Corinth Holders football rolls by Western Harnett

Sometimes field position is overrated. It is on nights like Thursday, when Corinth Holders’ defensive front seven rectified any leeway given by its special teams, and its offense refused to be bottled up no matter how far the distance between the end zone and the line of scrimmage.

Corinth Holders’ 40-6 victory at Western Harnett looks good on paper.

It looks even better when considering four of the Eagles’ drives started in Corinth Holders territory. The Pirates did short, angled kickoffs after every score. But when Western started its drive past the 50, without fail, the first play of those drives went for major negative yardage – as little as minus-6 or as much as minus-20.

The Eagles’ only touchdown of the night came when Willie Lee ran one of those angled kickoffs back. Western did not make it into the red zone and had minus-15 yards of total offense.

“We stayed together, and it worked out good for us,” Pirates defensive end Trey Adams said. “Everybody just played their assignments.”

Conversely, Corinth had to start some of its drives backed up near its own end zone. But the Pirates, averaging almost 10 yards a carry (43 for 416 yards), hit enough home runs to negate that disadvantage. Speedster Kaelin O’Neal ripped a 59-yard touchdown run and Josiah Adams had one from 85 yards out.

They said it

“It was killing us on offense. We didn’t play bad defensively,” Western Harnett coach Jason Furrie said. “We had three blown assignments on three option plays, and that’s why they run the option.”

Turning point

Western Harnett had stopped Corinth on 4th-and-goal with seconds left until halftime, which held the Pirates’ halftime lead to just 14-0.

“We need to start a little faster. That’s been a problem,” Corinth Holders coach Bubba Williams said.

The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter – O’Neal found Johnavan Neal on a pass, followed by Lee’s kickoff return – but the back-breaker came on Adams’ 85-yard run on the first play after Corinth Holders received Western’s kickoff.

Three who mattered

Josiah Adams, Corinth Holders: Seven carries, 119 yards and two touchdowns.

Jordan Neal, Corinth Holders: Eight carries, 66 yards, one touchdown.

Kaelin O’Neal, Corinth Holders: Eight carries, 156 yards, one touchdown. Added 4 of 8 passing for 81 yards and a 18-yard touchown pass to Johnavan Neal.

By the numbers

416: Rushing yards by Corinth Holders.

Minus-24: Rushing yards by Western Harnett.

4: Number of drives Western Harnett started on Corinth’s side of the 50.

4: Number of times Western Harnett lost yardage on the first play of those drives.

This story was originally published October 23, 2015 at 1:37 AM with the headline "Corinth Holders football rolls by Western Harnett."