PINETOWN — With fans and players battling temperatures in the low- to mid-20s Friday night, North Duplin’s running game proved too much for a battered and bruised Northside team looking to write the next Cinderella story. The Panthers fell to the Rebels, 49-28, ending the playing careers of 11 seniors, most of which have been together through four tough years.

“The ones that are still here are the ones that were with me four years ago,” said senior Rockne Butler, the team’s leading rusher. “I’m proud to say they stuck with it — stuck with me. This is a good group of guys. We tried hard, lifted every day … I guess it just wasn’t our time.”

Winning two of their last three games, injuries at key positions plagued the Panthers in the loss. Freshman Parker Boyd, son of head coach Keith Boyd, played well up until a gruesome injury in the fourth quarter, one that required medical assistance, ending his night. And an ankle injury minutes before halftime knocked starting quarterback Noel Howson out of the game, an absence that resulted in costly turnovers down the stretch.

“They knew our schemes this time and must have studied us,” Butler said, referring to his team’s 44-27 win over the Rebels in Week 2 of the regular season. “The first time we were able to run right through the four hole. Tonight, they blitzed us from the outside, so we were forced to mix it up.”

Northside got itself in a hole early after a 60-yard kickoff return placed the Rebels in the red zone. Four plays later, senior Brion Kornegay started his big night off with a rushing touchdown just 1:39 into the game. It was the first of four for North Duplin’s leading rusher.

Just before the end of the first quarter, Howson capped off a penalty filled drive with a rushing touchdown of his own, but Northside’s two-point conversion failed, preserving the visitor’s lead.

On the ensuing drive, Kornegay struck again, this time with a 50-yard run up the gut of the Northside defense. But the Panthers had another answer, as Howson was able to find senior scat back Kermani Slade on an option pass for a touchdown. Again, the two-point conversion was unsuccessful.

With under two minutes left in the half, following the injury to Howson, the Rebels found the end zone two more times — a 77-yard sprint from Kornegay and a 25-yard run from freshman Kenny Sheppard. The lead would be too much for the Panthers to overcome through the final 24 minutes, despite a Butler run narrowing the deficit to one score early in the half.

Butler finished with 190-yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, while Slade notched 130 yards on 11 carries.

For North Duplin, Sheppard notched 131 yards and a touchdown and Kornegay pieced together 216 yards on nine carries.

North Duplin advances to the second round of the Class 1-A playoffs next Friday, where it will face head coach Robert Cody’s one-loss Plymouth Vikings.