By COLLIN MAXWELL

For The Washington Daily News

 

CHOCOWINITY — The Chocowinity Middle School football team celebrated homecoming in style Wednesday night with a 26-12 victory over Bath.

Despite the pregame buzz, the contest started off slow with each team struggling to move the ball. The first quarter came and went with very little action. But the second quarter started off with a bang as Chocowinity was able to force a turnover. However, they were unable to take advantage of it.

After a well-placed punt, the Indians defense came back on to the field looking to make a statement. Four stellar defensive plays later and it was Chocowinity’s ball at their opponent’s five-yard line. A quick hand off to Desmine Gorham gave the Indians their first score of the game, making it 8-0 after a successful two-point conversion.

Bath quickly answered with a touchdown of their own a couple plays later to make it 8-6 just before halftime.

Following the end of the second quarter, parents and students participated in the halftime ceremony to honor the homecoming kings and queens of each respective grade. A BMW would even find it’s way onto the field.

Like the Beamer, Chocowinity’s offense started to look like a well-oiled machine in the third quarter. Behind the strength of their rushing attack, the Indians drove down the field with ease, before scoring on a four-yard run by Kevon Langley to make it 14-6 with 2:30 left to go in the quarter.

Taking over on defense, the home team played some inspired football. The Chocowinity players consistently found themselves in the opponent’s backfield, harassing whoever had the ball, eventually forcing a turnover on downs.

The Indians offense picked up right where it left off. They continued to use their stable of versatile running backs to gain big chunks of yardage. The only thing that interrupted their rhythm was the overly conservative referees, who seemed to be throwing flags every other play. Despite this, the tenacious Chocowinity offense marched down the field, scoring on a 12 yard run by Hayden Mayo.

Yellow continued to be this fall’s new fashionable color as the refs blanketed the field in flags during the fourth quarter.

Behind some big plays Bath was able to score a touchdown to make it 20-12. But Chocowinity was not about to let their opponents come back and responded with a 56-yard touchdown run by Marcus Jones that increased their lead to 26-12 and put the game away for good.

“Although the record wasn’t as good as what we thought it would be, we made a lot of strides this year and it was a great bunch to coach,” said head coach Chris Hill. “They made every practice fun and I’m already looking forward to what this team can do next season.”

With the win, the Indians finish the season with a 2-4 record.