SW-EW game story

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on November 1, 2009 1:51 AM

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Southern Wayne head coach Bob Warren envisioned this one.

The playoff-eligible Saints won the battle in the trenches and claimed a hard-fought 14-6 win over Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference rival Eastern Wayne on Friday night.

Southern Wayne ran 28 more offensive plays and tallied a 300-198 advantage in total yards.

"I really thought this game would be won or lost in the trenches," said Warren. "Both teams played good defense, they loaded the box, and our guys bowed up several times to get big stops."

The Saints opened the scoring on the first drive of the game.

On a third down near midfield, Quintin Smith hit Clarence Faire for a 35-yard pass that set up a nine-yard touchdown by Javonni Robinson three plays later.

The Warriors answered on their first possession.

Lamar Best took the ball on the first three plays from scrimmage and racked up 19 yards. On the fourth play of the series, Best broke free for a 55-yard touchdown.

After a failed possession by both squads, the Saints seized the lead in the second quarter. Taking over at midfield, the visitors drove into the red zone. Jaquan Cobb's 5-yard touchdown run put Southern Wayne ahead 14-6 at halftime.

"I thought our defense played a pretty good game tonight ... they are coming together," said Eastern Wayne head coach Guy Williams "We had a couple of lapses early, but for the most part I thought the guys did a good job."

The teams battled between the 20-yard lines all of the second half.

Eastern Wayne (0-10 overall, 0-4 ECC) earned a chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter when Azaveus Dickens broke a 26-yard run and put the Warriors in the red zone.

On fourth-and-1, the Saints defense made its biggest stop of the night when Best broke to the right and was taken down by a host of waiting Saints at the 6-yard line.

"That drive was the game," said Warren. "We had to do something to keep them out of the end zone, and keep them from tying the game and grabbing the momentum."