Goldsboro dominates North Lenoir in ECC 2A opener

By Brandon Davis
Published in Sports on October 10, 2015 11:23 PM

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bdavis@newsargus.com

La GRANGE -- Someone forgot to tell Goldsboro to dress in formal attire since North Lenoir celebrated homecoming on Friday afternoon.

Instead, the Cougars arrived in their business suits -- helmets and pads.

They didn't participate in the festivities and rolled to a 47-13 victory in the Eastern Carolina 2-A Conference opener for both teams Friday evening.

"I was really pleased," Goldsboro head coach Bennett Johnson said. "It came Monday through Thursday. They had a really good practice. It's no secret. It's not by coincidence. You practice well, you usually play well."

Early in the first quarter, senior quarterback Na'shir Bowden overcame a potential sack and threw the ball to junior wide receiver Ronnie Tookes for an 18-yard touchdown pass.

Bowden completed a 49-yard touchdown pass to Ray'Quan Griffin near the end of the first quarter.

Sophomore running back Aaron Smith rushed for three yards for the Cougars' third touchdown at the start of the second quarter. Bowden threw a 6-yard TD pass to Edmond Bufkin and Darryl Gaddies added a 70-yard touchdown run to give the Cougars a 33-7 halftime advantage.

Goldsboro wasn't done.

Griffin caught a 20-yard touchdown pass and Smith capped the scoring with a 64-yard run. The two scores occurred in the fourth quarter.

North Lenoir's Jacob Morris ran for a first-quarter touchdown. The Hawks scored again in the fourth -- a 78-yard run by Stephon Swinson.

"It's one of those growing pains," said North Lenoir head coach Kimbo Brown. "I probably sound like a broken record. We take a lot of young guys and we're going against these older guys. (We're) trying to fight and get it done."

The Hawks continue ECC play next Friday at state-ranked and unbeaten Greene Central. Goldsboro (4-3 overall, 1-0 ECC) is the guest of unbeaten and state-ranked Kinston next Friday.

"We're going to try to follow that recipe again this week and see what happens," Johnson said. "The same way we prepare for everybody else. We're going to watch a lot of film. We're going to be prepared as possible. We'll make sure we're lined up correctly on defense.

"Offensively, we're going to try to find some things we got to do against them. It's going to be difficult. They're (Kinston) a very good team. We're going to have our hands full, but we're excited."