Goldsboro and East Duplin

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on November 11, 2007 11:26 AM

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Eric Reid needed just one season to guide Goldsboro to the playoffs.

But he'll have to wait another year for his first-ever postseason victory.

East Duplin, the No. 14 seed, upended the third-seeded Cougars 41-35 at Cougar Stadium on Friday night. The Panthers presented head coach Brian Aldridge with career win No. 200 and a second-round date at North Brunswick in the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 2-A (small school) playoffs.

The Cougars finished 8-4 overall.

The teams battled like a pair of seasoned prize fighters, but it was East Duplin that delivered the knockout punch. After Anthony Council's 20-yard touchdown run closed the gap to 41-35, the Panthers took over and erased the final seven minutes of regulation with a game-clinching, 14-play drive.

"It came down to who wanted it more tonight ... they wanted it," Reid said. "Seeds aren't nothing, and they showed that tonight. We came out and went blow for blow like a heavyweight fight. I didn't expect to struggle that much with their offense. We just couldn't stop them defensively."

Hykeem Coley put the Cougars on top 27-21 with a 70-yard touchdown run and the ensuing two-point conversion to start the third quarter. Unfazed by the big play, East Duplin (7-5) reeled off 20 unanswered points. Taylor Blizzard and Daniel King each had short touchdown runs, and King hauled in a 39-yard scoring strike from Josh Kennedy.

Goldsboro proved to be its own worst enemy at times.

The Cougars' Council and Coley combined for three fumbles, including two inside East Duplin territory. Goldsboro turned the ball over on downs and committed a costly holding penalty which nullified a touchdown.

"There's not a lot of times that I get shocked, but tonight was one," Reid said. "For our two best backs to drop the ball the way they did and at those times really hurt us. I think that they gave them momentum and lost momentum for us."

Kennedy connected with Johnny Nethercutt on a 10-yard touchdown pass to take the lead early in the first quarter. Less than two minutes later, Coley responded with a 33-yard touchdown run.

King added a pair of touchdown runs in the first half, and Council raced 70 yards for a score just before halftime. However, the two-point conversion failed and East Duplin led 21-19 at the break.

"It hurt to see (Council and Coley) to have the kind of season that they've had and go out with this, it really bothered me," Reid said. "I told our kids things are going to get you down in life. Hopefully our juniors and our sophomores will build from this and remember this taste in their mouth in the spring, when it's time to hit the weights."

East Duplin 14 7 20 0 -- 41

Goldsboro 7 12 8 8 -- 35

First quarter

ED -- Nethercutt 10 pass from Kennedy (Thigpen kick), 8:31

GHS -- Coley 33 run (Greenfield kick), 6:43

ED -- King 20 run (Thigpen kick), 4:05

Second quarter

GHS -- Council 4 run (Greenfield kick failed), 8:34

ED -- King 2 run (Thigpen kick), 0:22.9

GHS -- Council 70 run (Council run failed), 0:05.6

Third quarter

GHS -- Coley 70 run (Coley run), 11:37

ED -- Blizzard 10 run (Thigpen kick), 8:05

ED -- King 30 pass from Kennedy, 4:25

ED -- King 3 run (Thigpen kick failed), 2:18

Fourth quarter

GHS -- Council 20 run (Coley run), 6:47

ED GHS

First Downs 18 9

Rushes-yds 53-272 39-346

Passing-yds 112 30

Total yds 384 376

C-A-I 6-10-1 1-3-0

Fumbles-lost 2-1 3-3

Penalties-Yds 3-21 8-53

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- East Duplin -- Daniel King 33-197, 3 TDs; Taylor Blizzard 11-59; Delonte Miller 5-15; Josh Kennedy 2-3; Team rush 2-(-2). Goldsboro-- Anthony Council 17-173, 3 TDs; Hykeem Coley 11-175, 2 TDs; Darren Pittman 2-24; Vontarius Kornegay 2-6; Iveon Sprangle 4-(-5); Dustin Uzzardo 3-(-21).

PASSING -- East Duplin -- Josh Kennedy 6-10-1 112, 2 TDs. Goldsboro -- Dustin Uzzardo 1-3-0 30.

RECEIVING -- East Duplin -- Joey Nethercutt 2-46, 1 TD; Taylor Blizzard 3-27; Daniel King 1-39, 1 TD. Goldsboro -- Enrique Moses 1-30.