PREP FOOTBALL: Saints march, and conquer Cougars

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on September 7, 2016 1:48 PM

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DUDLEY -- September 13, 2013.

It's the last time Southern Wayne produced a victory on the gridiron -- until it faced Goldsboro on Tuesday night.

And the Saints didn't just end the 29-game losing streak.

They buried it six-feet under.

Behind a ruthless effort by running backs Manny Walker and Quentin Carlton, the Saints marched over county foe Goldsboro 71-24 at the Doyle-Whitfield Athletic Complex.

"Well it feels pretty good, but we're not surprised," said SW head coach Ronnie McClary. "We've been working in the offseason -- some guys since November. To get a win, we are pleased but not satisfied. Because the work that we've been doing, we just reaped the benefits."

The final scoreboard showed a game that had fireworks, but that's not how it began.

In the first quarter, there were two punts by each team and a turnover by Goldsboro. The only score was a 34-yard touchdown run by Saints' running back DeAndre Wright.

In the second quarter, the Saints tallied three TDs. The Cougars mixed in two TD receptions by Jacob Owens to keep the score 28-12 heading into halftime.

Four and a half minutes into the second half, Goldsboro found itself down 34-24 after an 11-yard TD run from Xzavior Bowden.

But then Wright broke off a 51-yard TD run. Carlton broke off a 65-yard TD run three minutes later. Not to be outdone by his teammates, Walker added two TD runs of 11 yards and six yards in the fourth quarter.

In total, Southern Wayne closed the game on a 37-0 run.

"Like I told the kids, we're all we got right now," said Cougars' head coach Bennett Johnson. "There's only one place to go, and that's up. It's a very low point for all of us, but we got eight games left. It's not the time to feel sorry for ourselves or start pointing fingers or anything like that."

Walker and Carlton -- the two senior leaders of the SW backfield -- combined for 237 rushing yards and three touchdowns. But McClary was quick to point out that the seniors aren't the only playmakers on the offensive side of the field.

Wright, a sophomore, added 82 rushing yards and two TDs. Junior Shawntwon Leach added 43 rushing yards and a TD.

"It helps, but (Walker and Carlton) are two of the guys we have," McClary said. "They're two of the guys that stepped up this game and led the team. To have those two, that's a plus. But we still got guys behind them who are still hungry to take anybody's spot."

Both teams head into a shortened week of practice with different mindsets. Unlike previous years, Goldsboro will be the team searching for answers as it travels to Charles B. Aycock on Friday.

In Dudley, however, is wave of momentum that the Saints hope to ride into their match versus North Lenoir. The confidence is just as high as it was before the season started.

"We knew that with the athletes that we have and if we play our type of game, anybody we step on the field with, we should be able to dominate," McClary said.

NEW RECORD

* Seventy-one points is the most either team has scored in the rivalry since it began in 1966. The previous record was 63 points by Goldsboro in 1996.

HOT START

* SW running back Manny Walker now has 298 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns in the first two games of the season. He had 716 yards and four touchdowns in 2015.

NOT-SO HOT START

* The Cougars are now 0-3 to begin the season. It's the first time they've lost their first three games since 2006.

TURNOVER RIDDEN

* There were 10 turnovers between the two teams -- seven by the Cougars and three by the Saints.