PREP FOOTBALL: Epic Wayne County Classic ends up in Warriors' favor

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on August 26, 2018 3:13 AM

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By RUDY COGGINS

rcoggins@newsargus.com

Eastern Wayne head football coach Leander Oates walked down the sideline toward Angus Dove.

"Hey, we're coming to you," Oates told the sophomore placekicker.

Dove watched and waited.

Warrior quarterback Desmond Vaughn converted a fourth-down gamble and Junious Tyson set up the edge-of-your-seat moment for the capable kicker with a short-yardage run.

Dove trotted onto the field, placed the tee on the dew-softened grass and waited for the snap.

The near-capacity Cougar Stadium crowd fell silent until Dove's 26-yard field goal split the uprights with distance to spare. Eastern Wayne players raced back to the sideline in jubilation as they upended Goldsboro 19-18 in the third annual Wayne County Classic on Friday evening.

"There was a lot going through me, lot of emotions but I just put all of that aside and did what I do at practice every day," said Dove, who etched his name into the series' history book that's nearly half a century old.

"I was so happy. I knew once they got that far, we had won the game. They did that for me and I had to deliver on my part."

Eastern Wayne claimed its third straight win against its crosstown rival and 10th overall in 15 tries since 2004.

"We were a play or two away," Goldsboro head coach Timothy Ray said.

And the Cougars were fortunate it was that close.

Goldsboro couldn't get out of its own way in the opening half.

Two fumbles, an interception and a bad snap prevented the Cougars from getting their athletes into space which would have forced Eastern Wayne to make stops in the open field. Instead, the Warriors' front seven -- behind beastly junior tackle Quadrez Lassiter -- dominated the line of scrimmage and limited Goldsboro to just 39 yards of total offense in the first 24 minutes of play.

The Warriors turned the Cougars' first miscue into a 59-yard touchdown pass from Vaughn to Marcus Rouse.

Dove provided the second score, a 27-yard field goal that capped a 76-yard drive which consumed nearly seven minutes.

EW led 9-0 at the break.

"Our biggest thing was we just had to stay within ourselves," Ray said. "We got away from what we do well. We tried to play into what they were giving us instead of making them adjust to us."

The Cougars finally caught a break early in the third.

JB Rhodes scooped up a fumble and scored from 29 yards out. The failed two-point conversion left Goldsboro down 9-6 with 10:22 to go.

Just 2½ minutes later, Eastern Wayne answered with Tyson's 11-yard jaunt.

Goldsboro responded and seized an 18-16 lead with back-to-back touchdowns -- Brody Morton's 12-yard pass to Terrell Valentine and Rhodes' 9-yard scamper after Xzavior Bowden picked off Vaughn.

"I told our guys at halftime that with this type of game, it's not over," Oates said. "Goldsboro is not going to lay down. We were driving down field, got stale and they got some turnovers. We've still got to play ball."

Jykeis McLean's one-handed pick gave the Cougars possession at their own 21 early in the fourth.

Morton directed his offensive unit down to the EW 34, but watched Tyson pick off a second-down pass.

With 4:46 left in the game, Vaughn went to work from his own 36.

The junior unloaded laser shots over the middle to Andrew Lewis and Demonta Edwards for gains of 12 and 18 yards, respectively. The drive nearly stalled until Vaughn found Edwards again, this time for 21 yards on fourth-and-12 that put the ball inside the red zone.

"I was nervous, but at the same time, I knew we've got it," Vaughn said. "The play we call 'ace,' which is the post, was open all night so I knew he [Edwards] was going to be there. We've got a good connection. We started off kind of shaky. He came through like he usually does. They can't guard him.

"[It was] a grind, man. Like the way we put in work at practice, we don't never stop, keep hustling. The game is never over until the buzzer [sounds]. You just keep playing and playing, never know what will happen."

In a rivalry game, one rarely knows.