FOOTBALL: Northern Nash cruises past Goldsboro

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on September 19, 2016 9:57 AM

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By JUSTIN HAYES

jhayes@newsargus.com

Three yards and a rotating cloud of dust.

Northern Nash, a brute, smash-mouth keystone of the Big East 3-A Conference, applied that strategy -- piling up 371 rushing yards and controlling the clock en route to a 48-13 victory over Goldsboro at Cougar Stadium on Friday evening.

It was a performance both exacting and taxing.

After forcing Goldsboro three-and-out on its second possession, the Knights received a wobbly Cougar punt at the Goldsboro 39-yard line.

One play later, Elijah Brockington handled the rest. The speedster, running behind a disciplined, imposing offensive line, quickly found the edge and weaved through Goldsboro's second level for the game's opening score.

When Tyler Smith's PAT sailed through the uprights, the visitors held a 7-0 advantage.

Goldsboro (0-5 overall), beset by a key injury to all-purpose star Xzavior Bowden, struggled early to find its offensive rhythm. Over their first four possessions, the Cougars ran just 15 plays for 14 total yards -- a development that head coach Bennett Johnson recognized as a possibility.

"I don't know if we'll see a defense that good the rest of the year," the coach said. "They can take two false steps and recover."

Northern (3-2) did just that and then some.

After forcing Goldsboro into its fourth punt of the half, Decarlo Royster, Jr. began the second quarter with a one-cut, 84-yard gasser to the house that gave Northern a 13-0 lead.  The burst was one of two scores on the evening for Royster, Jr., who finished with 139 rushing yards on just 10 carries.

Goldsboro countered, however.

Following a 64-yard kickoff return by freshman Dennis Coley, the Cougars found paydirt five plays later on Rodney Dodson's 1-yard touchdown plunge.

On the ensuing Northern possession, Goldsboro's Jacob Owens swiped a Tyler Polensky pass and returned it 50 yards, giving the Cougars a chunk of prime real estate at the Knight 30-yard line.

And they immediately too advantage.

Quarterback KJ Alston bought time in the pocket and found senior Ronnie Tookes in the corner of the end zone for an acrobatic, 30-yard touchdown strike that leveled the score at 13 apiece.

Northern's ground game, however, was just finding its stride.

In what turned out to be his swan song, Polensky twice more reached the end zone in the final 6:10 of the first half, extending the Knights' lead to 27-13 and promptly deflating a sparse Goldsboro crowd.

The second stanza would only bring more of the same.

Goldsboro accumulated just 44 yards of offense versus an aggressive Northern pass rush, giving the Knights plenty of room -- and time -- with which to work.

Northern struck paydirt three times after the break, once by Royster in the third quarter and twice more in the final 12 minutes. The last two scores, by Demario Nicholson and reserve quarterback Deshaun Wiggins, salted the affair and produced the game's final ledger.

For Johnson and the Cougars, the aftermath was difficult to reconcile -- but something they are intent on doing before the arrival of conference play in just two weeks.

"It's unfortunate... the score doesn't show the amount of fight we put on the field tonight," Johnson noted. "But these are my guys. I love this group, and I really believe we can (still) compete in conference."

Here are some game notes:

FOUR MORE YEARS

• Freshman Dennis Coley was a bright spot for the Cougars on Friday, piling up 73 yards on 18 carries in place of injured starter Xzavior Bowden. He also returned two kicks for 102 yards.

NO AIR UP THERE

• Northern Nash registered more pass attempts (5) and interceptions (2) than they did completions (1) and total yardage (1).

SACK ATTACK

• The Knights were ruthless at the line of scrimmage on Friday, hurrying Cougar signal-caller KJ Alston all night and sacking him a total of five times.

GROUND CREW

• Northern Nash accumulated 371 rushing yards versus the Cougars, using 10 backs in the process.