Southern Wayne upsets West Craven

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on November 7, 2004 2:02 AM

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VANCEBORO -- Southern Wayne's Walter Best scored a touchdown to put the Saints within one at West Craven, then converted a shovel-pass for the two-point conversion as the Saints knocked off West Craven 28-27 on Friday on the road.

Best led all rushers with 196 yards on 37 carries and posted all four Saint touchdowns. Best, closing in on 2,000 yards rushing on the season, has an area-high 18 touchdowns.

The win was Southern Wayne's fifth in a row as it concluded the regular season at 7-4 overall and 6-2 in the Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference. The Saints snapped West Craven's 31-game ECC winning streak, dating back four years, as the Eagles (9-2) dropped to 7-1 against conference foes.

The Saints, Charles B. Aycock and Kinston finished in a three-way tie for second place. After applying tiebreaker rules, the Vikings get the second seed, while the Falcons get the third and the Saints enter as the fourth seed.

"We had to play an outstanding game to beat them. They are an outstanding team," Southern Wayne coach Bob Warren said. "They've got a great program over there. Finishing the regular season with this great win and a five-game win streak is a great way to lead us into the first round of the playoffs.

"It's one of the top wins of my career. It ranks right up there with the best of them."

After rallying to take a 27-20 lead in the fourth quarter, West Craven couldn't stop the Southern Wayne rushing attack.

The Saints scored on a three-yard run by Best to make it a one-point game, then Best scored on a two-point run to take a 28-27 lead with 1:20 left in the game. Earlier in the drive, Southern Wayne converted a fourth-and-12 near midfield on a reverse-pass from Logan Porter to Brian White.

West Craven drove deep into Saint territory, but two John Switzer passes were batted away on third and fourth down by the Southern Wayne secondary. On second down on the same drive, the Saints forced an Eagle fumble -- resulting in a seven-yard loss -- moving West Craven out of field-goal range.

"I feel like that play helped us, because it moved them out of field-goal range," Warren said. "I credit the whole team. They played outstanding ... 48 minutes of great football on offense, defense, special teams.

Jamaine Moore led the Eagles with 89 yards on 15 carries with a TD. Charles Morgan had 49 yards and a TD on seven carries, while Tony Jones added 77 yards and a score on nine carries. Switzer had the other score for the Eagles.

So. Wayne 14 0 6 8 -- 28

West Craven 0 7 13 7 -- 27

First quarter

SW -- Walter Best 6-yard run (Logan Porter kick), 7:25

Second quarter

SW -- Best 9-yard run (Porter kick), 6:18

WC -- Jamaine Moore 2-yard run (Dewayne Murphy kick), 1:31

Third Quarter

WC -- Charles Morgan 19-yard run (Murphy kick), 8:35

WC -- Tony Jones 8-yard run (kick blocked), 1:56

Fourth Quarter

SW -- Best 19-yard run (pass failed), 10:20

WC -- John Switzer 3-yard run (Murphy kick), 6:15

SW -- Best 3-yard run (Best run good), 1:20

WC SW

First downs 20 23

Rushes-yds. 37-224 57-279

Passing yards 132 66

Total yards 356 345

Comp.-Att.-Int. 5-12-2 4-7-1

Punts-avg. 1-26 0-0

Penalties-yds. 5-58 4-46

Fumbles-lost 2-0 2-0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Southern Wayne -- Walter Best 37-196, 4 TD; Brian White 14-73; Derrick Lathan 1-6; Michael Warren 1-2; Logan Porter 4-1. West Craven -- Moore 15-89; Jones 9-77; Morgan 7-49; Jones 3-16; Switzer 3-(-7).

PASSING -- Southern Wayne -- Logan Porter 4-7-1, 66. West Craven -- Switzer 5-12-2, 131; Turnage 1-1-0, 1.

RECEIVING -- Southern Wayne -- Derrick Lathan 1-40; Best 1-15; White 1-12; Warren 1-(-2). West Craven -- Davis 2-17; Jones 1-46; Ellison 1-38; Murphy 1-28; Moore 1-3.