Class 1-AA -- James Kenan 28, Williamston 7

By David Williams
Published in Sports on November 14, 2004 2:00 AM

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WARSAW -- The magic of "42" lives on for the James Kenan Tigers.

James Kenan used two fourth-quarter touchdowns to put away visiting Williamston 28-7 in the opening round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-AA (large-school) football playoffs Saturday at Bill Taylor Field.

James Kenan has been using the number 42 as a rallying cry this season -- the number of years since the Tigers won a state champinoship in football. The players wear T-shirts with the number on it, "42" is painted on the field, and when the fourth quarter of a game begins, the players hold up four fingers on one hand and two on the other.

And it was the final quarter that saw Kenan take command of the game.

Kenan's defense limited the Visiting Tigers to just 15 yards on the ground and held Williamston under 200 yards of total offense on the night. But the game was not decided until Kenan recovered a backward pass on the Williamston 24-yard line and converted it four plays later, when Brandon Satchell crashed over the goal line for a 20-8 lead.

Kenan iced the game with just under five minutes to play, when lineman LeRon Boykin scored after lining up as a running back and banged in from one yard out.

The homestanding Tigers jumped out to a 14-0 lead after one period as Kevin Miller capped the opening drive on a 22-yard run, then hit Matt Bass later in the quarter with a 22-yard pass that Bass laid out for in the end zone to score. The duo hooked up again on the two-point conversion and Kenan took a 14-0 lead.

Satchell led all runners with 132 yards on 27 carries, Miller threw the ball for 1188 yards for Kenan, with Bass grabbing five catches for 71 yards.

Williamston's Eric Goss had nine catches for 91 of the Tigers' 181 yards through the air.

Kenan will host Pamlico on Friday in the second round of the playoffs.

"Those boys lost three games to three every good teams," said James Kenan coach Kevin Motsinger. "They are supposed to be bigger than we are, too. We'll have to execute better and not let little things kill drives for us if we want to keep advancing."

The game was moved from Friday when rain made the field unplayable.

Williamston 0 7 0 0 -- 7

James Kenan 14 0 0 14 -- 28

First quarter

JK -- Kevin Miller 22 run (Run fail) 10:01

JK -- Matt Bass 22 pass from Miller (Bass pass from Miller) 2;18

Second quarter

W -- Eric Goss 334 pass from Matt Howell (Smith kick) 8:32

Fourth quarter

JK -- Brandon Satchell 1 run (pass fail) 9:52

JK -- LeRon Boykin 1 run (Rikki Rogers run) 4:58

W JK

First downs 12 18

Rushes-yds 23-15 50-215

Pass yds 181 121

Total yds 196 336

Comp-att-int 14-31-1 11-19-0

Fumbles-lost 1-1 4-2

Penalties-yds 8-40 5-35

Punts-yds 8-34 3-36

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Williamston -- James Jones 2-9; Jamel Moore 4-7; Desmond Moore 6-3; Eric Goss 3-(-2); Matt Howell 8-(-2). James Kenan -- Brandon Satchell 27-132, TD; Eric Benson 1-(-1); Jimmy Glaspie 2-17; Jason Kennion 2-9; Kelvin Miller 10-27, TD; Brian Merriman 5-26; Alex Flores 2-4; LeRon Boykin 1-1, TD.

PASSING -- Williamston -- Matt Howell 13-30-1-1, 168; Joe Jackson 1-1-0-0, 12. James Kenan -- Kelvin Miller 11-18-0-1; 118; Shawn Jones 0-1.

RECEIVING -- Williamston -- Eric Goss 9-91; Matt Howell 1-12; Marcus Coffield 3-54; Steve James 1-23. James Kenan -- Matt Bass 5-79, TD; Jason Kennion 2-24; Brandon Satchell 2-7; Eric Benson 1-11; Edwin Sutton 1-0.