Saints' ground attack too much for Goldsboro
By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on September 17, 2011 11:05 PM
If standing in a cold, driving rain on Friday night wasn't bad enough, Southern Wayne made life for Goldsboro even more miserable.
The Saints rushed for 351 yards and picked off four Cougars' passes in a 41-29 non-conference win at Cougar Stadium. The victory was Southern Wayne's second consecutive over Goldsboro and the Saints have won 10 of their last 13 games dating back to a year ago.
Karon Alston recovered a Southern Wayne fumble on the game's third play from scrimmage and raced 70 yards to the end zone. Fewer than two minutes in, Goldsboro led 7-0.
Jamie Dove's 55-yard run on Southern Wayne's next possession set up Tyshawn Vann's 6-yard score. Cole Tisdale's two-point conversion put the Saints ahead 8-7. Quintae Bradshaw's 13-yard touchdown run with four minutes remaining in the first quarter extended the lead to 14-7.
Southern Wayne used a methodical 15-play drive to march 71 yards and chew up much of the second quarter. Vann's 1-yard score capped the drive and stretched the margin to 20-7.
The Saints (4-0 overall) outgained the Cougars 219-57 in the first half and Southern Wayne had nine first downs to Goldsboro's two.
"We challenged the offensive line to step up and play to their potential," said first-year Southern Wayne head coach David Lee. "We know their potential and tonight I think they did step up. They made their minds up that they were going to score some points and we were going to march it right down the field."
The Cougars (2-2) recovered an onsides kick to begin the second half and drove to the Saints' 18-yard line before Bradshaw intercepted Goldsboro quarterback Julius Murphy in the end zone.
Ashton Cox intercepted Murphy on the Cougars' next possession. Five plays later, Bradshaw's 3-yard score increased the lead to 26-7.
Murphy's 1-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter pulled Goldsboro to within 26-13.
After forcing a Saints' punt, the Cougars' squandered another opportunity to further cut into the deficit. Scott Westbrook intercepted Murphy on the first play of Goldsboro's drive. On the very next play, Dove raced 80 yards to the end zone.
Dove finished with a team high 142 yards rushing on just four carries.
"As soon as I got the ball the hole spread open like the Nile River," said Dove. "There was nobody there so I just put my head down and kept running. We're really pumped up right now."
William Sutton's 4-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter put the game out of reach at 41-13. On the Cougars' next drive, Antonio Alston picked off Murphy for the Saints' fourth interception of the ball game.
Goldsboro's next possession ended in a fumble. Rodney Cook scored two late touchdowns for the Cougars, who were held to just 28 yards rushing on 18 carries.
"We went into the week saying the team that made the least amount of mistakes was going to be the team that won," said Cougars' head coach Eric Reid. "We were not on that side of the ball. My hat's off to Southern Wayne. They run that Wing-T to precision. I told our guys all week the Wing-T is a disciplined offense and the only way you can stop it is to run a disciplined defense.
"We didn't attack when we should and we didn't cover our gaps when we should have. We just didn't perform tonight."
Southern Wayne opens Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference play at Triton next Friday, while Goldsboro plays host to Red Springs.