Warriors use turnovers to ground Hawks

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 5, 2008 7:58 AM

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Play with a purpose.

Eastern Wayne's coaching staff preached that message for two weeks in practice. The Warriors certainly listened.

While mistakes were evident, opportunistic plays proved crucial before a standing-room-only Homecoming crowd Friday evening at Little Big Horn. Eastern Wayne converted two North Lenoir miscues into touchdowns and finished its non-conference schedule with a 19-7 victory.

"You've got to coach the whole ball of wax, including attitude and I felt good about our attitude coming into tonight," said Warriors head coach Jeff Price. "We're certainly missing some guys we'd love to have, but they're not here and we have to move on."

The Warriors definitely found a new capable running back -- junior Mac Stover. The 5-foot-5, 173-pounder set up his lone touchdown with a first-quarter interception and concluded the night with a career-best 144 yards rushing on 24 carries.

One teammate on the sideline dubbed Stover the "new Hassan Best."

Is he?

"He's the one that's healthy," laughed Price. "The last two weeks we had to figure something out. We started off with T.J. (Head), but Mac has a little burst of speed that's so helpful and he runs so low.

"He got the nod to finish it out and he finished it well for us."

Eastern Wayne (3-3 overall) claimed their fourth consecutive victory against the Hawks and eighth overall in 12 meetings. North Lenoir, which missed five starters for various reasons and lost another in the first half, exited with a 3-3 worksheet.

"We're proud to win and the guys have worked hard all week," said Price. "But there are still a lot of things we have to fix. It's youth ... you have to work with them, coach them, love them up and hopefully they'll get better each week."

The Warriors struggled inside the Hawks' red zone.

In the second quarter, with the ball at North Lenoir's 28-yard line, two plays netted minus-22 yards. But quarterback Dan Price completed two passes, including a 31-yard touchdown strike to Steven Hall just before halftime.

In the fourth quarter, the Warriors' Will White returned a fumble to the Hawks' 32-yard line. Stover's 16-yard run set up a first-and-goal at the 4. Two plays later, including a delay-of-game penalty, Price connected with Marcus Corbett on a 13-yard touchdown pass.

"That was key ... sealed the game for us," said Price.

The fumble halted North Lenoir's most-successful drive of the night. Hawks quarterback Wiley Jackson, who threw a second-quarter TD pass, directed his team inside the Warriors' red zone.

Heralded back Marquez Powell, who churned out a hard-earned 113 yards on 23 carries, had toted the pigskin eight times and needed a break. The fumble occurred on the next play.

"We were moving the football ... running power football," said Hawks head coach Wayne Jackson. "(Powell) was getting worn out a little bit, so I tried to put it in someone else's hands and it didn't work out.

"It was a tough situation."