FOOTBALL --Archer, North Duplin survive Princeton

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on October 21, 2017 9:40 PM

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PRINCETON -- In the aftermath of his team's post-game huddle Friday night, North Duplin head coach Hugh Martin did his best to convey a global perspective regarding his team's never-say-die inspired, 40-39 overtime triumph versus Carolina 1-A foe Princeton.

It wasn't easy.

But after gathering a breath -- a coach's breath, if you will --  he slowly spoke to the other-worldly effort of his quarterback, William Archer.  

"Just a tremendous runner," Martin said. "Runs with great determination, obviously hard to bring down... just glad he's on our side."

Indeed.

On a night when Harvey Brooks field was packed gate-to-gate with three to four generations of blue-and-gold enthusiasts, Archer's every touch mattered.

He authored the Rebel response to a crisp, 14-play Princeton drive to open the scoring with a rumbling, 46-yard gallop just 16 seconds later.

And after the Bulldogs scored twice in the second stanza -- on nimble, make-you-miss runs by John Lockamy and Rahjai McPhatter -- it was Archer again, striking from 31 yards to keep the Rebels within striking distance.

At the break, PHS held a 26-13 advantage.

Then it happened.

With just over eight minutes remaining in a scoreless third quarter, North Duplin's Dylan Jones artfully scooped a Princeton fumble and sprinted 45 yards to the barn for a momentum-shifting touchdown that trimmed the Bulldog advantage to six -- and fleshed out the defensive adjustments made by North Duplin at the break.  

"We really got back to playing some base defense," Martin noted. "Sometimes we over-coach and over-prepare... we let'em play, and they did a tremendous job. A tremendous job."

Especially when it came to containing the no-questions-asked sled-work of Princeton's Lamar Wilkins, who ran inside and wild during a 20-carry, 152-yard opening act that also included a touchdown.

In total, the Rebels allowed just 61 rushing yards in the second half, holding Wilkins to just 35 yards on nine carries -- an effort that displayed as much character as it did schematic change.

After another Archer score with 8:25 remaining in the fourth quarter, PHS struck back with a 53-yard touchdown pass from Rahjai McPhatter to senior cornerback Chris Kornegey, and tied matters seconds later at 33 on a PAT by senior Allie Britt.

Four tense minutes later, overtime.

"I just think it speaks volumes for both of the programs," Princeton head coach Travis Gaster said of the night.  "That you can play for two and a half hours, and you wind up staring at the scoreboard and it looks exactly like it did when you started -- you're tied."

Wilkins got Princeton on the board first in win-or-go-home time, scoring on a brilliant second effort after seemingly being stopped near the 3-yard line.

And if North Duplin's second-half effort to stop him was built on character, so too was his OT effort -- a rumbling, stumbling, tumbling strike that gave PHS its first lead since 26-20 and sent the blue and gold into varying degrees of pandemonium.

Just not for long.

North Duplin's Luke Britt, fighting through a muddled tapestry of blue and white jerseys during Britt's PAT, gained just enough leverage to get a hand on the football, forcing the effort wide left and giving the Rebels another shot of life -- one that would pay off in spades three plays later when Archer scored from a yard out and Saul Mendoza iced the affair with a blimp-ride through the uprights.

Ball game.

North Duplin 40, Princeton 39.

"I don't know what else Mr. Archer can do,"  Gaster remarked with a shake of his head. "He plays his butt off, he plays on both sides of the ball, and he's perfect for their system... But I was proud of our youngins."

As well he should have been.

Throughout the affair, they displayed the best parts of their program, working in concert with North Duplin to create an ebb-and-flow that many will talk about for years to come.

"Just a tremendous high school football game," Martin said to close his presser. "Two communities that love their programs, and two groups of kids that played their hearts out."

Now 9-0, North Duplin plays host to rival Rosewood next week. Princeton (6-3) will be the guest of Lakewood.