By Staff
By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
GREENVILLE — Washington opened up Coastal Conference play in convincing fashion Friday night, rolling to a 42-6 win over the D.H. Conley Vikings.
“The guys have been working hard,” fifth-year Pam Pack coach Sport Sawyer said. “We hadn’t been playing good ball and we emphasized to them to play up to their capabilities. At times we did and at times we didn’t, so there are still some things we need to work on.
The Pam Pack (3-2, 1-0) dominated in every facet, out-gaining the Vikings 411 yards to 200. Conley (2-3, 0-1) got 91 of those yards on its final drive to avoid being shutout.
“They were just bigger, stronger, faster and better,” Conley coach Ken Whitehurst said. “Tonight, they were certainly a superior football team to us.”
Pam Pack senior quarterback Austin Thompson, who clicked on 6 of 8 passes for 143 yards, threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more.
“To come out and capitalize offensively was good,” said Thompson, who ran for 61 yards on 11 carries. “It felt good.”
Thompson did all of his damage through the air in the first half when he led the Pack to a 28-0 lead. Washington racked up 267 yards of offense to just 62 for the Vikings.
Thompson gave the Pack a 7-0 lead on its first drive when he hit Michael Godley (two catches for 28 yards) on a 19-yard strike. Godley made a nice leaping grab over the middle and then strolled into the end zone.
Washington erupted for 21 more points in the second quarter. Dakuan Spencer, back after missing last week’s game, hauled in a short Thompson pass on the first play of the second quarter and raced 72 yards to the end zone for a 14-0 lead.
Spencer had a big night all around, hauling in three passes for 86 yards and a score, rushing for 73 yards on 10 carries and finishing with eight tackles from his linebacker spot.
“It was hard sitting on the sideline not playing at all,” Spencer said. “I was real hungry to play. We all played good tonight, but we can play better.”
Thompson had a one-yard touchdown run and freshman Kaschief Foreman (14 carries for 61 yards) added a 2-yard burst in the second quarter for the 28-0 cushion.
Foreman’s score was set up by an 83-yard punt return by Tony Turnage, who played a solid game for the Pack. He ran for 56 yards and six carries, hauled in one pass for 34 yards and helped shut down Conley’s passing game.
“It felt good to have a game like this,” Turnage said. “It feels really good.”
Washington had the ball twice in the third quarter and turned the ball over on downs each time. That’s five straight games the Pack has gone without scoring in the third quarter.
“For some reason it seems we come out flat in the second half,” Sawyer said. “That’s a negative that we have to fix.”
The Pack did score early in the fourth. Thompson eluded the rush and broke off a nifty 26-yard run to the pylon for a 35-0 lead.
The score was set up by a blocked punt by Chase Tripp. The senior defensive end also had a quarterback sack and nine tackles.
Darien Peele’s 4-yard burst and the last of six Justin Meekins PATs capped off the scoring for the Pack. For Peele (five carries for 17 yards), it was his first touchdown of the season.
He helped the Pack gain 268 yards on the ground as four different players ran for over 55 yards.
“If you’re not able to run the ball, then you’re in trouble,” Sawyer said. “That’s what’s happened to us in a couple games that we’ve played. We emphasized the run a lot this week because we need to have a balanced attack.”
Conley avoided the shutout when sophomore Darrion Moore (14 carries for 114 yards) broke off a 36-yard scoring jaunt with 2:31 to play. He also had a 38-yard run during a 91-yard drive.
“It’s certainly better to score than not to score,” Whitehurst said.
The Vikings lost more than the game. Standout tight end Jordan Ahlers (one catch for eight yards) went down to the ground awkwardly when a Pam Pack defender and Viking quarterback Tyler Nichols (22 carries for 50 yards) fell into him.
“The good news is that it’s not a knee or an ankle,” Whitehurst said. “He took a really vicious lick there. We’ll check him out in the morning.”
The Pack stays on the road next week as Washington will play at South Central.
The Vikings will play at New Bern.
Washington D.H. Conley
19 First Downs 9
46-268 Rushes-Yards 43-182
143 Passing Yards 8
9-6-1 Pass-Comp-Int 7-1-1
0-0.0 Punting 6-28.2
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-0
7-45 Penalties 3-25
Washington 7 21 0 14 — 42
D.H. Conley 0 0 0 6 — 6
Scoring Summary
W – Austin Thompson 19 pass to Michael Godley (Justin Meekins kick), 8:37, 1st
W – Thompson 72 pass to Dakuan Spencer (Meekins kick), 11:49, 2nd
W – Thompson 1 run (Meekins kick), 7:10, 2nd
W – Kaschief Foreman 2 run (Meekins kick), 2:44, 2nd
W – Thompson 26 run (Meekins kick), 11:08, 4th
W – Darien Peele 4 run (Meekins kick), 4:26, 4th
D – Darrion Moore 36 run (kick blocked), 2:31, 4th