WILLIAMSTON —Washington held Riverside to less than 40 yards of total offense Friday night in a 33-0 road win over the Knights.

A brisk September night gave way to a cold-hearted Pam Pack defense, one that, despite a few untimely second-half penalties, controlled the tempo of the ballgame for four quarters.

While the Knights offense struggled to collect positive yardage, head coach Asim McGill’s defense kept it interesting early and frustrated the Pam Pack offense, preventing any 20-plus yard plays through the air or on the ground.

“Riverside has some athletes. We had to match up on them and I thought they did a great job with their defense,” said Washington head coach Sport Sawyer. “I thought we maybe could have ran the ball a little more, but the guys did a good job overall. I think we’ve been doing well, but tonight we were a little off.”

Defensive coordinator Jon Blanks defense, however, came out energized, forcing three interceptions from senior quarterback Clay Wagner.

Using its signature ground-and-pound game, Washington took advantage of prime field position, spurred by a botched kickoff, to pick up yards in bunches. Two bruising runs from senior running back Markel Spencer placed the Pack on the one-yard line, where quarterback Patrick Thompson capped off the six-minute drive with a one-yard quarterback keeper.

On the ensuing drive, an off sides penalty gave Riverside life after attempting a fourth-down conversion in its own territory, but two plays later, junior inside linebacker Lexroy Brown silenced the Knights faithful with an interception, his first of the season.

Three overthrown passes from Thompson resulted in a quick three-and-out and placed the defense back on the field, but again, it was the Washington defense that came up big. On the first play from scrimmage, senior outside linebacker Rayekwon Satterwaithe elevated and brought down another Wagner pass attempt on the 18-yard line, bringing it to the house to put the Pam Pack up 13-0.

Then, on the first drive of the second quarter, the Washington front seven struck again. This time, it was senior linebacker Jamond Ebron who acrobatically laid out and corralled the defense’s third interception of the night.

“We got a couple of athletic ends and the middle linebackers are pretty solid,” Sawyer said. “We were hoping they’d be able to fill in for the loss in size up front and so far, they’ve done a pretty good job.”

A short touchdown run from senior Trey Spruill put Washington up three scores and with 7.2 seconds left in the half, Thompson improvised on a passing play, running to the outside and diving for the pylon to notch a 6-yard touchdown run.

Despite a scoreless third quarter, double-digit yard runs from Spencer and Keyes quickly moved the offense up field to start the fourth. The Pam Pack inflated its already commanding lead when Thompson found senior receiver Javon Whitney in the back of the end zone for six.

The remainder of the contest featured a collection of somewhat awkward late hit and holding penalties that had the chains moving back-and-forth around midfield. But in the end, Washington locked up its fourth-straight win in dominant fashion.

The Pam Pack offense finished with 251 yards of total offense, while Spencer inched his way closer to the career 4,000-yard mark with a 10 carry, 94-yard performance. Thompson finished 4-for-9 with 28-yards passing in accordance with two rushing touchdowns.

“Right now, I think we’re heading in the right direction, but we’re not full throttle yet,” Sawyer said. “I think we’re still around a seven out of 10.  When we hit full throttle, I’m going to be excited. That gives us motivation to keep working.”

With the win, Washington improves to 4-1, while Riverside drops to 2-4.

Washington will face Kinston next week in the final home game before Eastern Plains Conference play kicks off on Oct. 10. The Knights will look to put the moribund offensive performance behind them when they host Northampton County next week.