North Duplin thumps Northside, 34-0

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on August 26, 2007 2:20 AM

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CALYPSO -- Two quick strikes and Northside was done.

Ryan Killette's touchdown reception before intermission and Chris Graham's second-half kickoff return lifted North Duplin to a season-opening, 34-0 trouncing of Pinetown Northside on Friday evening.

The Rebels improved to 2-0 in season openers with second-year head coach Hugh Martin. They earned their fifth consecutive victory at H.E. Grubbs Field.

Killette's 13-yard scoring catch and Junior Guzman's third PAT of the contest capped a quick, three-play possession right before halftime. Graham's 86-yard touchdown gallop to open the second half silenced any hopes of a Northside comeback.

North Duplin led 28-0.

"That kickoff return was huge," said Martin of the 45-second surge.

The Panthers' defensive line easily out-weighed the Rebels' offensive line at every position, but couldn't control the tempo in the trenches. North Duplin, behind its backfield tandem of Akeem Cox and James Stevens, needed just eight offensive plays to post two first-quarter touchdowns.

Cox notched his first touchdown of 2007 just one minute into the game. Stevens, in his varsity debut, had two quality carries to set up Doug Lloyd's 5-yard quarterback keeper late in the first period.

Stevens finished with 53 yards on 11 totes, including his first varsity touchdown -- a 9-yard, third-quarter scamper.

"They're huge up front and hopefully that will prepare us for some of the other teams we play that are like that," said Martin. "I thought our linemen held up real good; had some good pushes at times and good angles at times with our schemes.

"I thought both of the young backs ran hard. Sometimes they didn't hit the right crease in there, but they ran hard."

Northside never found any offensive momentum.

Senior linebacker Billy Mello recovered a fumble on the Panthers' first possession. Fellow linebackers Robert McCullen and Blake King, along with linemen Chris Warren and Buddy Grady, constantly got loose to record tackles for loss in the first 16 minutes of play.

The Panthers didn't record a first down until the second quarter. They finished with more penalty yards (68) than offensive yards (30) in the opening half.

North Duplin's defense recorded five sacks and limited Northside to just 72 yards of total offense on 42 plays. It was the Rebels' fourth shutout in their last six outings.

"Defensively, I thought we ran to the ball good the whole game," said Martin.

Martin, however, displayed mixed emotions over the lopsided outcome. The offense showed improvement from the two scrimmages, but missed blocks on occasion and misread passing patterns. The conditioning issue surfaced for Martin's team, which has numerous two-way starters who experienced second-half cramps.

Officials also flagged the Rebels for a couple of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. North Duplin committed an uncharacteristic 13 infractions overall for 115 yards.

"There are some things we have to be smarter about, especially from our older players," said Martin.

North Duplin travels to Jones Senior next Friday. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.

Northside 0 0 0 0 -- 0

North Duplin 7 14 13 0 -- 34

First quarter

ND -- Cox 8 run (Guzman kick), 11:00

Second quarter

ND -- Lloyd 5 run (Guzman kick), 2:06

ND -- Killette 13 pass from Lloyd (Guzman kick), 0:26.6

Third quarter

ND -- Graham 86 kickoff return (Guzman kick), 11:48

ND -- Stevens 9 run (kick failed), 0:19

Northside ND

First downs 6 12

Rushes-yds 33-52 27-154

Passing yds 20 59

Total yards 72 213

C-A-I 6-10-0 5-10-0

Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-1

Penalties-yds 13-113 13-115

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- North Duplin -- Akeem Cox 8-53, TD; James Stevens 11-53, TD; Doug Lloyd 7-42, TD; Alan Schilling 1-6. Northside -- D.J. Satterthwaite 7-37; Colby Mason 8-18; Anthony Martin 2-8; Daykuan Mackey 2-3; William Rushton 13-(-13); Team 1-(-1).

PASSING -- North Duplin -- Lloyd 5-10-0 59, TD. Northside -- William Rushton 6-10-0 20.

RECEIVING -- North Duplin -- Chris Graham 3-38; Ryan Killette 1-13, TD; Troy Swanzey 1-8. Northside -- Jared Adams 2-14; Josh Jackson 1-8; Colby Mason 3-(-2).