Takeaways from week 1-three home games in five days

Published 5:16 pm Tuesday, August 24, 2021

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Thanks Terry. Thanks a lot for making us look good.

I hope everyone enjoyed reading our football preview section that came out last week. We went way out on a limb and chose Washington’s Terry Moore for the cover photo and accompanying story.

In case you missed it, the preceding sentence was an example of sarcasm.

My cat could have picked him for the cover after his exploits in the spring, not to mention that he’s committed to Duke for next fall.

My cat’s pretty sharp by the way, when she’s not resting.

One might think (ok maybe just me) that Moore might be on cruise control with his future pre-empting the present. Why go all out when he’s headed to the ACC?

Because that’s not who he is. The photo included says it all. Does he look down to you? Of course he does. That’s not how it ended. Moore somehow broke free from the Hurricanes defenders, broke another tackle and causally flipped the ball to the official 59 yards later in the endzone on the way to a 62-20 victory in a crazy opener at Wagner Stadium.

Moore finished with four touchdowns and 212 yards rushing in three quarters on offense, while playing most of the game on defense. So much for shutting it down and looking to the future.

WHS only has three more regular season home games, so you need to come see him in person before TV is the best option.

The crowd saw quite the offensive show as Pack scored four touchdowns in six minutes during the third quarter to put the game away.

The weather and COVID-19 produced an opportunity to see all three Beaufort County public school teams in action, while Pungo Christian’s 8-man game was rained out after four minutes of play Friday night in Belhaven.

Northside moved its game to Thursday to avoid rain and to give me a chance to watch them play (not really).

The Panthers made my first trip to Bing Mitchell Field an enjoyable one with a 56-21 rout of Camden County.

The Bruins were 1-6 in the spring, so it’s hard to tell how good Northside will be, but the offensive line dominated their bigger opponent to the tune of 489 yards rushing on 44 carries.

11 different Panthers carried the ball and seven found the endzone. Senior Mitch Godley led the way with 173 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns.

The field was in great shape, there was a gentle breeze until the sun set, the Panthers mascot was in mid-season form on his motorcycle and Back in Black blared from the speakers as the team took the field. It was a great way to start the season.

A Monday night trip to Southside wrapped up my tour. A good crowd showed up in a muggy evening to watch the Seahawks post their first shutout since 2018 in a 32-0 victory over North Duplin.

Senior linebacker Keywon Campbell returned a fumble for a touchdown and classmate Kenjray Coffield had a tremendous pick-six interception.

The 23-member marching Seahawks performed at halftime and in the stands, giving the game a true high school flavor.

All three teams are entertaining to watch, so take advantage when you can. Of course, you will have to wait a week unless you like to travel. They are all on the road Friday. After all the excitement of the first week, I’m thinking a bye week on the couch sounds pretty good.