Mostly sunny. High 84F. Winds light and variable..
Mainly clear skies. Low 61F. Winds light and variable.
Greene Central’s Wilkes Thomas fires a pass downfield during the first quarter Friday against North Pitt. Thomas went 9-for-12 through the air for 173 yards and three touchdowns in the Rams’ win.
Greene Central's Jonathon Willis (2) celebrates with Jaylen Wynn, right, after his 61-yard touchdown reception during the second quarter of Friday's win over North Pitt.
Greene Central head coach Jay Wilson speaks with the team following Friday's 48-6 win over North Pitt.
Greene Central's Jamari Coppage (3) powers his way into the end zone against a pair of North Pitt defenders during the first quarter Friday. Coppage finished the game with four touchdowns to help lead the Rams to a 48-6 win.
Greene Central’s Wilkes Thomas fires a pass downfield during the first quarter Friday against North Pitt. Thomas went 9-for-12 through the air for 173 yards and three touchdowns in the Rams’ win.
Greene Central's Jonathon Willis (2) celebrates with Jaylen Wynn, right, after his 61-yard touchdown reception during the second quarter of Friday's win over North Pitt.
Greene Central head coach Jay Wilson speaks with the team following Friday's 48-6 win over North Pitt.
Greene Central's Jamari Coppage (3) powers his way into the end zone against a pair of North Pitt defenders during the first quarter Friday. Coppage finished the game with four touchdowns to help lead the Rams to a 48-6 win.
BETHEL — Greene Central continued its historic start to the season with a 48-6 rout of North Pitt on the road Friday night in both teams’ Eastern Plains 2A Conference football opener.
Following four wins in as many games in non-conference play, the Rams did not slow down in EPC play, moving to 5-0 for just the second time in program history.
Defense set the tone early in Friday’s victory, as Greene Central held the host Panthers to minus-14 yards in the opening half on its way to taking a 40-0 lead into the intermission.
“I’m a defensive coach, I call the defensive plays, so we really hang our hat on defense,” Greene Central head coach Jay Wilson said. “We know that great defense really stimulates the offense.”
The stout defense gave the Rams’ offense plenty of chances to score, while also adding a touchdown itself, as the visitors scored touchdowns on five of their seven first-half possessions.
After the teams traded punts in their opening drives, Greene Central broke the scoreless tie on its second drive late in the first quarter.
The Rams went 34 yards in eight plays, with the key play being a Jamari Coppage two-yard plunge to move the chains on a fourth-and-two from the 26-yard line.
Coppage eventually capped the drive with an eight-yard touchdown run, finding a hole on the left end of the line to put the away side in front 6-0 with 1:46 left in the opening quarter.
For the Rams senior, the score was the first of four on the night, as Coppage finished with two rushing TDs, one receiving touchdown and also took an interception to the house.
The Panthers’ ensuing drive ended on a turnover on downs near midfield, and Greene Central eventually faced a third-and-20 from its own 39-yard line.
Wilkes Thomas then dropped back and hit Jonathon Willis open over the middle, and Wilson cut to the near sideline and outran the defense for a 61-yard touchdown.
Coppage added the two-point conversion run to give the Rams a 14-0 advantage 52 seconds into the second quarter.
North Pitt’s next drive did not fare any better, as another four-and-out led to a five-play, 49-yard drive for the away side.
A one-yard quarterback sneak by Thomas finished off the drive to give the Rams a three-score lead nearing the midway point of the second quarter.
The ensuing drive saw the Panthers go three-and-out, and they lined up to punt from their own 26-yard line.
Instead, a high snap sailed over the punter’s head and was eventually tracked down at the 1-yard line.
Coppage paid off the terrific field position with a 1-yard run, and a two-point conversion stretched Greene Central’s lead to 28-0 with just under five minutes left in the half.
Late in the first half, a pair of touchdowns in the span of 17 seconds sent the Rams into the break with a 40-point lead.
First, it was a 51-yard passing connection between Thomas and Coppage, before Coppage picked off a Famous Wilson pass and took it 50 yards to the house on the Panthers’ first play following the kickoff.
Greene Central had excellent field position to start its first drive of the third quarter following another special teams mishap by the home side.
The Rams started at the 24-yard line, and five players later Thomas and Willis connected for their second score of the night, this time a 6-yard pitch and catch to start the running clock with 5:54 left in the third.
North Pitt (1-3) got on the board on its first play after the kickoff on a 50-yard touchdown pass by Wilson to bring the final score to 48-6.
