By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
YEATESVILLE — A hungry underdog playing at home versus an overconfident favorite is an equation that often equals an upset, but factor eight fumbles into the mix and it adds up to a Plymouth 44-0 win over Northside on Friday.
The Panthers (1-5) came ready to play, but left their hands at home as Northside lost five of its fumbles which directly led to four Vikings’ touchdowns.
Plymouth coach Robert Cody, whose Vikings (5-0) were coming off a bye week, admitted his team wasn’t as sharp as he would have liked and underestimated the Panthers.
Northside looked up for the challenge on Friday, but giving the Vikings, who are ranked fifth in the state amongst 1A teams, six free possessions (five fumbles and one interception) made pulling off an upset mission impossible.
Plymouth cashed in on the first Panthers’ fumble in the first quarter when Boyd opted to go for a fake field goal from the Plymouth 30. Boyd’s trickeration turned into devastation when his team botched the fake by fumbling. Plymouth’s Lynell Wood was quick to pounce on the ball and run it down the sideline for a 70-yard score.
Down 8-0, Northside fumbled on the ensuing kickoff and gave the Vikings possession at the Panthers’ 30-yard-line. The Vikings turned the opportunity into six points early in the second quarter when quarterback Dasheen Perry pulled off his best Randell Cunningham impression and scrambled into the end zone from nine yards out.
Perry was facing fourth and goal when he was chased to the right side of the field and nearly sacked by Northside, but Perry was able to escape heavy pressure and retreat back to the middle of the field where he danced around defenders to score up the middle.
The Vikings would add a 62-yard Tobias Claggon touchdown run, as well as a 24-yard TD scamper by Andre Mitchell to put the game out of reach by the halftime.
Mitchell added a 30-yard TD run in the third to help lead the Vikings to 285 rushing yards on 29 attempts.
Though happy with the win, Cody was not pleased with is team’s execution. When they didn’t fumble, Northside running backs Anthony Martin, Colby Mason and D.J. Satterthwaite had some success on offense running out of the wishbone and “spread-bone” formations. Plymouth also committed several penalties, which yielded almost as many yards as its run defense. The Vikings allowed 90 yards on penalties, while letting up 134 rushing yards.
The Vikings will be on the road against Roanoke for their next game, while the Panthers will be at Perquimans.
Plymouth Northside
10 First Downs 9
29-285 Rushes-Yards 35-134
6 Passing Yards 22
1-5 Pass-Comp-Int 2-7-1
2-29 Punting 4-29.5
8-5 Fumbles-Lost 4-1
6-35 Penalties 9-90
Plymouth 8 23 8 6 — 44
Northside 0 0 0 0 — 0
Scoring Summary
P — Lynell Wood 70 fumble recovery (Tobias Claggon two points), 3:38, 1st.
P — Dasheen Perry 9 run (two points failed), 11:36, 2nd.
P — Claggon 62 run (Angelo Sharpless two points), 9:06, 2nd.
P — Andre Mitchell 24 run (Sharpless two points), 4:07, 2nd.
P — Mitchell 30 run (Dwayne Brooks two points), 8:34, 3rd.
P — Sharpless 6 pass from Perry (two points failed), 3:18, 4th.