a bye week before traveling to Kinston to take on the Vikings. South Lenoir will travel to Snow Hill to take on the Rams in its next game.
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH Final
South Lenoir 0 0 8 0 8
Washington 14 22 7 7 50
First Quarter Scoring
W: Michael Clark 13 run (Ka'Ci Foreman pass from Hunter Hall)
W: Montrice Selby 31 pass from Hall (run failed)
Second Quarter Scoring
W: Clark 9 run (Foreman pas from Hall)
W: Foreman 32 run (Hall kick)
W: Selby 2 run (Hall kick)
Third Quarter Scoring
SL: Jayden Carr 7 run (Jon Howard run)
W: Ganeryan Parker 14 run (Hall kick good)
Fourth Quarter Scoring
W: Jaden Hambric 7 run (Hall kick)
TEAM STATS
SL W
First Downs 10 14
Rushes-Yards 29-173 22-315
Passing-Attempts 4-10-0 1-3-0
Passing Yards 44 31
Total Yards 217 346
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 2-1
Penalties 11-65 7-55
Punt-Avg 5-24.6 1-51.0
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING: South Lenoir: Carr 22-101, Harnell 4-23, Raines 5-20, Blount 2-13, Mitchell 6-11, Missebukpo 1-4, Howard 1-minus 3. Washington: Clark 11-110, Parker 10-90, Lawrence 2-33, Foreman 1-32, Godley 1-24, Hambric 3-21, Selby 1-11
PASSING: South Lenoir: Howard 4-10-0, 44. Washington: Godley 1-3-0, 31
RECEIVING: South Lenoir: Harrell 1-22, Carr 1-10, Huffman 1-7, McClain 1-5. Washington: Selby 1-31
