Hoggard squashes Saints

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on September 5, 2006 2:04 PM

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DUDLEY -- As Tropical Storm Ernesto delayed Wilmington Hoggard's trip to Southern Wayne, Vikings' coach Scott Braswell was leery his team would come out rusty on Monday night at Southern Wayne.

"We were in hurry-up and wait mode," Braswell said.

Hoggard senior quarterback Brandon Miley and his teammates quickly eased those fears.

Miley tossed the first of his five first-half touchdown passes on the Vikings' first drive. Hoggard went on to capitalize on three Saints' turnovers in the first 3:30 of the first quarter to jump out to an eight-touchdown cushion on its way to a 63-12 win at the Doyle Whitfield Athletic Complex.

Miley finished a stout 16-of-17 for 299 yards with no interceptions and threw his first and only incompletion in the third quarter. Eight different Vikings (2-0) caught passes led by Shawn Sidbury (2-59, 2 TDs), Luke Caldwell (4-52, TD) and Desean Pearce (2-52, TD).

Rashad Williams added 96 yards on the ground in the first half and gave Hoggard a 56-0 lead with 2:58 left before intermission. By game's end, the Vikings rolled up 550 yards of offense and had no turnovers.

"That's the best we've looked all year. The guys had a lot of reps under their belt, and I think that was an advantage to us," Braswell said.

Conversely, Southern Wayne (1-2) put it on the ground eight times and lost five fumbles -- giving Miley and Hoggard ample opportunities to strike.

"It just wasn't real pretty in the first half. We didn't execute and make things happen and they did," Southern Wayne coach Bob Warren said. "Before we had ran three offensive plays, it was already 28-0."

The Saints eventually broke through late in the first half when junior Anthony Council rumbled 51 yards to make it 56-6 after the kick failed. Council finished with 154 yards on 17 carries, but the first-half touchdown run and a 46-yard gain early in the second half accounted for most of his tally.

Kelvin Flow added 53 tough yards and a third-quarter touchdown on 10 carries for Southern Wayne, who picked up all 204 of its yards on the ground.

Southern Wayne quarterback Jordan Williams did not attempt a pass and was sacked on his only drop-back attempt.

During a second half played through a steady rain, the Saints held Hoggard to just one touchdown, which came late in the fourth quarter on a quarterback sneak by reserve Mark Crecco. With a comfortable lead, the Vikings turned to their ground game in the second half as Dakim Murphy and Mike Core did most of the work -- combining for 133 yards on 26 carries.

Adding to Hoggard's consistency, kicker Casey Barth -- brother of North Carolina kicker Connor Barth -- was a perfect nine-of-nine on extra-point tries and had two touchbacks.

"We know we are playing tough teams, but we want to play well against them," Warren said. "We've just got some situations we need to work out if we are going to be able to compete with teams like this."

The Saints return to action on Friday at Western Harnett in Lillington. The Vikings host Lumberton on Friday.