Richlands blasts SL in 50th meeting of programs

RICHLANDS—The 50th all-time meeting between South Lenoir and Richlands was not one the Blue Devils will want to remember.

Richlands rushed for 306 yards, scored on almost every possession and never punted in a 48-0 rout Friday night.

“They beat us up and down the field,” SL coach Jeremy Joyner said. “We weren’t mentally prepared, which I take the blame for, and we did a poor job of execution on both sides of the ball. We took a step back tonight.”

Although it probably wouldn’t have altered the outcome given the Wildcats’ domination on the offense line, South Lenoir (1-2) did itself no favors in a futile first quarter. The Devils drove inside the Richlands 10 on each of its first two possessions and came away empty both times after being stopped on downs.

The Wildcats’ single-wing offense (2-2) made SL pay both times with scoring drives of 80 and 88 yards to build a 16-0 advantage.

“Momentum-wise, not scoring in the first quarter seemed to take away a lot of our focus,” Joyner said. “It’s not an excuse because we have to be tougher than that. We have to do a better job of finishing.”

Richlands added two more scores in the second quarter, and then solo TDs in each of the third and fourth periods.

South Lenoir also reached the Richlands 19 late in the first half, but an interception squelched that scoring opportunity.

The Wildcats scored on every possession except when they ran out the clock at the end of each half, and in the third quarter, when they coughed up a fumble at the SL 35.

“The single-wing is a unique offense, but they really didn’t do anything that we didn’t expect,” Joyner said. “We did a poor job of assignment football, and when that happens, the single-wing can make a defense look bad.”

Jayden Carr was one of the few bright spots for the Devils. He gutted out 72 tough yards on the ground on 18 carries.

C.J. Kennion added 31 yards rushing and returned a kickoff 38 yards in the fourth quarter.

The Devils will return home next Friday to host Goldsboro Rosewood.

South Lenoir       0               0               0               0—0      

Richlands              16            16            8               8—48

First Quarter

R—Caleb Robbins 9 run (Robbins run), 5:25

R—Jalen Jefferson 37 run (Dmitri Bailey pass from Caleb Blankenship), :48.0

Second Quarter

R—Robbins 15 pass from Blankenship (Jefferson run), 8:18

R—Jefferson 28 pass from Blankenship (Blankenship run), 5:15

Third Quarter

R—Jefferson 2 run (Emanuel Whitehead run), 7:42

Fourth Quarter

R—Xavier Williams 1 run (Xavier Brown run), 4:07

                                    SL             R

First Downs          8               21

Rushes-yards       26-101  47-306

Passing                    3-8-1      4-4-0

Passing yards       29            84           

Total yards            130         390

Punts-avg.             3-23.0   0-0          

Penalties                7-52        6-59       

Fumbles-lost       2-1           2-1

Individual Statistics

RUSHING—South Lenoir: Jayden Carr 18-72, C. J. Kennion 5-31, Kodju Missebukpo 4-9, Cannon Davis 7-8, Brett Huffman 2-(minus 19). Richlands: Emanuel Whitehead 12-94, Jalen Jefferson 6-59, Caleb Blankenship 8-45, Caleb Robbins 3-41, Xavier Williams 7-26, Tim Derossett 3-21, Thomas Bailey 5-11, Xavier Brown 2-10, Team 1-(minus 1).

PASSING—South Lenoir: Huffman 3-8-1 29. Richlands: Blankenship 4-4-0 84.

RECEIVING—South Lenoir: John McClain 1-14, Eli Hall 1-8, Damani Raines 1-7. Richlands: Jefferson 2-55, Robbins 1-15, Whitehead 1-14.