Class 1-A -- East Wilkes 33, N. Duplin 6

Published in Sports on November 14, 2004 2:02 AM

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RONDA -- East Wilkes had smooth sailing on a sea of mud and took a 33-6 win over North Duplin in the opening round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-A (small-school) football playoffs, Friday night at C.E. "Ebb" Tharpe Field.

The Cardinals, seeded No. 5, improve to 9-3, their first nine-win season in 23 years, and advance to play at No. 4 Hobbton. East also extends its winning streak to a season-high six games.

North Duplin finishes its season at 3-8.

On a field softened by daylong rain that stopped just before kickoff, the Cardinals rushed for 394 yards, with 294 yards coming from senior running back Ricky Harris. Harris--who went over 2,500 yards rushing for the season--also scored two touchdowns, as did quarterback Robbie Monday. Ryan Hayes added a touchdown for East Wilkes.

Quarterback Brad Lloyd accounted for 157 of the Rebels' 201 yards of total offense with a team-high 61 yards rushing and 96 yards passing. Robert McCullen had 31 yards rushing, and Matt Braswell had four catches for 84 yards.

The Rebels took the early lead, scoring on their second possession. After stopping East Wilkes at the 11-yard line on its first possession, the Rebels went 89 yards in five plays. Montreal Garner carried for 2 yards on the first play, but Garner was injured and carried only once more in the game. Lloyd's 26-yard pass to Braswell gave North a first down at the 39, and two plays later Lloyd hit Braswell in stride down the right sideline for 60 yards and a 6-0 lead, with 1:28 to play in the first quarter.

The Cardinals needed only 1:23 to answer. After a short kickoff, Harris carried three straight times, the last for 48 yards to tie the game. James Roberts' extra point gave East Wilkes a 7-6 lead.

Monday's 4-yard run around left end capped a 12-play, 64-yard drive a possession later that gave East Wilkes a 13-6 halftime lead.

It is the just the third playoff win for East Wilkes in its 35-year football history.

East Wilkes built the lead to 20-6 on its first possession of the second half on Monday's 1-yard run, and after an exchange of turnovers, Harris' 85-yard run gave the Cardinals a 27-6 lead with 2:59 to play in the third quarter.

A McCullen fumble--North's second turnover of the half--set up East Wilkes' final touchdown on Hayes' 11-yard run.

"Running the ball, throwing the ball, making good blocks... (East Wilkes) is fundamentally sound," said John Avent, the North Duplin coach. "That's what they looked like on the film we saw. We just had to be able to stop them and we had trouble doing that.

"Tonight we had to throw it a little more than we had been, and we were able to move the ball at times. We just weren't able to get it in quite enough."

North Duplin 6 0 0 0 -- 6

East Wilkes 7 6 14 6 -- 33

First quarter

ND--Matt Braswell 60-yard pass from Brad Lloyd (pass failed) 1:28

EW--Ricky Harris 48-yard run (James Roberts kick) :25

Second quarter

EW--Robbie Monday 4-yard run (kick failed) 6:12

Third quarter

EW--Monday 1-yard run (Roberts kick) 9:05

EW--Harris 85-yard run (Roberts kick) 2:59

Fourth quarter

EW--Ryan Hayes 11-yard run (kick failed) 5:20

N. Duplin E. Wilkes

First Downs 8 16

Rushes-yards 29-105 46-394

Passing yards 96 85

Return yards 63 25

Passing (C-A-I) 6-17-1 5-13-1

Punts 5-37.8 2-23.5

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-0

Penalties-Yards 6-40 7-80

Time of Possession 22:11 25:49

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- North Duplin -- Brad Lloyd 20-61; Robert McCullen 5-31; Montreal Garner 4-13. East Wilkes -- Ricky Harris 25-294, 2 TDs; Ryan Hayes 10-59, 1 TD; Robbie Monday 4-18, 2 TDs; Noah Johnson 4-12; Josh Sales 2-6; Darren Byrd 1-5.

PASSING -- North Duplin -- Brad Lloyd 6-16-1 96, TD; Doug Lloyd 0-1-0 0. East Wilkes -- Robbie Monday 5-13-1 85.

RECEIVING -- North Duplin -- Matt Braswell 4-84, TD; Eric Hudson 1-8; Doug Lloyd 1-4. East Wilkes -- Darren Byrd 1-32; B.J. Chapman 1-18; Scott Darnell 1-17; James Roberts 2-15.