Greene Central finished with a 206-63 edge in total yards, as Thomas led the offense with 173 passing yards and three touchdowns on 9-for-12 passing, with 82 yards going to Willis and 79 to Coppage.
The win avenged a 42-12 defeat the Panthers handed Greene Central on their home field last season.
Despite the historic start to the season, Wilson and the Rams know they are far from done.
“I want to remind them that we are setting history, but at the same time it’s week to week,” Wilson said. “We have what we call the 24-hour rule. This time tomorrow, so 9:10 on Saturday night, we’ve gotta wipe this out and we’ve gotta get ready for SouthWest Edgecombe.
Greene Central continues EPC play next week when it hosts SouthWest Edgecombe, while North Pitt visits North Johnston for a non-conference tilt.
The Rampants (4-1) outlasted the Cardinals in Jacksonville in a back-and-forth affair to open Big Carolina Conference play.
Brandon Sanders scored from close range to pad Rose’s lead back to 28-19 in a see-saw third quarter. As it did most of the night, Jacksonville stormed back down the field and promptly scored to make it 28-26.
Rose quarterback Will Taylor then fired a TD to Kenderius Geddis to swing the momentum back to the visitors for good and make it a 34-26 lead in the fourth.
Rose grabbed a touchdown in the final minute of the first half on a Taylor scoring strike to Malachi Keyes made it 21-12 at the break.
But the Cardinals stormed back with a touchdown to open the third and make it 21-19.
In a clash of unbeaten teams, the Saints left little doubt, breaking wide open a game they led just 12-10 at halftime, scoring three unanswered touchdowns in the third quarter to build a 34-10 edge on the way to an easy win.
A Saints (5-0) turnover led to the first touchdown of the game and a 10-0 RMA lead in the first quarter.
John Paul II not only countered with 12 points – on a pair of Brody Mitchell quarterback sneaks – to take the lead at the intermission, but piled on three straight scores in the third. Those included Keiveon Moore’s scoring run and a long TD stroll by Rion Roseborough, who added another score late in the game.
A week after battling to a close loss against Beddingfield, the Chargers were without a spark in a listless loss to West Craven.
The Chargers fell to 0-5 on the season.
After building a comfortable halftime lead, West Craven began pulling away in the second half, reaching the final score of 37-2 by the midway point of the third quarter.
The Jaguars scored an important road win in their Eastern Plains 2A opener.
Farmville built the lead by which it won in the third quarter after first scoring to make it 22-14 and then recovering an onside kick to get the ball back.
The Jaguars host Ayden-Grifton next week.
A week after scoring its first win of the season, and just a few days removed from first-year coach Kendrick Parker stepping down, the Falcons had a long night against Northside.
Further details were not available at press time.
The J.H. Rose girls’ tennis team continued its strong start to the season, moving to 3-1 with a sweep of visiting Havelock Thursday afternoon.
Leading the way for the Rampants were a trio of players who recorded 6-0, 6-0 wins in singles action in Edie Yount (No. 1), Virginia Blount (No. 4), and Christine Carter (No. 5).
At No. 2 singles, Dabney Osborne won 6-1, 6-0, while Cecelia Batton won her No. 3 singles 6-1, 6-1, and Vita Varney won 6-2, 6-1 in the No. 6 singles match.
In doubles action, Bella Dameron and Katie Satterfield teamed up to win the No. 1 match 8-1.
Also picking up 8-1 wins in doubles were Lily Walker and Lila Harris (No. 2) and the duo of Bergan Osborne and Elizabeth Perry (No. 3).
J.H. Rose returns to the court Tuesday when it visits Jacksonville.
D.H. Conley returned home from New Bern with a 25-18, 25-19, 25-16 sweep following Thursday’s BCC match.
Kylah Silver paced the Vikings at the net with 12 kills, followed by Reagan Kresho’s nine, Britni Silver’s eight to go along with a pair of blocks, and Maddie Vestal’s five kills and three blocks.
Leading the offense for Conley, which moved to 6-4 with the victory, was Mallie Blizzard with 33 assists.
The Vikings continue BCC play on the road Tuesday when they visit South Central.
The Vikings went on the road and secured a dominant sweep of New Bern Thursday, winning 25-5, 25-4 to move to 6-3 on the year.
Leading Conley in the win were Riley McGalliard, Skylar Phelps and Paige Money with three aces apiece, while McGalliard added 12 assists.
At the net, Sydney Carden finished with four kills and Autumn Dukawicz chipped in three kills.
On Tuesday, the Vikings will hit the road again to face South Central.
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