D.H. Conley topples Eastern Wayne in ECC 3A-4A play

By Brandon Davis
Published in Sports on October 24, 2015 11:08 PM

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bdavis@newargus.com

Sometimes it's "Best" to receive than to give.

Confusion overcame Eastern Wayne fans on Friday evening when reserve quarterback Ezekiel Best threw to starting quarterback KK Best in a fast-paced Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference matchup with D.H. Conley.

"I moved Zeke to quarterback so we could have a little bit more mobility with KK ... free him up," Eastern Wayne head coach Phil Gray said after his team's 56-35 shootout loss.

"He (KK) caught the ball, he ran the ball (and) he was all over the place. The last two weeks, Zeke has had great games out there, passing the ball (and) running the offense."

The Vikings scored twice in the opening minutes of the first quarter.

Eastern Wayne answered on Zeke's 60-yard touchdown pass to KK, and threw a 56-yard scoring pass to Blake Hartsfield with four minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Junior defensive lineman Tanner Hite recovered a Conley fumble at the Warriors' 15-yard line. The turnover eventually set up a 51-yard touchdown pass from Zeke Best to senior wide receiver Austin Hite.

The Warriors trailed 28-21, but the Vikings came back with a touchdown from junior "Duce" Fuller.

An injury forced KK Best to the sideline, but he walked it off and returned to the game. A few minutes later, the Warriors' junior defensive back, Juwan Holmes, intercepted Conley quarterback Holton Ahlers.

Holmes' play led to Zeke Best's 1-yard touchdown.

Conley's Immanuel McLawhorn responded with a touchdown toward the end of the third quarter, and scored again early in the fourth.

EW battled back when Zeke Best completed a pass to KK Best that put the ball at the Vikings' 10-yard line. Robert Gonzalez finished off the drive with a touchdown run.

McLawhorn added another TD to seal the overall outcome.

The Vikings committed one more turnover, a fumble recovered by junior linebacker Noah Britt. But the Warriors couldn't answer and fell to 0-4 against ECC opposition this season.

"We played hard," Gray said. "We made it through this tough season. (Now) we got to prepare for our 3-A portion of the season. Hopefully we can come out and have some success playing against 3-A teams.

"It's always tough playing in this split 4-A/3-A conference. But it makes you tougher."