Football roundup: Chargers drop OT loss on tough night for locals

LITTLEFIELD — While Ayden-Grifton’s football team could have used one more completion or one more play down the stretch in a wild, back-and-forth game Friday night, no one – especially coach Paul Cornwell – could take issue with the Chargers’ effort.

Ayden-Grifton fell 34-28 in overtime to Wilson Prep in a game that featured a plethora of late drama.

“We played maybe one of the most talented teams we’ll see all year,” Cornwell said. “This group is tougher, they’re physical, we’re getting there, we’re still taking baby steps as part of the process – all those cliches – but we showed the fight tonight that we need to be able to compete.

“The only way I could be prouder of them is if we had won the game in the end.”

Trailing 20-14, not having scored since midway through the first quarter, Ayden-Grifton rediscovered its offensive touch. The Chargers’ Zimere Nelson took a short pass from quarterback Nate Brooks, made two defenders miss and ran the last 40 yards untouched for a 44-yard touchdown. But the point-after attempt failed to keep the score tied at 20.

Three plays later, the Chargers pounced on a Wilson Prep fumble to put the offense back in business with 4:57 to play. After starting the drive with a 34-yard pass from Brooks to Connor Loftin, they later faced a fourth-and-9 at the Wilson Prep 15 with 2:58 remaining.

Brooks then found senior tight end Jack Ewell – who had not touched the ball on offense since Ayden-Grifton’s first offensive play from scrimmage – for a 14-yard touchdown pass. The two then connected again on the conversion attempt to put the Chargers up 28-20.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Cornwell said. “We talked about it at halftime. We answered. We found a way to answer. We’ve had teams that wouldn’t have. This one found a way. They just kept playing. That’s all I asked them to do.”

Two plays after Wilson Prep recovered an onside kick, quarterback Ethan Nelson found Nasir Vines downfield for a 45-yard touchdown. After calling timeout to set up a two-point conversion play the Tigers needed to tie the game again, Nelson ran behind an overload of blockers on the left side of the line to push his way into the end zone to make it 28-28.

Ayden-Grifton (0-1), with 1:47 to play in regulation, was driving down the field again following a couple of completions for first downs. But with a minute to go, Brooks was sacked and fumbled, which was recovered by Wilson Prep at the Chargers 45.

Two plays later, Ewell intercepted Nelson in the waning seconds of regulation. With six seconds left, Ayden-Grifton got a pass-interference penalty to gain 15 yards and another 25-yard pass play from Brooks to Nygel Morgan, but Morgan was tackled at the Wilson Prep 16 as regulation time expired.

In overtime, Wilson Prep needed a yard on fourth down on its first possession, and got it as Vines pushed through the pile up the middle for the score. But Ayden-Grifton’s defense held the Tigers’ Xavier Williams out of the end zone on the ensuing conversion attempt to keep the score at 34-28.

The Chargers responded with a 1-yard loss, an incompletion trying to find Ewell and another incompletion on their overtime possession to set up fourth down from the Wilson Prep 11.

On the play, Brooks avoided the rush, eventually rolled right to buy some more time and saw EJ Ruffin running to the right side of the end zone. The problem for Ayden-Grifton was that two Wilson Prep defenders blanketed Ruffin in coverage.

Brooks’ pass attempt fell incomplete, ending the game.

Brooks finished the game 17-for-30 passing for 244 yards and two touchdowns. Morgan hauled in six passes for 93 yards. The Chargers’ defense intercepted two Wilson Prep passes and recovered three fumbles.

“In the fourth quarter, when we had to make some plays, we did,” Cornwell said. “We came up a little bit short again. That’s a really good football team. Talent-wise, they’re as good as anybody.”

On the second play from scrimmage, Ruffin sacked Nelson, stripped Nelson of the ball and ran 29 yards untouched for a touchdown and a quick 6-0 lead.

