Cougars' defense dominates Saints

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 5, 2015 11:15 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Goldsboro's offense had to pay back its defense.

Senior linebacker Sterling Dodson and end Joshua Wootson each recorded a first-quarter safety to put the Cougars ahead 4-0 on Friday evening.

The two stops occurred with 21/2 minutes of each other after Southern Wayne's defense had stopped the Cougars' offense inside the red zone for the third consecutive time.

"Early on, it was about staying in the game, keep plugging and stuff is going to start hitting and it did," GHS head coach Bennett Johnson said. "It was OK because we were moving the ball, so I knew if we just kept moving, we'd eventually cash in."

The Cougars hit bank on the possession following their second safety. An athletic and bruising back not built for a spread offense, sophomore Aaron Smith scored his lone touchdown -- a 29-yard run -- just 13 seconds into the second quarter.

Smith rushed for a season-high 128 yards and the Cougars rolled to a 44-0, non-conference victory at Cougar Stadium. Goldsboro claimed its fourth straight win in the series and 33rd overall in 48 meetings since 1966.

"He might be big, but he can fool you (and) run like a deer at times," GHS head coach Bennett Johnson said. "That kid has got bundles, bundles, bundles of potential. He's a great kid, a hard worker. If he sticks with it, he's got a special future ahead of him."

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Smith helped the Cougars manufacture season highs in total offense (481 yards), rushing yards (267) and points (44).

"Big 44 (Smith), you just can't arm tackle him, you've got to put a body on him and drive him (back)," Southern Wayne head coach David Lee said. "All in all, I thought they were more focused and definitely more physical than we were tonight, and that's what I told our team."

Losing starting quarterback Aryc Chrisman to a neck injury and two second-quarter turnovers further compounded the Saints' troubles. Chrisman was released from Wayne Memorial Hospital after X-rays revealed no serious injuries.

KJ Austin's interception and Dayquell Dawson's fumble recovery led to a 13-point outburst within 40 seconds just before halftime. Austin's interception translated into a 24-yard touchdown pass from Na'Shir Bowden to Jamaal Wilson.

Eric Bufkin converted the fumble into a 15-yard, untimed touchdown pass to Ronnie Tookes after Bufkin caught a lateral from Bowden.

Goldsboro led 30-0 at the break.

"When your defense gets you the ball, it's your job to take it to the end zone," said Johnson, whose team also got two short-yardage touchdown runs of 5 and 2 yards from Dodson.

"What pleased me tonight is that we came out and really enforced our will. We came out, played hard and took care of our business. We didn't let Southern Wayne dictate what was going to happen. I felt like we took the fight to them and that's what we've got to do every week."

Manny Walker and Jack Casbarro shared the quarterback duties in Chrisman's absence. The duo combined for 131 yards of offense, but the Saints had just 116 overall as a team.