By By BRIAN HAINES
Sports Writer
YEATESVILLE — A solid running game combined with a bend-but-don’t break defensive effort helped Northside to its first win of the season as it topped fellow Four Rivers Conference rival Pamlico 34-18 on Friday.
Running back DeMarques Martin spearheaded a rushing attack that accumulated 340 yards on 41 carries and accounted for all five of the Panthers’ touchdowns.
Martin netted a hat trick as he galloped for TD runs of nine, 15 and 58 yards, with the last one putting the icing on the cake for Northside (1-1) by pushing the score to 34-18 with a little over nine minutes left in the quarter.
Northside head coach Keith Boyd said he liked the way his team battled for four quarters and didn’t hang its head when it fell behind the Hurricanes (0-2) early in the game.
“We played hard and we played together,” Boyd said. “We got down 6-0 and we fought back. After last week’s loss to Creswell we needed a good taste in our mouth, and now we just hope that taste remains for the remainder of the year.”
While the Panther’s ground game left the home fans with a fine taste in their mouth, the combined 37 penalties that were called (not counting the 15 or so that where declined) soured every bodies palette and stretched the game to nearly three hours long.
Helping erase the awful sight of a slowed down game was the quick pace of the two team’s top tailbacks. Joining Northside’s Martin in helping move the chains was Trevon Boone, his counterpart on the Hurricanes.
Both backs ran hard for four quarters, and Boone’s effort led to 281 rushing yards by Pamlico (0-2).
Though the Hurricanes were able to move down the field, they had trouble breaking the goal line as the Panthers defense managed to create six fumbles, four of which were recovered by Northside, and managed to block a punt.
Northside’s defense was able to penetrate the Hurricanes’ backfield for a large portion of the game, allowing the Panthers’ offense to start a lot of their drives on the good side of the 50.
After Boone’s 20-yard TD run put Pamlico up 6-0, McCullor and the Panthers answered back with a 1-yard run, which was set up by runs of 24 and 34 yards by Martin. With a Cecilo Cota extra point, Northside took a 7-6 advantage.
Hurricanes’ QB Worth Cowell helped his squad keep pace when he broke free for a five-yard score to creep within 14-12 in the second quarter.
The score would not change until the third quarter, when with the game hanging in the balance, Northside strung together two straight touchdowns on the strength of its defense and powerful offense line play to take control of the contest.
Northside’s Benji Taylor blocked a Pamlico punt on the its 36-yard line, which set up Martin for a 15-yard touchdown run.
On the ensuing possession, the Panthers forced a Pamlico fumble and recovered it on the Hurricanes’ 38-yard line. Six plays later, McCullor scored his second TD of the game on a 16-yard QB keeper to extend the Panthers’ lead to 27-12.
“Our defense was bending a whole lot, but I saw improvement,” Boyd said. “The blocked punt was big time, and after the fumble we started to get some breathing room.”
Pamlico put a scare into the Panthers when Rakeem Best shook off several tacklers to score on a 78-yard fake punt near the end of the third quarter.
Martin helped Northside take back momentum and the game when he displayed his speed and power by scoring from 58 yards out on a jet sweep to the left side of the field.
The Panthers will look to sustain its momentum next week when it hosts Washington.
Pamlico Northside
13 First Downs 14
38-281 Rushes-Yards 41-340
35 Passing Yards 31
2-5 Pass-Comp-Int 2-6
2-20 Punting 2-30
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 6-4
16-125 Penalties 21-190
Pamlico 6 6 6 0 — 18
Northside 7 14 13 7 — 34
Scoring Summary
P — Trevon Boone 20 run (two points failed), 7:55, 1st.
N — Isaiah McCullor 1 run (Cecilio Cota kick), 58.7, 1st.
N — DeMarques Martin 9 run (Cota kick), 8:36, 2nd.
P — Worth Cowell 5 run (two points failed), 1:20, 2nd.
N — Martin 15 run (kick failed), 8:44, 3rd.
N — McCullor 15 run (Cota kick), 4:04, 3rd.
P — Rakeem Best 78 run (two points failed), 1:44, 3rd.
N — Martin 58 run (Cota kick), 9:29 4th.