After holding Wilson Prep, Ayden-Grifton’s offense went 62 yards in eight plays, capped by a 4-yard touchdown run by Ruffin. Brooks ran in the two-point conversion to pad the advantage to 14.

The Chargers’ Carter Phelps intercepted a pass by Wilson Prep’s Travon Usher, only to fumble it back to the Tigers on the next play. Usher then ripped off a 39-yard run and followed with a 7-yard dash into the end zone, then added the conversion run to cut Ayden-Grifton’s lead to 14-8.

The Tigers were poised to tie or even take the lead late in the first half. A 51-yard yard pass from Usher to Manny Dickens put the ball on the Chargers 1, but Usher fumbled the ball on the goal line on the next play as Ayden-Grifton’s defense swarmed onto the loose ball.

In spite of the loss, Cornwell sees building blocks for his young team, and it starts with the effort the Chargers put forth.

“I think, if you learn how to play and have those high expectations to battle for 48 minutes, then that fixes a lot of things,” he said. “Hard, consistent football for 48 minutes.

“We’re getting closer. We’re getting there every day. I think tonight helped us see that all the hard work and effort, even if we didn’t win the game, is putting us in the right direction.”

New Hanover 13, J.H. Rose 7

Two teams bent on opening the season with a win produced a stalemate for much of the first half on opening night, but New Hanover connected for passing touchdowns late in the first half and again in with 3:02 to play in the third quarter to take a 13-0 lead.

But Rose wasn’t done yet.

The Rampants, after multiple turnovers on downs and an interception, manufactured a scoring drive. Senior running back Tevin Council finally broke through with a 23-yard scoring run to put Rose back in the game, 13-7, with 9:07 to play.

Then the Rampant defense stifled multiple New Hanover drives in the fourth, but an incomplete Rose pass on fourth down with 2:36 to play turned the ball over a final time and New Hanover ran out the clock.

Laney 21, D.H. Conley 17

The Vikings drove the field in the fourth quarter on Friday night in Wilmington with a chance to win the game, but the host Bucs kept the visitors out of the end zone to preserve an opening-night win.

Conley took the lead, 17-14, midway through the third quarter on a three-yard scoring run by Elijah Taft.

The Conley defense then stood tall and forced a punt to take to the game to the fourth quarter with the Vikings still leading. Later in the fourth, an interception by junior Dallas Carmon with 7:05 left kept Laney out of sorts for the moment.

But the Bucs imposed their will and scored a late touchdown for the 21-17 lead by which they won.

The Vikings then pieced together a late drive of their own, going with a pass-heavy attack.

Sophomore quarterback Samari Cabell threw for a first down to Owen Sumerlin who had multiple grabs on the drive down to the Laney 30 with 1:56 to play. Then Cabell ran for another first down, but the drive stalled.

North Pitt 34, Martin 32

The Panthers won a wild one to open the season on Friday night in Williamston, overturning one last Martin lead late in the fourth for a two-point lead and the win.

North Pitt fell behind 6-0 after one quarter thanks to a Jy’sen Shepherd touchdown pass, then came to life for a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter. The problem was the Gators piled in three more TDs in that period and held a 26-14 edge at the half.

But the Panthers were far from done, outscoring the Gators by 20-6 in the third quarter to steal the lead for good, then fending off the hosts in what proved to be a scoreless fourth quarter.

Martin never quit in the third, clinging to one last 32-28 edge before North Pitt’s decisive score.

The NP defense got a late interception to seal the win.

South Central 34, Kinston 7

South Central opened the season with a convincing win over Kinston for the second consecutive season on Friday night.

Further details were not available.

South Central hosts Franklinton next Friday.

Greene Central 25, North Lenoir 0

The Rams cruised to a shutout victory on opening night on the road in LaGrange.

The win came thanks to 18 unanswered points by Greene Central in the second half after building a slim 7-0 edge at the half on a Dejuan Cobb 24-yard scoring run.

GC hosts Kinston next week.