South Johnston drops Southern Wayne

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on October 15, 2011 11:25 PM

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DUDLEY -- For two quarters on Friday night Southern Wayne looked like the team that began the season 4-0.

Unfortunately for the Saints, it was two quarters too late.

South Johnston jumped out to a 27-0 halftime lead and hung on for a 49-33 Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference win.

Southern Wayne's first drive of the game ended on a failed fourth down conversion. The Trojans scored two plays later on Michael Booker's 71-yard touchdown pass to Chris Crumity.

Booker's 41-yard pass to Brandon Beasley set up Booker's 22-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. Casey Clymore's extra point put South Johnston in front 13-0.

The lead grew to 20-0 on Booker's 16-yard touchdown pass to Crumity midway through the second quarter. Booker added a 2-yard touchdown run just before halftime.

Booker was 13 for 14 passing for 272 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. He finished 22 for 27 with 450 yards and four scores. Booker added 69 yards and two scores on the ground. The senior quarterback racked up 519 yards of total offense.

South Johnston tallied 527 yards of offense.

"They've got some great receivers," Saints' head coach David Lee said. "If you play back in a zone they just screen you to death. If you walk up and play man-to-man they run by you. Those two receivers they've got Crumity and Beasley, those guys are tough. When they catch it in space they can make anybody miss."

Southern Wayne pieced together a methodical 11-play, 71-yard drive to open the second half. Tyshawn Vann's 8-yard touchdown run pulled the Saints to within 27-7.

Southern Wayne (4-4, 0-4 ECC) stopped South Johnston on fourth down and Sam Ferrell's 8-yard touchdown pass to Vann on fourth down cut the margin to 27-13 late in the third quarter.

South Johnston (7-1, 4-0) answered with Booker's 45-yard touchdown pass. The tandem hooked up on the two-point conversion to extend the lead to 35-14.

Ferrell's 40-yard pass to Jamie Dove set up Vann's 1-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to trim the deficit to 35-21. Vann rushed for 155 yards on 24 carries. The Saints tallied 305 yards on the ground. Ferrell was 7 for 10 passing for 122 yards and a touchdown. Southern Wayne finished with 427 yards of offense, 314 of which came in the second half.

"We told our kids at halftime don't play the score and let's compete on every play," Lee said. "I thought we did. I thought offensively and defensively we competed a lot more in the second half. I think it was just attitude. Our kids came out with a lot more spunk and a lot more drive and really believed we could move the ball."

Unek Lloyd's 2-yard touchdown run with a little more than six minutes to play pushed the lead to 42-21.

The Saints needed just four plays to answer with Dove's 37-yard touchdown run as the lead shrunk to 42-27 with five minutes to play.

The Trojans scored just two plays into their next drive on Booker's 56-yard touchdown pass to Beasley.

Vann scored on a late 21-yard touchdown run.

Southern Wayne plays host to North Lenoir next Friday.