Trojans hand Warriors 5-1 loss

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on October 8, 2009 1:47 PM

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Eastern Wayne battled like a wobbling prize fighter for one half.

Then South Johnston delivered the knockout punch.

The Trojans scored three goals within a nine-minute stretch after intermission and rolled past Eastern Wayne 5-1 at Little Big Horn on Wednesday evening.

South Johnston (10-4-1 overall) remained tied with Charles B. Aycock atop the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference standings at 5-0. The teams meet Monday in Pikeville.

The teams matched each other's intensity for 18 minutes before South Johnston's Edgar Herrera delivered a line drive shot into the back of the net. The Warriors' defense stiffened and kept the game from getting away early.

"South Johnston was throwing the ball deep toward Herrera and daring us to stop it," said Eastern Wayne head coach Jorg Wagner. "We did a pretty good job of marking him in the first half."

The Warriors (6-7-1, 3-3-0 ECC) were not as lucky after halftime.

Herrera added his second goal in the 41st minute when he collected a pass from Will Dewey and buried a shot behind the Eastern Wayne keeper. The play was dangerously close to being flagged for offsides, but the pleas from the home crowd fell on deaf ears.

South Johnston made it 3-0 just 90 seconds later when Derek Brewington broke free for a 20-yard run that culminated with a laser into the upper left corner of the Warrior net.

"They put a lot of pressure on our defense and we did not move," said Wagner. "If the guy with the ball doesn't have any passing options it sets up for a counter attack."

Herrera completed his hat trick (three goals) in the 49th minute when he collected a rebound and drove it into the goal.

Trailing 4-0, Eastern Wayne showed a spark when Alex Henson blasted a shot from 35 yards out and watched as it sailed over the head of the unsuspecting keeper and into the goal.

"I told my guys that one mistake would lead to a goal," said South Johnston head coach Jeremy Boyd. "We were able to jump out to a lead and keep Eastern Wayne's offense playing from behind."

The Trojans completed the scoring in the 60th minute when Dewey scored off a rebound.

"I hope this gives our guys a chance to relax and not worry about what else is going on in the conference," said Wagner, whose team entertains Triton on Monday. "We need to keep getting better and win some of these games so we can hopefully battle to stay in the top three in the league standings."