Football roundup: Late TD sends Clayton past Knightdale football

Clayton covered 81 yards in just more than a minute – and during the final two minutes – to escape Knightdale with a 32-26 Greater Neuse River 4A win Thursday night.

The final scoring drive was capped by a 17-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Landen Leiser to Blake Joyner and two-point conversion pass from Leiser to Devin Carter. Leiser and Joyner connected on two other scores through the air, both during the third quarter, from distances of 43 and 10 yards.

Trailing by 10 in the fourth, the Knights (4-2, 1-1) got back-to-back scores to take a 26-24 lead. Quarterback Andre Willis scored on a 1-yard keeper. He then threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Tauraz Williams.

Leiser finished 13-for-25 for 187 yards and four touchdowns for the Comets (3-4, 2-1). Joyner accounted for 136 yards on seven catches.

“The little sophomore grew up a lot tonight,” Comets coach Randy Pinkowski said of Leiser. “We’ve kind of seen signs all along that, when you give him time he can stand back there and deliver the ball and make the reads. I think tonight was his maturation. Can he maintain that all season? Then I’ll say he’s no longer a sophomore.”

Willis was 7-for-13 for 95 yards passing and added 54 yards rushing, including a 53-yard scoring run, for the Knights.

Garner 51, Harnett Central 0: Harnett Central had no answer for Colin Eaddy and company. Garner (4-2, 1-1) ran for 418 yards and had five players score a rushing touchdown. Eaddy led the way with 15 carries for 167 yards and two TDs. Senior Kerry Williams also came up big for the home team, rushing for 116 yards and a score on six touches.

Garner forced five turnovers on the night (four fumbles, one interception). Gregory Harris-Bunn was responsible for the interception and he returned the first fumble for a 35-yard score.

Harrells Christian 36, Wake Christian 20: The Bulldogs (5-2, 0-1) dropped their opening NCISAA Big East Independent Conference game.

Heritage 35, Sanderson 21: Heritage fended off Sanderson’s comeback effort. The Huskies (3-3, 1-1 Cap-8 4A) led 28-6 entering the fourth quarter, but the Spartans (1-5, 0-2) scored on back-to-back possessions, both running touchdowns from Trent Pennix to cut the lead to seven with less than seven minutes to play.

Heritage quarterback Gunnar Holmberg iced the game with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Trevon McArn with 3 minutes, 30 seconds left.

Orange 14, Northwood 0: The Orange Panthers (6-1, 1-1 Big 8 3A) became the first team since 2004 to shut out the Chargers, beating Northwood on a soggy night amidst torrential rain at Chargers Stadium. Pat Moser’s double-wing offense is tailored for bad weather, and it worked to the tune of 277 rushing yards on 53 carries. The Panthers threw a total of four passes.

Incidentally, the last team to shut out Northwood (2-4, 0-1) was the Graham Red Devils in 2004 – also coached by Moser.

“Me and (former Northwood coach Bill Hall) were just talking about that,” Moser said in the pouring rain. “That was my last year at Graham.”

The Panthers’ Drew Lemaster finished with 110 yards on 26 carries and a touchdown. Chargers running back Montel Goods was held to a season low 53 yards. Northwood only had two first downs during the first three quarters.

Bryse Wilson added 105 rushing yards for Orange, which lost leading rusher Eryk Brandon-Dean for the season last week with a torn ACL.

Panther Creek 69, Athens Drive 32: Justin Smalls scored five touchdowns – including two on special teams – as Panther Creek rolled against Athens Drive (0-7, 0-4 Southwest Wake 4A). The teams combined for 578 passing yards and seven touchdowns of 54 yards or more.

Smalls had 133 yards receiving for three scores, returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and also scored from 12 yards after a blocked punt. Diamante Taylor racked up 175 yards receiving and two touchdowns for the Catamounts (4-3, 2-1).

Dom Samson had six touchdown passes on 12-of-24 passing for 273 yards.

Southern Durham 43, Northern Vance 12: The Spartans (5-2, 2-0) rolled over the host Vikings (4-3, 1-1) in Henderson.

St. David’s 58, Grace Christian Raleigh 6: St. David’s kept its perfect year in eight-man football going thanks to 10-of-12 passing for 208 yards and four touchdowns by quarterback Garrett Lewis. Melvin Briggs added four touchdowns on seven carries for 131 yards for the Warriors (6-0).

Wakefield 47, Enloe 0: The Wolverines (5-1, 2-0 Cap-8 4A) held the Eagles (0-6, 0-2) to just one completed pass. Quarterback Matt McKay threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more. McKay’s 98 yards on the ground were part of 314 total rushing yards for Wakefield.

Warren County 12, Louisburg 0: Warren County turned to defense and special teams to secure the first home victory in the career of new coach Terrance McCormick. The Eagles broke a scoreless tie thanks to Dustin Fountain’s 3-yard run just 4:09 left until halftime.

Fountain’s score was set up by an interception from Greg Lewis that gave the Warren County (2-4) the ball at the Louisburg 25-yard line. Lewis struck again when he opened the second half with a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The Eagles’ defense did the rest, limiting Louisburg (0-6) to just 55 total yards.

Cale Colosimo, Jeff Hamlin, Leon Hargrove, Ryan Leger, Geoff Neville, Andrew Tie and Christian Worstell contributed to this report.

This story was originally published October 1, 2015 at 10:48 PM with the headline "Football roundup: Late TD sends Clayton past Knightdale football."