Warrior defense preserves 1st half lead

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on September 1, 2012 11:08 PM

• Print
• Email

Eastern Wayne's offense did the job in the first half.

The Warriors' defense took care of the second half.

Quarterback Mitch Pike threw for two touchdowns and ran for one as Eastern Wayne upended South Lenoir 22-14 at Little Big Horn on Friday night. The Warriors picked up their first win of the season.

"I thought we made some big strides in this game," Eastern Wayne head coach Guy Williams said. "We played really well on defense and we did not turn the ball over a single time."

The Warriors got off to a good start behind a potent passing game.

On the team's second possession, Pike capped a seven-play drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Lamorris Pridgen on a fourth-down play from the Warriors' 11-yard line. The extra point failed, but Eastern Wayne pulled ahead 6-0.

The Warriors pushed their lead to 14-0 on the next drive when Pike hit Dayshawn Pridgen on a 43-yard scoring strike. Pike connected with Alex Davila for the two-point conversion.

"Mitch did a good job as far as making decisions," Williams said. "We are still going to keep Jake (Wiser) in the offense and probably go with two guys the rest of the year, but tonight Mitch led us."

South Lenoir roared back with a touchdown late in the first quarter when Dion Jones broke free for a 32-yard scoring run. Will Graves' kick cut Eastern Wayne's lead to 14-7. Jones tied the game in the second quarter with a six-yard touchdown plunge.

Eastern Wayne took the lead for good on the last drive of the first half.

Pike put the exclamation point on the possession with an eight-yard scoring run. Chris Allen added the two-point conversion and the Warriors went into the half ahead 22-14.

The second half belonged to the Eastern Wayne defense.

The Warriors held the Blue Devils to no pass completions and just 67 yards on the ground. Most importantly, Williams' team did not surrender a single score.

"Our defense has been pretty good all season," Williams said. "Tonight we did not put ourselves in bad positions with turnovers and we did a good job of winning the field position battle."

Allen led the Eastern Wayne ground game with 75 yards on 14 carries. Pike added 60 yards on 10 totes. Pike finished with four completions for 68 yards and two scores.

Jones emerged South Lenoir's leading rusher with 133 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns.

Eastern Wayne (1-2 overall) plays host to Greene Central next Friday.