Eastern Wayne defense has played stout this season

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on October 31, 2013 1:48 PM

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astevens@newsargus.com

Eastern Wayne's defense has been a quiet assassin all season.

The Warriors have lulled opponents to sleep and attacked at the right moment, which has led to numerous turnovers.

In eight games, Eastern Wayne has recovered 13 fumbles and picked off 13 passes. That includes a three-turnover effort last week against D.H. Conley.

The Warrior defense also recorded a safety and stopped the Vikings twice on fourth down.

"Defensively we run to the ball well and that's just a sign of our commitment to playing defense," Eastern Wayne head coach Bubba Williams said. "When you've got people running to the ball and flying around, you're going to get turnovers. Hard play usually creates that."

Micah Smith collected four of the Warriors' six interceptions against Red Springs and those miscues led to 29 points in a 42-22 win.

One week later, Eastern Wayne forced three more turnovers in a 50-20 victory at Greene Central. Jake Wiser's 78-yard fumble return put the finishing touches on a come-from-behind, 34-28 win over South Central in the Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A opener for both teams in late September.

The Warriors (6-2 overall, 2-2 ECC) conclude regular-season play with two critical games. They play host to Charles B. Aycock (4-6, 1-4) on Friday, and finish their conference season the following Friday at Southern Wayne.

Aycock is 1-0 among the three ECC 3-A teams.

Senior tailback Neil Clark is the Golden Falcons' leading rusher with 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns. Quarterback TJ Morrow has thrown for 1,431 yards and four TDs, and rushed for 693 yards and another four TDs.

The Golden Falcons average 27 points a game.

"The thing about our conference is if you're not playing 4-A schools, you're playing county rivals," Williams said. "Rivalry games are always tough regardless of each team's schedule. Aycock is going to show up and give us their best game. They're well-coached and they play hard.

"Southern Wayne will be the same."