Eastern Wayne shocks Triton
By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on October 16, 2010 11:18 PM
Dashon Brown dreamed Thursday night that Eastern Wayne would win its homecoming contest with Triton.
Brown personally made sure his dream came true. His 73-yard interception return for a touchdown lifted the Warriors to a come-from-behind, 21-14 victory over Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference rival Triton at Little Big Horn.
Tied at 14-14 and with fewer than two minutes to play, the Hawks had the ball on the Warriors' 43-yard line. Triton quarterback David Smith dropped back to pass and was flushed out of the pocket by Eastern Wayne's pass rush. Smith's pass was deflected into the waiting arms of Brown, who raced into the end zone.
"I had a dream last night that we won," said Brown. "We came out here and we got it done. I've always wanted to make a play like that. I caught it and just took off. This feels great. We've been working our butts off since last year."
Trailing 14-6, the Warriors pieced together a game-tying drive in the fourth quarter. Eastern Wayne converted fourth-and-5 and fourth-and-15 plays to keep the possession alive. The Warriors finished the night 3-for-6 on fourth down.
Lamar Best's 3-yard touchdown run and his two-point conversion tied the game at 14-14 with fewer than six minutes to play. Best finished with 77 yards on 15 carries.
"Last year we had a lot of plays go the other way," said Eastern Wayne head coach Bubba Williams. "This year, we're finally getting some of those breaks that we didn't get. Lamar's catch on fourth-and-15, that's just a football player making a football play. That was a big-time play."
Warriors' quarterback Avner Clark's 10-yard touchdown run with fewer than six minutes remaining in the third quarter cut the margin to 14-6. Clark was 6 for 18 passing for 150 yards with one interception.
Triton took the game's opening possession and need fewer than three minutes to score. Smith connected with Dedrick Stacker on a 52-yard touchdown pass.
Dominique Smith's 3-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter extended the lead to 14-0.
Eastern Wayne compiled 165 yards of offense in the first half but failed to convert three fourth downs inside Triton territory. Clark's pass fell incomplete in the end zone on fourth-and-five from the Hawks' 15-yard line with fewer than 60 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
After winning just one game in 2009, the Warriors (6-2 overall, 2-0 ECC) are in sole possession of first place in the conference. Eastern Wayne entertains Charles B. Aycock on Friday.
"Our guys are kind of on new ground," said Williams. "I think as JV's they won two or three games and last year we won one. We're starting to have success and the thing we've got to do is understand that we've still got to come to work Monday through Thursday to prepare for Friday."