N&O roundup: Athens Drive picks up first win

Athens Drive 22, Apex 15: Isaiah Henderson scored the game winning touchdown with 27 seconds left to lead visiting Athens Drive over Apex. Henderson scored on a two yard plunge and finished with 128 rushing yards while also adding a touchdown reception for the Jaguars (1-3). The Cougars (0-4) were led by Duke Fruehauf’s 151 yards passing.

Dave Malenick

Bunn 47, Northern Vance 7: Bunn spotted the Vikings (1-3) the first touchdown of the game, but quickly re-established control. Senior running back D.J. Jones came through with a season-high 201 rushing yards on just 18 carries for the Wildcats (3-1), while backfield mate Omar Rosa chipped in with 82 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 14 attempts. Bunn racked up 26 points in the second period alone to take a commanding 33-7 advantage into intermission.

Geoff Neville

Community Christian 54, Cary Christian 24: Community Christian roughed up Cary Christian an 8-man football showdown. The Cyclones (1-3) trailed the Knights (1-3) 24-8 early in the second quarter before ripping off 46 unanswered points. Community quarterback Grant Webb led the charge with 173 passing yards, 103 rushing yards and four total touchdowns.

Tim Candon

Dudley 32, No. 5 Hillside 26: The Panthers from Greensboro rallied from an eight-point, fourth-quarter deficit and took a road win thanks to a 25-yard touchdown pass with 25 seconds left to stun the Hornets (2-1). The Panthers (4-0) trailed 20-12 at the start of the fourth quarter, but scored the last 20 points, including 14 by special teams.

Dudley linebacker Zareik Rush intercepted Hillside quarterback Damian Harris and returned it 29 yards for a score. After a Hillside 1-yard TD run by quarterback Randy Trice, Dudley’s D.J. Crossen returned the kickoff 90 yards to tie the game with a 2-point conversion. The Panthers scored the winning TD with 25.7 seconds when Hendon Hooker found Ezra Perkins from 25 yards out.

Bonitta Best

Enloe 6, Knightdale 0: After a Knights (0-4) punt went minus-7 yards with 7 minutes, 53 seconds left in the third, Enloe (2-1) took over on the Knightdale 16 and capitalized two minutes later with a 2-yard TD run from Christopher O’Neal. Hamilton Moore and Tyler Bonds did most of Enloe’s ground work, however, with 105 and 73 yards, respectively. Knightdale’s D.J. Conner finished 15-for-23 for 178 yards passing. Tomminique Crank led the Knights in rushing with 73 yards.

Aaron Moody

Green Hope 14, No. 22 Holly Springs 13: Broderick Taylor tumbled in for a rushing touchdown to bring Holly Springs within one, but a blocked extra point by Green Hope junior Monte Williams preserved a win for the Falcons.

Willie Taylor got the go-ahead score on a 20-yard pass to Blake Watson, and after a successful two-point conversion, Green Hope (2-2) had a 14-7 lead. Holly Springs (1-3) engineered a late drive behind strong play from backup quarterback Austen Wiegers to pull within one. But the Golden Hawks went for the extra point to tie the game and had their hearts broken when the try was blocked.

John Bauman

No. 8 Heritage 32, Jordan 17: Heritage pulled away from Jordan in the fourth quarter to improve to 4-0. Leading by just four points through three quarters, the Huskies scored on a 34-yard run by Drake Thomas and two-point conversion by Thayer Thomas. On the ensuing possession, the Falcons fumbled the ball on the punt, and Austin Dowler scooped and scored from 10 yards.

Both offenses moved the ball easily. Heritage’s Gunnar Holmberg completed 11 passes for 177 yards and one score, and his counterpart, Jordan’s Ben Miller, threw for 279 yards and one touchdown. Turnovers, however, stalled drives for both teams. Jordan’s marched down the field on their opening drive before fumbling; and Heritage fumbled in the red zone later in the first quarter.

Cale Colosimo

No. 15 Millbrook 41, No. 21 Northern Durham 21: Millbrook (3-1) defeated the visiting Knights (1-3) by capitalizing on a late Northern special teams miscue and an interception to break a 31-31 tie. Larry Rountree III led the Wildcats with 16 carries on 40 yards rushing, one rushing touchdown and a 99 yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Eric Puskar

No. 9 Orange 48, Cummings 0: After starting the season in a lull offensively, Orange found its grove in Burlington. Quarterback Jackson Schmid threw for three touchdowns in the first half as Orange (4-0) defeated Cummings.

Schmid completed all five of his first half passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns. Payton Wilson started the scoring with a 42-yard punt return for a touchdown with 10:39 remaining in the first quarter.

Jeff Hamlin

Southeast Raleigh 48, Chapel Hill 7: Southeast Raleigh got its second win of the week by dominating Chapel Hill on the road. The Bulldogs (3-1) picked up a forfeit win from Greenville’s D.H. Conley after falling to the Vikings in Week 1.

Southeast Raleigh amassed 203 yards on 25 carries, while quarterbacks Roman Mitchell and Emmanuel Coward also combined to complete 6 of 10 passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns. Chapel Hill (1-3) was limited to 108 yards of total offense on 42 plays.

Brennan Doherty

No. 10 Southern Nash 49, South Johnston 0: Fourteen different Firebirds (4-0) carried the ball for on the way to 276 yards. A 56-yard punt return by Nadir Thompson in the second quarter set up a 6-yard rushing touchdown by Kendrick Bell to put the Firebirds up 14-0. Bell rushed for 51 yards on 8 carries to lead all players.

Thompson grabbed a 10-yard touchdown pass from Matt Hampton later in the half to give the home team a 21-0 advantage at halftime. Hampton connected in the second half with Zonovon Knight for a 32-yard strike. Knight added a second touchdown on the ground. Hunter Perry, Lorenzo Sessions and Corey Foster also scored as part of Southern Nash rushing attack. South Johnston falls to 1-3 after the loss.

Ty Johnson

Tarboro 55, Franklinton 14: Tarboro wide receiver Shy’Keem Hussey had a big night for Tarboro (3-0) as he delivered punt returns for touchdowns of 48 and 51 yards and also caught a 58-yard touchdown pass. The Vikings scored three times on special teams as Clifton Joyner also returned a kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown. Franklinton (2-2) signal-caller Kyeon Spencer threw an 80-yard touchdown strike to Semaj McCowan and later found the end zone again on a 16-yard keeper.

Geoff Neville

Other scores

This story was originally published September 9, 2016 at 11:42 PM with the headline "N&O roundup: Athens Drive picks up first win."