Eastern Wayne pulls off monumental upset over JH Rose

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 18, 2014 11:57 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Eastern Wayne answered every challenge, believed in itself and shook the foundation of eastern North Carolina high school football Friday evening.

Ranked No. 8 among the state's 4-A schools, J.H. Rose -- led by three Division I recruits -- tumbled from the unbeaten ranks with a hard, bone-jarring thud at Little Big Horn.

The Warriors' defense forced four turnovers, converted three into touchdowns and Eastern Wayne logged its most-dominating victory of the season -- a 63-23 scalping of the Rampants much to the delight of an overflow crowd filled with EW alumni.

"Nobody really believed we could beat this team. We came out to play and had fun," said Warrior senior DayDay Pridgen, who was crowned homecoming king, scored two touchdowns, picked off a pass and held Division I recruit Cornell Powell to two receptions.

"We did it for mom. It was our night."

Somewhere, Jinifer is smiling.

Inspired by their "football mom's" spirit and living through her soul, the Warriors matched the high-scoring Rampants possession for possession in the opening quarter. The teams combined for 284 yards of total offense and 31 points.

Three touchdowns occurred within a 75-second span.

"They came out and scored (first), and thought 'oh, we're going to run all over these boys,'" Pridgen said. "We matched them, finally got a stop and went on from there."

Indeed.

Eastern Wayne reeled off 21 consecutive points -- all off of turnovers -- midway through the second quarter. Senior lineman Justice Johnson recovered two fumbles and Ricky Steiner pounced on a loose ball to set up scoring plays for Best, Malik Richards and Devonte Corum.

The Warriors led 35-23 and the shell-shocked Rose fans sat in silence.

"I just dove on it each time," Johnson said of his two fumble recoveries, including one on a perfectly-executed onside kick by Cameron Dove.

"It was a big mental swing, got all of us hyped on the field and on the sideline. I think it deflated them and they couldn't respond after that."

Rose managed one touchdown -- a 19-yard pass from ACC recruit Copeland Spell in the final 29-plus minutes of the game. The senior quarterback finished with season lows in passing yards (62) and completions (9) with just two dropping into Powell's hands.

The Rampants mustered just 224 yards of total offense, well below their season average of 515 yards per outing.

"The first half, we didn't really play up to our potential," said Steiner, a senior defensive back who helped the Warriors earn their first-ever win against Rose in 16 tries.

"The second half, everybody started covering (their assignments) and we did what we needed to do."

Eastern Wayne dominated time of possession -- 21 minutes compared to three for Rose -- in the second half. The Warriors collected three additional touchdowns and concluded the game with a season-high 550 yards of total offense.

Best threw for 256 yards and five of his first six completions resulted in touchdowns. Richards led the receiving corps with 127 yards and three TDs on five catches.

Larry Newsome III and Best paced a balanced ground attack with 73 and 75 yards, respectively. Newsome III hauled in a 79-yard shuffle pass that tied the game at 14-14 in the first quarter.