East Duplin falls to West Craven (Full recap)

VANCEBORO — The East Duplin Panthers fell to the West Craven Eagles 34-29 in a game in which both offenses shined, and both defenses struggled.

It didn’t take long for West Craven to score the opening touchdown on Friday night, in fact, it took less than one minute and 30 seconds as the Eagles took over on offense at their own 40-yard line following the kickoff and quickly marched down the field to the 30-yard line where quarterback D.J. Davis took off and ran it in himself to give his team a 6-0 lead with 10:26 left in the first quarter.

East Duplin also began their drive at their own 40-yard, but as opposed to a fast-paced passing attack of the Eagles, the Panthers drove down the field with a methodical rushing attack that saw them inch their way down the field. Regardless of their method of attack though, the result was the same as Panthers quarterback Landen Bond finished off the drive with a one-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game at 6-6. The Panthers then failed on the extra-point attempt just as West Craven had done, so the game remained tied with 2:30 left in the first quarter.

To try to gain the ball back and steal the momentum of the game, the Panthers then elected to kick an onside kick. The attempt was recovered by East Duplin, but it was ruled not to have travelled 10 yards before a Panthers player touched it, so the West Craven offense took over at the East Duplin 49-yard line. Once again, the Eagles offense struck quickly and on third and two at the seven, Davis kept it himself again and ran the ball into the endzone for his second touchdown of the game. West Craven elected to go for a two-point conversion this time, but their attempt was unsuccessful, and so they led 12-6 with 10:36 remaining in the first half.

In a game that was full of offense, the Panthers quickly struck back when kick returner Coarey Smith returned the ball all the way back to the West Craven 37-yard line, and a few plays later, running back Aaron Hall ran the ball down the middle of the defense for a 27-yard touchdown run. This time the Panthers converted the extra point, and with 9:19 left in the first half, they led 13-12.

On the next West Craven possession, the Panthers finally earned their first stop of the game as the defensive line tipped Davis’ passes on third and five and then again on first and five to take over at West Craven 45-yard line. On just the second play of the drive though, Hall fumbled the ball, and the Eagles recovered taking over at their own 41-yard line. West Craven didn’t pass up the opportunity to score this time, and after marching down to the 37-yard line, Davis kept it himself again for his third rushing touchdown of the half. After another failed two-point conversion West Craven led 18-13.

After a kick out of bands, East Duplin began their next drive at their own 35-yard line, and after marching down the field, it looked as if a second drive in a row would come to an end for the Panthers as they faced fourth down and four at the Eagles 39-yard line. The Panthers coaching staff pulled something out of their bag of tricks though, and they called a reverse play in which Bond handed the ball to running back J.P. Murphy who then completed a pass to receiver Juan Benitez for a touchdown. Hall then converted the two-point conversion to give the Panthers a 21-18 lead which 2:35 left in the first half.

In the second half, East Duplin received the ball first but was forced to punt. Fortunately for the Panthers, they immediately forced an Eagles three and out, so they got the ball right back. This time they moved the ball down the field with ease all the way down from their own 30 to the West Craven five-yard. Unfortunately for the Panthers though, they were not able to capitalize on the drive as on third and goal, Bond fumbled a snap, and the ball was recovered by West Craven.

Things went from bad to worse for the Panthers as on the very next play, Davis scored his fourth rushing touchdown of the game on an incredible 95-yard touchdown run, and after completing a two-point conversion the Eagles now led 26-21.

When the Panthers got back on offense, they started their next drive at their own 44-yard line, and after only picking up four yards in three downs, they were facing a 4th and six at their own 48-yard line. Instead of punting though, the East Duplin coaching staff decided to try and run another trick play, and they went for a fake punt. The punter was tackled about two yards short of the first down marker though, and West Craven took over possession at their own 49-yard line.

The explosive West Craven offense quickly marched down the field after the turnover on downs, and on third and three at the Panthers 17-yard line, Davis scored his fifth rushing touchdown of the game. After a successful two-point conversion, the Eagles led 34-21 with 11:48 left in the game.

Down 13, the Panthers continued to fight, and after receiving the ball at their own 32, they marched all the way down the field, and fullback Allen Stukes finished off the drive with eight-yard touchdown run. After a successful two-point conversion, the Panthers now trailed just 34-29 with 4:18 left in the game.

The problem for the Panthers though was the same one they had the whole game: they couldn’t find a way to stop the Eagles offense (and in particular Davis), and West Craven marched all the way down the field burning the remainder of the time on the clock to win by a final score of 34-29.

With the loss, East Duplin fell to 1-1 while West Craven improved to 2-0 with the win.

The Panthers will play again on Friday at 7 p.m. when they take on the Richlands Wildcats at home.