FOOTBALL: North Duplin-Lejeune capsule

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on September 22, 2016 10:00 AM

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North Duplin (1-3)

at Lejeune (0-5)

Last week: North Duplin did not play; Lejeune did not play.

Last meeting: 2015, North Duplin won 57-0.

Notable: The Rebels have shut out the Devilpups by a combined score of 78-0 in their last two meetings. North Duplin leads the all-time series 9-7, but has not won a road game against Lejeune since 2009. The Devilpups have scored just one TD in 20 quarters of play this season.

How did the bye week help your team and how did you use it? "One key for us was to have a chance to rest up some players who had some nagging injuries," ND head coach Hugh Martin said. "We had a few that were getting to the point they were probably going to lose some playing time because of it. It gave us a chance to get healed up and be as healthy as we possibly could be. Beyond that, just trying to keep focus on working on fundamentals, execution and timing so that we didn't lose anything during that off week."

What are your thoughts on Lejeune? "First off, we have to play at 5:30 (p.m.) because they are still having problems with their lights over there. It's going to be an afternoon game, which is going to be a little unusual for us. We need to sustain what we started against Pender, really control the ball, execute offensively and play good defense. No magical keys or anything. They've struggled a little bit this year. Every year we've ever played Lejeune, it's been a tough game. I don't expect it to be any different this year."

From week one to now, what's been the biggest improvement in your team? "I think offensively we're starting to develop an identity for ourselves in terms of what we can do, picking out which things work for us. We've continue to improve on our timing and execution in the option game, which is a key thing for us, too. We're not where we want to be yet. It certainly has grown as the season has progressed."

How about the growth of the offensive line? "We've been real pleased with our offensive line, for the most part. Our run blocking has been pretty good from the start. Our pass protection is improving, one of the things we've got to continue to work on. We've got to sustain blocks longer." The offensive starters are -- right tackle Justin Swinson, right guard Josh Powell, center Cody Craig, left guard Zander Martinez and left tackle JT Hildago and Eduardo Puac. The tight ends are Craig and Luke Britt, who have provided some good blocks this season.