High School Football: Jacksonville-Area Week 2 Roundup

Table of Contents

Jacksonville's Christian Constant runs for a big gain in the Cardinals' 48-6 win over White Oak on Friday night.

Croatan 20, West Craven 14

Croatan scored 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to rally past host West Craven on Saturday.

The Cougars trailed 14-0 after three quarters.

Alex Barnes rushes for 76 yards on 16 carries, including a 3-yard touchdown run for the Cougars. Caden Barnett added a 1-yard scoring run and Anthony Bentz had a 20-yard touchdown run for Croatan.

West Craven’s scores came when Taqundre Cherry threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Nihkel Rush and when Brayden Manley ran for a 1-yard touchdown.

Croatan (1-1) visits East Carteret on Friday while West Craven (0-1) plays host to New Bern.

Jacksonville 48, White Oak 6

Quarterback Josh Benton ran for 161 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries and threw for 91 yards and two more scores to lead Jacksonville to its 11th consecutive victory over White Oak.

Benton had a 17-yard touchdown run and a 90-yard score, both in the third quarter as the Cardinals extended their 20-0 lead at halftime to 48-0 entering the fourth quarter.

He also threw scoring passes 40 and five yards to Tristan Shapiro, the first coming with 24 seconds left in the second quarter.

Camren Rivera added 78 yards on four carries, including a 23-yard touchdown run, that gave Jacksonville a 6-0 lead with 8:44 left in the second quarter. Christian Constant added 71 yards on three carries, including an 18-yard scoring run. Andrew Spicer added a 29-yard fumble return for a touchdown for the Cardinals.

More:Jacksonville’s Noah Gibson, White Oak’s Amir Sanders square off as competitors after years as friends

White Oak’s score came when Nacerre Smith returned a fumble 85 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Vikings have not beaten the Cardinals since a 7-0 win on Oct. 28, 2011. Jacksonville’s win streak over White Oak includes two wins in 2019 and a 33-0 victory last season.

The Cardinals (2-0) have an open date next week and play host to West Carteret on Sept. 10. The Vikings (1-1) play host to Southwest next week.

New Hanover 34, Northside 7

Northside’s defense struck first, but was unable to maintain the momentum as the Monarchs fell to New Hanover to drop to 0-2.

Rashaun Brown returned a fumble 41 yards for a touchdown to give the Monarchs a 7-0 lead with 3:46 left in the second quarter. But the Wildcats responded when Caden Morton scored on a 54-yard touchdown run to make it 7-7 with 2:39 left until halftime.

New Hanover quarterback Isaac Moore, a transfer from Southwest, then scored a rushing touchdown with five seconds left to give his new team a 13-7 lead at halftime.

New Hanover’s RJ Simon returned the opening kickoff of the third quarter 95 yards for a touchdown to extend the Wildcats’ lead to 20-7. Brethan Barnhill added a 16-yard touchdown run and Devin Pellon returned a fumble for a score for New Hanover.

Northside (0-2) will next play at St. Pauls on Monday, Sept. 6 at 11 a.m. New Hanover (1-0) plays at Leesville Road next week. New Hanover defeated Northside 34-6 in 2017, 24-14 in 2018 and 28-21 in 2019.

Princeton 36, East Duplin 30

Princeton’s Christian Perris scored on a 69-yard touchdown run and added the ensuing two-point conversion with 6:49 left to help his team win at East Duplin.

The Panthers had taken a 30-28 lead in the third quarter when Nick Cavanaugh threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Avery Gaby.

Jaydon Brooks ran for 211 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries for Princeton. He had scoring runs of 80, 10 and 59 yards. Gaby finished with 163 yards rushing on 16 carries, adding rushing scores of 3 and 36 yards.

Drew Henderson added a 1-yard touchdown run and Darwin Bonilla had a 36-yard field goal that gave the Panthers a 17-14 lead entering halftime.

East Duplin (1-1) plays at Richlands next week. Princeton (2-0), which defeated East Duplin 22-15 in the winter season in February, plays host to Rosewood on Thursday.

More:From the vine to the line: East Duplin’s Jerson Ochoa ‘dependable’ on the vineyard and football field

South Lenoir 36, Swansboro 31

Swansboro fell short in another high-scoring game, this time dropping a game at South Lenoir.

The Pirates trailed 22-0 at halftime and 28-12 in the third quarter before getting to within five late. But the Pirates, who were coming off a 59-42 loss to East Carteret last week, couldn’t take the lead.

Trailing 22-0, the Pirates got on the board when Jace Wilkens took a screen pass and darted into the end zone for a touchdown with 6:17 left in the third quarter. Amare Caines then added a touchdown catch with 2:24 left in the third quarter to put Swansboro to within 22-12.

South Lenoir’s Robert Cobb answered with a 25-yard touchdown run to extend the Blue Devils’ lead to 28-12 with 10:54 left in the game.

Hunter Johnson threw for 197 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions for the Pirates. Caines had four catches for 45 yards and a touchdown while Danny Tod returned a kickoff 84 yards for a score and Isaiah Bromelle returned an interception for a touchdown for the Pirates.

Swansboro (0-2) visits North Brunswick next week. South Lenoir (2-0) plays at Midway next week. This was the first football meeting between Swansboro and South Lenoir since the Pirates defeated the Blue Devils 34-14 on Oct. 12, 2012.