Saints get first home win

By David Williams
Published in Sports on October 17, 2004 2:01 AM

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DUDLEY -- The spell is broken.

Southern Wayne used a 13-point fourth quarter to pick up the season's first home win Friday night in a 19-13 defeat of Washington at the Doyle Whitfield Athletic Complex.

The Homecoming crowd was treated to a show from Saint tailback Walter Best, who picked up 251 yards on 36 carries and a pair of touchdowns.

The Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference victory made Southern Wayne (4-4, 3-2 ECC) playoff-eligible and moved the Saints into a fourth-place tie in the league with Charles B. Aycock.

The huge night pushed Best over 1,200 yards for the season, tops in the area. Southern Wayne coach Bob Warren not only cited Best as a key to the win, but also credited backfield mate Brian White. The sophomore only gained 20 yards rushing, but did a great job blocking and providing the final space for Best to accelerate.

"Brian White was a huge key for us tonight in the second half. His blocking really opened up the field for Walter to do his job," said Warren.

Southern Wayne scored just before the first quarter ended, answering a Pam Pack score to open the game. Playing typical Saints' football -- running hard and eating up the clock -- Best carried the ball six times for 88 yards in a nine-play drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown dive by Logan Porter. The extra-point attempt fail

ed and Washington led 7-6.

Southern Wayne's defense stepped up their play, holding Washington to 18 yards of total offense from the 1:48 mark of the first quarter until halftime.

After battling for field position for most of the third quarter, Washington jumped back in front as a 12-yard touchdown pass put the Pack ahead 13-6 as the period ended.

The fourth quarter was all Southern Wayne.

The Saints responded on the next drive, which started with an electrifying kickoff return by Sophomore Brian White. White reversed field, coming toward the Saints' bench before turning the corner to set the Saints up from their own 49-yard line on a 35-yard return.

Southern Wayne moved quickly with a 36-yard run by Best, who was popped loose on a key block by White. That play moved the Saints to the Pam Pack 15-yard line. Best punched it in on a 3-yard play and the extra point was good to tie the game up at 13-13 with plenty of time left.

Michael Warren recovered a fumble that erased a Washington opportunity to cash in from a short-field situation. The Saints took momentum from the turnover, scoring quickly on a three-play, 50-yard drive to go up 19-13. All three plays went to Best on runs of 4, 17, and 29 yards.

Southern Wayne's defense shut down Washington's offense completely in the fourth quarter. The Pam Pack gained only 12 yards in the entire period and had problems holding on to the ball with two fumbles lost.

"Our guys really stepped and took this game when they had to," said Warren. "Defensively, we played some great football. Washington is a very good football team and we knew we had to play outstanding football to win tonight. Offensively, we did a good job controlling the ball.

"We are playing good football right now."

Southern Wayne will travel to New Hope to take on archrival Eastern Wayne Friday.

Washington 7 0 6 0 -- 13

Southern Wayne 6 0 0 13 -- 19

First quarter

W -- Daniels 51 pass from Tanner (Boyd kick) 11:09

SW -- Porter 1 run (kick failed) 1:49

Third quarter

W -- Daniels 12 pass from Tanner (kick blocked) 1:06

Fourth quarter

SW -- Best 3 run (Cifuentes kick) 11:32

SW -- Best 29 run (kick failed) 10:11

W SW

First downs 9 15

Rush-yds 20-33 52-280

Pass yds 125 7

Total yds 158 287

Att-comp-int 21-7-0 11-3-1

Fumbles-lost 3-3 3-2

Penalties-yds 10-84 7-60

Punts-avg 3-49 2-40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Washington -- Antwone Parker 12-35; Lee Watkins 1-14; Nigel Rodgers 3-0; Matt Tanner 3-(-16). Southern Wayne -- Walter Best 36-251, 2 TD; Brian White 4-20; Derrick Lathan 5-11; Marcus Oates 3-13; Logan Porter 4-(-15).

PASSING -- Washington -- Mat Tanner 7-21-1-2, 125 yds. Southern Wayne -- Logan Porter 3-1-0-1, 7 yds.

RECEIVING -- Washington -- Calvin Daniels 4-79, 2 TD; Nigel Rodgers 2-23; Lee Watkins 1-23; Southern Wayne -- Walter Best 2-(-4); Brian White 1-11.