Garner rallies to defeat East Wake football 29-26

As wild as the Greater Neuse River 4A Conference football race has been, Thursday’s results put a familiar plain blue-helmeted team back amid the trio of teams on top of the heap.

Garner – the defending league champ – prevailed in another wild one, rallying to take the lead twice in the final five minutes for a 29-26 win over East Wake.

Matthew Butler’s 10-yard touchdown reception from Brodie West with one minute to play gave the Trojans the lead for the last time. East Wake had a last-second heave into the end zone that fell incomplete.

Butler slipped across the back of the end zone as West rolled left away from the action of the play. The 6-foot-3, 247-pound junior didn’t have a Warrior defender within five yards of him when he made the catch.

“That was just a great call from Coach (Adam) Hamrick,” said Garner coach Thurman Leach. “We saw something there and went to it at the right time and the kids executed great, just like they did all the way down the stretch.”

Garner had to improvise on offense in the second half with standout tailback Collin Eaddy limited with an arm injury. Senior Kerry Williams ran for 93 yards on 11 carries in spot duty. Eaddy still finished with 127 yards rushing on 18 carries.

“We had some kids in a lot of different positions,” Leach said. “But they pulled together and came through. We had a new center on offense. Marcus Davis played a new position at tight end, and Kerry Williams gave us some good plays.”

They said it

“Both teams battled. They found adversity and fought back,” said East Wake coach John Poulnott. “You saw two great football teams fighting and realizing they had a chance to win the football game right through that last play.”

Three who mattered

Tripp Harrington, East Wake: The shifty Warriors quarterback ran for a touchdown and threw for another, totaling 277 yards from scrimmage, while exhibiting again why the Warriors’ offense is a threat to score on any play with No. 3 in the game.

Dijmon Harris, Garner: He was one of Garner’s big playmakers in a defense and special teams-dominated first half. The junior defensive back returned an East Wake fumble 53 yards for a touchdown and intercepted a pass that set up another Garner score.

Jaelun Dean, Garner: Senior defensive lineman finished with 3  1/2 sacks, the first of which forced the East Wake fumble that Harris returned for the touchdown.

By the numbers

6: Lead changes in the game.

95: Yards covered by East Wake’s Tyler Burton on his game-opening kick off return for a touchdown.

4: Missed extra points on the night, two by both teams.

6: Number of Greater Neuse River 4A Conference teams with one or two losses in the conference with three games left in the regular season.

1: Goal line stands on defense by Garner in the second half. Matthew Butler sacked Harrington on fourth-and-goal with East Wake up 20-16, keeping the Trojans within a score in the closing stages of the third quarter.

Looking ahead

The win moves Garner (6-2 overall) to 3-1 in the conference, along with West Johnston (4-4) and Knightdale (6-1). East Wake, Rolesville and Clayton are all 2-2 in the league.

All three one-loss squads meet each other over the final four weeks of the regular season. Garner meets Knightdale and West Johnston in the next two weeks.

“It is truly crazy,” Poulnott said of the conference race. “This league is truly closed in on one another and it’s anybody’s ball game.”

This story was originally published October 15, 2015 at 10:39 PM with the headline "Garner rallies to defeat East Wake football 29-26."