Oliver runs through, over Bulldog defense
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on October 8, 2011 11:10 PM
CALYPSO -- Devin Oliver has made a career of running the football against Carolina 1-A Conference opposition over the past four seasons at North Duplin.
He was not about to let Princeton ruin the Rebels' homecoming.
Oliver rushed for 260 yards on 15 carries and scored four touchdowns as North Duplin claimed a 42-27 win Friday evening at H.E. Grubbs Field.
"I'm a speed guy, so obviously I like it when I can get free on the edge," said Oliver. "Tonight I was able to break a couple of big runs and just kind of let the offense come to me."
North Duplin opened the scoring in the second quarter when Tyler Royal broke free for 57-yard touchdown run. Princeton immediately answered three minutes later when Brad Williamson hit Forest Stewart with a 32-yard scoring strike.
The teams traded scores again when Oliver found pay dirt on the Rebels' second possession and Tyler Craft hauled in Williamson's second touchdown pass of the game. The score was tied 14-all after one quarter.
"I thought offensively we played pretty well all night," said Princeton head coach Russell Williamson. "We moved the ball effectively, but we had trouble stopping their skill players on offense and once we got in a hole it was too much to get out of."
Oliver added a second touchdown run in the opening seconds of the second quarter. Javontae Davis hauled in an eight-yard scoring pass from Williamson to close the game to within 21-20.
North Duplin began to pull away when Royal broke loose for his second touchdown late in the second quarter. The Rebels held a 28-20 lead at the half.
"That first half was big for offense to get rolling," said North Duplin head coach Hugh Martin. "Julio (Mora) and Devin (Oliver) both did a good job of finishing runs and our line did a good job of creating space to run."
The Rebels put the game away early in the fourth quarter when Oliver tallied touchdown runs of 59 and 63 yards on consecutive Rebel series. Trailing 42-20 in the final minute of the game, Princeton capped the scoring on a two-yard scoring run by Davis.
Davis finished with 78 yards on 18 carries. Williamson finished with 236 yards passing on 17 completions. Craft led the Dawgs in receiving yards with 195.
North Duplin finished with 543 yards rushing as a team. Mora finished with 125 yards on 25 totes and Royal added 109 yards on seven carries.
Princeton (3-4 overall, 1-1 CC) travels to Goldsboro on Friday, while North Duplin (4-3, 1-1) visits state-ranked Ayden-Grifton.