Southern Wayne rolls over West Carteret

Published in Sports on October 10, 2004 9:50 AM

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MOREHEAD CITY -- Uncommon, unusual, rare and definitely unique is Southern Wayne football in a nutshell.

If you have to take on the Saints, you'd rather play in their house!

Southern Wayne (3-4, 2-2) is undefeated on the road and winless at home -- go figure. That unusual stat held true Friday when the Saints spoiled West Carteret's Homecoming and left the Crystal Coast with a 19-7 victory in Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference play.

The first half started out in bad omen fashion for the Saints.

The first play saw a penalty against the Saints before the snap of the ball and the drive ended on the second actual play when quarterback Logan Porter's pass was tipped and intercepted.

The turnover gave the Patriots the ball at the Saints' 34-yard line. Southern Wayne's defense shut down the Patriot possession, allowing just 11 yards and the 31-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left. That would be the only Patriot possession of the first quarter.

Southern Wayne took possession after the failed kick at its own 20-yard line with 7:37 remaining in the quarter. The Saints marched the ball 74 yards in 16 plays to the Patriot 6-yard line and ended up settling for Louis Cifuentes' 21-yard field goal 56 seconds left in the quarter.

West Carteret (2-5, 0-4 ECC) fumbled the squib kickoff and the Saints pounced on it at the Patriots' 25-yard line. The Saints couldn't convert the turnover into points due to a couple of dropped pitches that cost them 22 yards and they turned the ball over on downs. The positive was that the ball was inside the Patriot 20-yard line and better than three minutes came off the clock. Fifteen minutes of football were in the books and the Patriots were on only their second possession.

The Saints' defense played excellent, aggressive football as it yielded 29 yards in the second quarter, including a 15-yard penalty. The Patriots were forced to punt and the Saints took over for another long drive, going 12 plays for 72 yards and eating up almost five minutes of clock. The only thing lacking from the drive was points as the Saints turned the ball over on downs in Patriot territory at the 19-yard line.

The Saints defense then received a nice present.

A bad snap, on second-and-nine play, sailed over the quarterback Cory Desteunder's head and bounced toward the end zone. Three Saints defenders, who blitzed on the play, hustled after the ball as it rolled through the back of the end zone. The safety gave Southern Wayne a baseball-like 5-0 lead at halftime.

The second half saw more of the same as the Saints continued to pound away on sustained drives eating up clock and yardage on the legs of Walter Best. Best tallied 38 carries for 252 yards on the night with one tackle-busting touchdown run of 44 yards at the end of the third quarter. Best also punched in the two-point conversion to give the Saints a 13-0 lead.

The Patriots responded with their biggest play of the night early in the fourth quarter with a 73-yard touchdown pass. Saints defensive back Ronald Cox had tipped the ball down but it fell right into the arms of James Fox who rambled in after the tip for the score. The point after made it a ball game at 13-7.

Southern Wayne wasn't alarmed or at least didn't show it.

The Saints' possession following the Patriot touchdown started backwards due to a holding penalty and put them 20 yards from the first-down marker. Quarterback Logan Porter and Derrick Lathan converted a third-and-13 play into a 72-yard touchdown pass. The conversion failed, giving Southern Wayne a 19-7 lead.

The Patriots tried to respond with deep passes but couldn't get a break. Saints defensive back Marcus Oates picked off a pass but possession was given back to the patriots on a roughing the passer penalty. The very next play saw another Saints defender shut the door on the Patriot comeback as Michael Warren picked off the next pass at the Saints 18-yard line with 16 seconds to play.

"We played some very good football tonight except for the penalties. We will have to work on that part of the game. Walter ran the ball with great authority tonight, he had an outstanding game his best so far this year," said Saints head coach Bob Warren. "We will enjoy this win, this was a great game for our defense they played excellent in shutting down the Patriot's option running and being disciplined in keeping to their assignments."

Southern Wayne celebrates Homecoming next Friday against Washington. The Pam Pack (3-5, 3-2) bring a three-game win streak to the Doyle Whitfield Athletic Complex after a 33-21 win against Kinston.

Southern Wayne 3 2 8 6 -- 19

West Carteret 0 0 0 7 -- 7

First quarter

SW -- Cifuentes 21 FG, 0:56

Second quarter

SW -- Safety, 0:01

Third quarter

SW -- Best 44 run (Best run), 0:02

Fourth quarter

WC -- Fox 73 pass from Desteunder (Dodge kick), 11:11

SW -- Lathan 72 pass from Porter (run failed), 9:27

SW WC

First downs 19 8

Rushes-yds 54-283 25-71

Pass-yds 109 79

Total yards 392 150

Att.-Comp.-Int. 14-5-1 5-2-1

Fumbles-lost 3-0 1-1

Punts-avg 1-37.0 4-34.0

Penalties 11-95 1-10

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Southern Wayne -- Walter Best 38-252, TD; Brian White 8-28; Logan Porter 7-9; Derrick Lathan 1-(-6). West Carteret -- Jake Anfinson 11-55; Campen 7-4; Cory Desteunder 6-12.

PASSING -- Southern Wayne -- Logan Porter 5-14-1 109, TD. West Carteret -- Cory Desteunder 2-5-1 79, TD.

RECEIVING -- Southern Wayne -- Oates 2-23; Best 2-14; Lathan 1-72, TD. West Carteret -- Fox 1-73, TD; Campen 1-6.