Saints, Hawks engage in non-conference shootout

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on September 14, 2013 11:13 PM

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rhanchett@newsargus.com

DUDLEY -- Tyaire Allen scored five touchdowns, Southern Wayne reached the end zone on three of its first six offensive plays and rolled to a 52-33 victory over North Lenoir on Friday night.

"That was a strange game for sure," Saints head coach David Lee said. "I thought our offense was very good at times and we made the big plays we needed to put points on the board. Defensively, we still have things we need to work on."

North Lenoir opened the scoring when Landon Baker hit James Durant along the sideline for a 57-yard touchdown.

Southern Wayne (2-2 overall) answered when Allen broke free for a 20-yard touchdown run. Following a North Lenoir fumble, Allen hauled in a 43-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Hollingsworth for the Saints' second score in 30 seconds.

After a North Lenoir three-and-out, a bad punt snap by the Hawks gave the Saints the ball back inside the 10-yard line. A.J. Williams scored from five yards out two plays later and made the score 20-7.

North Lenoir got back in the game four plays later when Donyae Hopkins raced to the end zone from 36 yards out, but Southern Wayne quickly answered with a 40-yard touchdown run by Marquis Baldwin that pushed the score to 27-15.

The Hawks ended the first quarter with a 30-yard touchdown scamper from Hopkins. After 12 minutes of play, the teams combined for 48 yards and 300-plus yards of total offense.

Southern Wayne took control of the game in the second quarter when Williams and Allen each added a touchdown to the stat sheet. The Hawks rebounded with a seven-yard touchdown run by Durant that made the score 40-27 in the Saints' favor at intermission.

A 40-minute delay for an injured North Lenoir player in the second quarter led the coaches to get together at halftime and decide to play with a running the clock in the second half.

North Lenoir closed within seven points at 40-33 when Keywan Morgan returned a Saints' fumble 11 yards to the end zone early in the third period.

Allen put the game away Southern Wayne with a 56-yard scoring run on the Saints next drive. Allen scored his fifth TD, a five-yard run in the fourth quarter, and finished the night with 124 yards on 14 carries. He caught one pass for 43 yards.

"Tyaire didn't even get on the field the first week of the season," Lee said. "We started working him in with the second unit over the past two games and he has looked good, so tonight we sent him out with the first unit and he took advantage of the opportunity."

Southern Wayne entertains former conference foe Cleveland next week, while North Lenoir (0-4) plays host to East Duplin.