Southside shuts out North Duplin in opener

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on August 22, 2010 1:51 AM

• Print
• Email

CALYPSO -- North Duplin was shorthanded.

And it showed on Friday night.

Missing four offensive starters for a variety of reasons, the Rebels were beaten 22-0 by Chocowinity Southside at H.E. Grubbs Field.

"Tonight we were fighting the numbers a little bit," said Rebels head coach Hugh Martin. "We had some guys out and that really hurt our depth, especially once some guys started to go down in the heat."

The teams traded three-and-outs on the game's first two possessions before Southside got its offense rolling.

The Seahawks took possession at their own 37-yard line and proceeded to march the ball 63 yards over 12 plays. The visitors capped the drive with a two-yard run by quarterback Terrill Moore. The drive lasted six minutes and showcased four different backs in the Seahawks' full-house backfield.

After their next two possessions resulted in turnovers, the Seahawks took advantage of a North Duplin mistake.

A short punt gave the visitors the ball at the Rebels' 29-yard line. On the first play of the possession Moore raced up the middle for a touchdown. The subsequent two-point conversion gave the Seahawks a 14-0 lead, which they held until the intermission.

"We put our defense in a hole a couple times and Southside was able to capitalize," said Martin. "That's one of those things that we have to correct for next week."

The Rebels showed some signs of life on their next series thanks to a 25-yard run by junior tailback Devin Oliver out of the wildcat formation. Unfortunately for the home faithful, Oliver took a hard fall on the play and was forced to the sidelines as the drive stalled just outside of the red zone.

Julio Mora carried the load for North Duplin in the third quarter as the team put together another moderately successful 10-play drive only to see the momentum stall at the Seahawks' 30-yard line.

After a punt pinned the visitors inside their own 9-yard line, Southside's Rakeem Miller broke a 52-yard run and was followed by a two-yard scamper from Marcus O'Neil that was aided by a facemask penalty. Three plays later Johnnie Pender broke a 16-yard touchdown run that essentially sealed the Rebels' fate.

O'Neil paced the Seahawks on the ground with 100 yards on 13 carries. Southside did not complete a pass in the contest.

Oliver emerged as the game's leading rusher with 115 yards on 24 carries. Mora added 32 yards on five carries. Quarterback Ryan Wolfe completed two passes for 16 yards, both completions were hauled in by Mitchell Thigpen.

"Devin did a lot for us tonight, played a lot of different roles," said Martin. "We had to be creative on offense and he did a nice job of managing the game when he lined up at quarterback."

North Duplin (0-1 overall) travels to Lakewood on Friday.