By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
WILLIAMSTON — Williamston running back Cedric Moody opened and shut the door on Northside as his 94-yard TD in the first quarter put the Tigers up 7-0, and his 60-yard score in the fourth quarter sealed a 25-14 Williamston win on Friday.
On the Tigers’ homecoming day, Moody became “Cedric the Entertainer” as his 262 yards on 20 carries thrilled the large home crowd.
The win upped the Tigers’ record to 6-3 (3-2) and cemented the first winning season for Williamston since 2002; a feat that did not go unnoticed as the players dowsed second year coach Asim McGill with Gatorade after the game.
With the help of good line play by Williamston, running backs Emery Griggs, Kareem Bell and Moody lead the Tigers to 407 rushing yards on 41 attempts to run by the Panthers.
After the game McGill praised the effort of Moody, who finished the contest with three TDs.
While the Tigers were able to run wild, the Panthers kept stubbing their toes.
Penalties negated two Northside touchdowns in the first and second quarter, while the Panthers also dropped three potential scores in the first half.
A hard hit by Tigers’ corner back Eric Smith forced Colby Mason to drop a William Rushton pass in the end zone, while Anthony Martin could not hold on two passes in which he had plenty of daylight ahead of him.
Adding to Boyd’s frustration was the team’s lack of execution on offense and an aggressive Tigers’ defense. The combination of the two limited Northside to 136 yards of total offense.
The Panthers got on the board in the second quarter when, after a Moody 9-yard TD run, Martin returned the ensuing kick off 85 yards to make it a 19-8 ball game.
Northside’s scored later in the quarter when linebacker Zak Manning scooped up a Williamston fumble at the Panthers’ 20 and returned it all the way to the Tigers’ 4 before being run down by Moody, setting up a Rushton TD run. The Rushton score cut Williamston’s lead to 19-14.
After halftime the Tigers’ defense, led by DeBrian and DeBriant Everett clamped down Northside, shutting the Panthers out for the next two quarters.
Willamston’s run game was able to kill out the clock in the third and fourth quarter, as Griggs (17 carries, 170 yards, 2 TDs) and Moody carried the load. McGill credited the play of his linemen for the Tigers ability to run out the clock late.
The Tigers will move on to play Southside at home on Friday, while Northside will look to rebound at home against Roanoke.
Northside Williamston
8 First Downs 14
30-65 Rushes-Yards 41-407
71 Passing Yards 25
8-15 Pass-Comp-Int 1-4
4-39.5 Punting 2-36
6-2 Fumbles-Lost 2-1
12-90 Penalties 11-70
Northside 0 14 0 0 — 14
Williamston 7 12 6 8 — 25
Scoring Summary
W — Cedric Moody 94 run (Cody Speller kick), 4:10, 1st.
W — Emery Griggs 4 run (Speller kick failed), 8:53, 2nd.
W — Moody 9 run (two points failed), 3:12, 2nd.
N — Anthony Martin 85 kick off return (William Rushton two points), 3:00, 2nd.
N — Rushton 6 run (two points failed), :10, 2nd.
W — Griggs 17 run (kick failed), 7:28, 3rd.
W — Moody 60 run (Kareem Bell two points), 5:21, 4th.