By BY STEVE FRANKLIN, Sports Writer
WILLIAMSTON — The Williamston Tigers are peaking when it matters most.
The Tigers went over the 40-point mark for the fourth consecutive game on Monday night, and also recorded their first shutout of the season, as Williamston rolled past Northside 42-0 in the opening round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-A East playoffs.
Williamston took control early and never slowed down.
It took the Tigers just one minute and seven seconds to get on the scoreboard.
On the second play from scrimmage, Griggs rolled to his right and delivered a deep pass down the left sideline that landed in the arms of Kareem Bell for a 58-yard gain.
One play later, Griggs darted into the end zone on a quarterback draw from 22 yards away.
Three minutes later, Williamston’s defense produced a score. As Northside running back D.J. Satterthwaite attempted to struggle for extra yardage, he was stripped of the football by Tigers’ defensive lineman Derek Everett who rumbled 14 yards for a touchdown.
After forcing Northside to fumble on the ensuing kickoff, the Tigers made the Panthers pay for their mistake once again.
Four plays after the turnover, Bell took a reverse pitch from Griggs and shimmied his way through the Northside defense for a 15-yard touchdown run to make it 21-0.
With two minutes left in the opening quarter, the Tigers blew the contest wide open, as Griggs dashed down the left sideline for a 51-yard touchdown scamper to give Williamston a 27-0 lead ten minutes into the contest.
The Tigers padded their lead in the second quarter as Bell plunged in for a 1-yard touchdown run in the final three minutes of the half to make give Williamston a 35-0 halftime lead.
The Tigers final score came in the third quarter, as reserve quarterback Luke Matthews bowled into the end zone for a five-yard touchdown run, pushing the lead to 42-0.
While the Tigers’ offense racked up 351 yards of total offense, Williamston’s defense was just as dominant.
The Tigers allowed the Panthers to rush for just seven yards on 21 carries, and limited Northside to only 55 yards of total offense. Thirteen of the Panthers 21 rushing attempts went for negative yards.
Griggs rushed the ball five times for 103 yards and two touchdowns, and also completed 2-of-3 passes for 112 yards. Bell added 55 yards on the ground, including two scores for the Tigers.
Northside (2-10) was led by Deonte Artis who completed three passes for 57 yards, including a 44-yarder to Trent Midgette.
Williamston (7-5), the No. 3 seed in the 1A East playoffs, will play host to No. 11 seed Northampton-West (6-6) on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The Hurricanes advanced into the second round with a 36-8 win over Cape Hatteras last Friday.
Northside Williamston
5 First Downs 16
21-7 Rushes-Yards 31-239
48 Passing Yards 112
4-6-0 Pass-Comp-Int 2-3-0
5-35.2 Punting 0-0
4-2 Fumbles-Lost 2-1
5-30 Penalties 4-20
Northside 0 0 0 0 — 0
Williamston 27 8 7 0 — 42
Scoring Summary
W — Emery Griggs 22 run (Cody Speller kick), 10:53, 1st.
W — Derek Everett 14 fumble recovery (Kick failed), 7:05, 1st.
W — Kareem Bell 15 run (Bell pass from Griggs), 4:39, 1st.
W — Griggs 51 run (Run failed), 1:56, 1st.
W — Bell 1 run (K.J. Brown pass from Griggs), 2:48, 2nd.
W — Luke Matthews 5 run (Speller kick), 2:42, 3rd.