By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
What started off as a close game turned into a runaway for Goldsboro as the Cougars ground game accounted for 327 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in their 48-20 win over Washington Friday night.
The Pam Pack (1-4, 3-A, Coastal Conference) countered with a rushing attack of its own that produced 222 yards on 33 carries, but that, along with the Washington defense, was no where to be found in the second half.
After two quarters of play the Pam Pack trailed by a mere five points as Goldsboro held a 12-7 lead going into the break.
The Cougars (2-2, 1-A, Carolina Conference) blew the game wide open in the second half as it out-scored the Pam Pack 36-13.
Freddie Jones had an outstanding night for Goldsboro as he ran for four touchdowns and racked up over 100 rushing yards just on his scoring runs alone. Jones was the benefactor of a Goldsboro line that dominated up front.
With two smash-mouth football teams, line play was a key factor on both sides of the ball and on Friday night the Cougars were just too much for the Pam Pack to handle in the trenches.
“It was 12-7 at the half and we just fell apart after that,” Washington coach Sport Sawyer said. “They were more physical than us, they hit the holes harder and they out played us.”
William Ellegor scored Washington’s first touchdown as the team put together its best drive of the day. The Pack started at its own 17 and marched all the way down field and took a 7-6 lead after Ellegor dashed in from 15 yards out.
Goldsboro countered with three unanswered TDs as Darius Currie scored from two yards away and Jones had TD runs of 30 and 11 yards, with the last one making it a 28-7 ball game with 3:16 left in the third.
Jones’ third TD was a backbreaker as Washington had forced Goldsboro to punt for the first time all game. The Pam Pack fumbled that punt their own 11 and on the next play Jones scored.
Goldsboro coach Eric Reid said he was happy with the effort of his offense.
“(The running backs) came up real big for us tonight; that’s our game,” Reid said. “They came out tonight and did a wonderful job, but kudos to the offensive line. Once they block it gives the runners confidence to hit the holes.”
The Pack struck back shortly after when quarterback Jimmy Williams connected with Johnny Broadway for an 11-yard scoring pass. Broadway made a nice catch near the right sideline and stretched out to make sure the ball got into the end zone to cut the Cougars’ lead to 28-13.
Just when it looked like Washington garnered some momentum, Jones put the nail in the coffin with a 64-yard TD run to expand the lead to 34-7.
While the combination of running backs Jones, Currie and Andre Montgomery came up big for Goldsboro, the Pam Pack aided them by missing several tackles.
“It’s simple football, you have to block and tackle and we are having a hard time doing both,” Sawyer said.
After two more Goldsboro touchdowns, the Pack scored the final TD of the game with a little under three minutes left in the fourth when Ellegor scored on a 64-yard run.
The Pam Pack will be back in action next Friday when it plays its first Coastal Conference game of the year at Jacksonville.
Goldsboro Washington
11 First Downs 10
41-327 Rushes-Yards 33-222
42 Passing Yards 8
4-9-1 Pass-Comp-Int 1-1
4-27 Punting 1-34
1-1 Fumbles-Lost 1-0
6-55 Penalties 4-40
Goldsboro 6 6 16 20 — 48
Washington 0 7 6 7 — 20
Scoring Summary
G — Freddie Jones 9 run (Alan Odom kick failed), 4:12, 1st.
W — William Ellegor 15 run (Johnny Broadway kick), 10:35, 2nd,
G — Darius Currie 2 run (two points failed), 6:39, 2nd.
G — Jones 30 run (Andre Montgomery two points), 7:42, 3rd.
G — Jones 11 run (Jones two points), 3:16, 3rd.
W — Broadway 11 pass from Jimmy Williams (kick failed), 0:00 3rd.
G — Jones 64 run (kick failed), 11, 4th.
G — Karon Alston 28 run (Odom kick), 5:14, 4th.
G — Currie 18 run (Odom kick), 3:04, 4th.
W — Ellegor 68 run (Broadway kick), 2:34, 4th.