FOOTBALL: North Duplin earns share of Carolina 1A title

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on November 11, 2016 9:57 AM

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North Duplin quarterback Will Archer may need to consider becoming a magician.

On the Rebels' second drive against Rosewood, Archer hid the ball in the running back's belly. The junior masterfully pulled the pigskin out at the last second and sprinted 63 yards toward the pylon.

Now you see me, now you don't.

The touchdown proved to be the go-ahead score as North Duplin cruised to a 49-28 victory over the Eagles at Branch Pope Field on Thursday evening. With the win, the Rebels (7-4 overall, 5-1 CC) clinched a share of the Carolina 1-A Conference title along with Princeton and Lakewood.

"I'm tickled for these young men," said North Duplin head coach Hugh Martin. "They put a lot into it to get us where we are. We never lost faith when we were struggling. We were 0-3 to begin the season, but we kept plugging away at it."

Rosewood -- which gave up 74 points to Princeton last week -- had no answer for Archer and the read-option offense.

When the Eagles took a 7-6 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter, Archer responded with the picturesque 63-yard TD. After an onside kick recovery, he ended the next drive with a three-yard TD.

18-7, Rebels.

Eagles' running back Tron Blue ran 60 yards to the end zone on the next possession. However, it took four plays for Archer to respond with a 22-yard TD -- his fourth of the game.

"Studying the defense in film studies -- that gave me a benefit," Archer said. "I mean my guys, we've worked hard all practice. We've been working on the plays, and we got them down and that helped me a lot."

Any hope of a comeback was quickly silenced by North Duplin at the start of the second half. On the second play, the Rebels' Terrion Addison reached the edge and zoomed 58 yards to the goal line.

Rosewood scored later on a three-yard run from Cam Helt, but the Rebels responded via a 25-yard TD pass from Archer to Colby Craig. Archer rushed for 165 yards. His two backfield mates, Addison and Colby Bass, combined for 308 yards on the ground.

"Well, we're still having a hard time stopping anybody," Britt said. "And it's not from a lack of effort from the players or the coaches. We've got several kids that are injured that could help us. But our kids are upbeat. They understand that this is a part of athletics."

North Duplin now looks toward the playoffs where it is likely to host a first-round game. The last time the Rebels won a conference title, they advanced to the state title game.

Archer believes he is surrounded by the right group of guys to make another deep run into the postseason.

"I have great guys," Archer said. "I love every single one and I'd do anything for those guys on that team. We're just going to have to get stronger as a team and build. We'll see how it goes from there."

FINISH STRONG

* North Duplin began the season 0-3, but finished 7-1. The only hiccup was a 40-19 road loss to Princeton. It's the most wins in a season for the Rebels since 2012.

RUSHING ATTACK

* North Duplin finished with 471 rushing yards, and only three players registered a carry. This performance comes a week after Rosewood allowed 754 rushing yards from four Princeton players.

TOUGH DEFENSE

* The Rebels did not allow an opponent to score more than 30 points in seven of its final eight games of the season. Six of those opponents were held under 20 points.

ARCHER'S BENCHMARK

* Archer's 165 yards moved him past the 1,000-yard mark for the year. The junior finished the regular season with 1,124 yards and 19 TDs. He led the team in both categories.