In a game that came down to the final drive, the Pam Pack defense held its ground and muffled Southwest Edgecombe’s hurry-up offense, preserving the team’s No. 6 ranking and historic win streak.

“The defense stepped up there at the end, but the offense, we had some opportunities to put them away and we didn’t,” said head coach Sport Sawyer. “That’s not good and we have to learn from that. If we don’t, that could come back to bite us later on.”

It wasn’t pretty by any means, but following what was an improbable come from behind victory against Farmville Central last week, Washington put a halt to a late Cougars rally and picked up it’s seventh-straight victory Friday night at home.

With less than two minutes left in the contest, Southwest Edgecombe’s defense cut the Pam Pack’s drive short, containing running back Markel Spencer on two-consecutive plays and capping the series off with a sack of quarterback Patrick Thompson. The series was one of a myriad of successful stops in the second half, as the Cougars prevented the Pam Pack backs from finding the goal line through the final 30 minutes of play.

But after a shaky second half performance by the Washington defense, one that included multiple penalties and missed tackles, defensive coordinator Jon Blank’s front seven stuffed running back Marcus Williams Jr. and defended the final deep ball from quarterback Tucker Pridgen to lock up the win.

“You have to give them credit for fighting,” Sawyer said. “For some reason, we moved the ball down to the red zone and we couldn’t finish. You have to finish there and we didn’t obviously. But we got the win against a good team, so we have to learn from it.”

A Pam Pack offense that was silenced in the second half had one of the strongest starts of the season through the first 24 minutes. On the first drive of the game, it took just four plays for Spencer to find the end zone. The senior running back picked up right where he left off against Farmville Central with a 37-yard touchdown run down the sideline.

On the ensuing drive, senior Kyle Krajewski came through with a huge play on special teams, emphatically blocking a punt and placing the offense on the Cougars’ 14-yard line. And Spencer would again capitalize on the great field position with another touchdown run, this one straight up the gut.

Washington continued to stall Southwest Edgecombe’s running game in the first quarter, but hard-nosed football occasionally comes with a cost. Linebacker Jamond Ebron, the defensive captain and one of Sawyer’s leaders, went down with an ankle injury, which sidelined the senior for the remainder of the contest.

The costly injury clearly affected the defense through the final three quarters, as much of the weight full on the shoulders of E.J. Peartree and Rayekwon Satterwaithe, who both were forced to make up the production. Both linebackers came through with some big, game-saving tackles down the stretch.

A 48-yard touchdown pass from Thompson to senior Xzavier Clark gave Washington a 20-0 lead heading into the break, a lead the team desperately would need.

“In the first half, we moved the ball and three out of four drives we scored,” Sawyer said. “After that, we didn’t score — we moved and stalled. You can’t do that and be successful.”

Just two minutes into the second half, Williams weaseled his way through the defense and broke free for a 64-yard touchdown. And after a back-and-forth third quarter, Williams again found the end zone two minutes into the fourth quarter on a 73-yard run. Despite the late shift in momentum, Washington’s defense was able to hold.

Spencer finished with 177 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 25 carries, while Clark notched 97 yards of total offense. Thompson also finished the night 2-for-4 with 55 yards passing.

With the win, Washington improves to 7-1 (2-0 Eastern Plains) and will likely move up in the Associated Press rankings this week.

“We’re taking it one week at a time,” Sawyer said. “All the rankings are good, but really the only ranking that matters is the last one in December. Right now, if we end up losing this game or last week’s game, we fall real quick.”

The Pam Pack travel to Beddingfield to take on the Bruins next week.

 

SOUTHSIDE 36, JONES SENIOR 6

The Seahawks found the end zone in all four quarters Friday night against a Jones Senior team coming off its first win in 17 games. The win is the fourth-straight for the Seahawks, who are averaging about 45 points per game during the streak.

Junior Lawrence Brown finished with 113 yards on 13 carries, while junior Matt Baxter notched 105 yards on 11 carries. Dylan Lewis and Donshae Miller also finished with 50-plus yards a piece, contributing to 349 yards of total offense.

The Southside defense also stepped up and held the Trojans to just 151 total yards.

With the win, the Seahawks improve to 6-2 and currently sit atop the Coastal Plains Conference table. They will host East Carteret next week.

 

PAMLICO COUNTY 41, NORTHSIDE 14

Senior Kermani Slade ran the entire length of the field for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but big plays would come at a premium for the Panthers Friday night in Bayboro.

With the loss, Northside drops to 2-6 and will travel to Trenton to face Jones Senior next week.