North Lenoir winless after East Duplin dominates

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on August 29, 2004 2:02 AM

• Print
• Email

Courtesy Kinston Free Press

LAGRANGE -- North Lenoir coach Wayne Jackson couldn't hide the disappointment on his face following his team's 35-12 loss to East Duplin on Friday.

"Every loss is a tough one," Jackson said, shaking his head. "But this one is especially tough when you go into a season with such high expectations, and then you're 0-2. It's very disappointing."

The Hawks, who were picked to win the Eastern Plains 2-A Conference by the league's coaches in the preseason, were never in their game with East Duplin. The Panthers (2-0) had two rushers with over 100 yards by halftime, and East Duplin coach Brian Aldridge was already going to his bench midway through the second quarter to ease up on the Hawks and Jackson.

It didn't take long for East Duplin to take control of the game. After the teams exchanged punts on their first possessions, East Duplin's Cecil Williams broke free on a 64-yard score with 5:15 remaining in the first quarter.

On the last play of the opening quarter, Williams scored on an 11-yard run to give the Panthers a 14-0 lead.

After a North Lenoir punt rolled to the Hawks' 32-yard line, Jason Judge took the ball the distance on the first play from scrimmage and scored to put East Duplin ahead 21-0 with 9:19 left in the first half.

Judge finished with a touchdown and 189 yards on 18 carries, while Williams had three scores and 124 yards on nine carries. Fullback Billy Miller had the other East Duplin touchdown and 68 yards on six carries.

Down 21-0, North Lenoir finally struck paydirt when Antonio Hamilton burst free on an 80-yard touchdown sprint with 4:33 left in the first half.

Hamilton didn't start the game and didn't have his first carry until the first play of the second quarter. By that time, the Hawks were already behind by two touchdowns. The senior running back finished with 131 yards on 17 carries.

North Lenoir has already lost as many regular season games this year as it did in 2003. And now the Hawks have Kinston on the horizon.

"We've got nine more football games, so we've just got to get ready each week," Jackson said. "It's not about getting ready for Kinston, it's about us trying to get better. And that's what we've got to do."

The Panthers, who out-gained the Hawks 414-244 yards offensively, have their first home game of the season next week against Duplin County rival Wallace-Rose Hill.

East Duplin 14 7 7 7 -- 35

North Lenoir 0 6 0 7 -- 13

First quarter

ED -- Cecil Williams 64 run (Dean kick) 5:15

ED -- Cecil Williams 13 run (Dean kick) :00

Second quarter

ED -- Jason Judge 32 run (Dean kick) 9:19

NL -- Antonio Hamilton 80 run (kick fail) 4:23

Third quarter

ED -- Cecil Williams 22 run (Dean kick) 4:03

Fourth quarter

NL -- E.J. Brown 22 run (Baird kick) 8:20

ED -- Billy Miller 23 run (Dean kick) 3:19

ED NL

First downs 17 12

Rushes-yds 45-400 45-230

Passing yds 6 18

Total yds 406 248

Comp-att-int 1-6-0 1-3-0

Fumbles-lost 3-0 2-1

Penalties-yds 9-55 2-15

Punts-avg 2-35 5-36

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- East Duplin -- Jason Judge 17-193; Cecil Williams 10-117; Billy Miller 8-62; Tyler Blizzard 10-28. North Lenoir -- Antonio Hamilton 18-126; E.J. Brown 9-62; Eric Whitfield 5-16; Ervin Atkins 7-9; Tyrone Spencer 1-13; Andrew Manning 5-4.

PASSING -- East Duplin -- Travis Aldridge 1-6-6-0. North Lenoir -- Josh Joyner 0-1-0-0; Andrew Manning 1-2-18-0.

RECEIVING -- East Duplin -- Eddie Smith 1-6. North Lenoir -- Ervin Atkins 1-18.