Rolesville football passes its way past Enloe
A week after getting shut out by Heritage, the Rolesville football team got five touchdown passes from Carnaji Andrews in a 40-27 victory over visiting Enloe in a non-league game Thursday night.
Andrews connected three times for touchdowns with E.J. Hicks, including a 31-yard Hail Mary with 1.1 seconds remaining in the first half that put Rolesville (1-2) up 34-13. Andrews finished 13 of 23 passing for 276 yards, 233 of those yards coming in the first half for a Rams squad that lost 28-0 at Heritage in its previous contest.
Enloe (1-1) took a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.
After a Rolesville personal foul kept the Eagles’ opening drive going, Carleon Merritt made a couple of nifty moves on his way for a 53-yard touchdown run with 8 minutes, 17 seconds to go in the first quarter.
Rolesville, however, scored the next three touchdowns. Andrews found Hicks for a 40-yard touchdown pass to knot the score at 7 with 5:33 to go in the first quarter, tossed a 12-yard score to Andrew DeBernado early in the second quarter and then hit a wide-open Hicks for a 72-yard touchdown play with 5:15 remaining in the second quarter to give Rolesville a 20-7 lead.
The Rams’ final points came on a Jamond DuBose 22-yard touchdown run with 42.3 seconds left.
TURNING POINT
After Enloe’s Tyler Bonds scored on a 74-yard run to draw the Eagles within 20-13 with 4:28 to go in the second quarter, Enloe forced a punt on Rolesville’s ensuing possession, only for the Rams to recover a fumble on the return at the Enloe 14. Four plays later, Andrews tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kishawn Bobbitt to put Rolesville ahead 27-13 with 1:31 left in the second quarter. Enloe would get no closer than the final score.
THREE TO KNOW
Carnaji Andrews, Rolesville: On a night in which the Rams running game largely struggled, the senior quarterback came up big. He was 10-for-13 in the first half alone, mixing in some good short passes with a few nice deep balls.
E.J. Hicks, Rolesville: The speedy receiver hauled in four balls for 147 yards. On his 40-yard touchdown reception, Hicks caught the ball five yards from the line of scrimmage and then caught across the entire field to break into the clear for the tying score in the opening quarter.
Tyler Bonds, Enloe: The senior running back had 18 carries for 138 yards and a touchdown. The performance followed a 191-yard in a season-opening 58-35 victory at Bartlett Yancey on Aug. 19.
BY THE NUMBERS
3: Lost fumbles by Enloe.
5: Number of completions quarterback Carnaji Andrews opened the game with, those completions accounting for 110 yards.
7: Total number of Rolesville players with a reception. Hicks, William Lee and Chris Branch were the lone Rams with multiple receptions.
91 seconds: The amount of time it took Rolesville to score two touchdowns late in the second quarter, providing a cushion Enloe could not overcome.
This story was originally published September 1, 2016 at 10:32 PM with the headline "Rolesville football passes its way past Enloe."