Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 84F. Winds light and variable..

Some clouds. Low 68F. Winds light and variable.

HOLLY RIDGE – New Panther quarterback Zack Brown couldn’t have had a better opening performance.

In the Wing-T, ED’s experienced running backs were more like sprinters mega-seconds before breaking into the clear.

And that was just the offense since the Panthers defense had far more than it needed in a 49-0 win over Dixon last Friday on a rain-soaked field.

Yet this game was more of a prep for Friday night’s clash with Princeton on artificial turf of the Johnston County school, which edged ED in each of the past two seasons.

More about the physical showtime confrontation after recapping the warm-up in Holly Ridge.

Brown, who played as a defensive back last season and takes over for three-year starter Nick Cavanaugh, hit rugged tight end Jesse Clinesmith with a 36-yard strike. In the second quarter, the junior added TD tosses to Teyshawn Hall for 23 yards and Chase Whitley for 21 yards.

Duplin Elite’s first-team running back Avery Gaby chipped in with scores from 65 and 13 yards as ED breezed to a 35-0 halftime advantage.

But Brown hitting on 4 of 7 for 94 yards was the accent to an offense that has pumped out big running plays and points the last two seasons.

Gaby needed just seven totes to compile 145 yards. Elam Lam (4-68) and Nizaya Hall (6-55) likewise had highly efficient yards for their limited carries.

Moore hit paydirt from 43 yards in the third and Hall added a 5-yard score as ED ran for 344 yards. The biggest worry, though, was ED’s eight penalties that totaled 80 yards.

“I thought we played well under the (weather) conditions,” said 12th-year Panther head coach Battle Holley. “We were ready to play. We executed pretty well, but found some things we need to fix. We had two or three late holding calls and a couple off-side flags that need to be addressed.”

Yet the Panthers’ defense made a statement of its own in limiting Dixon to 249 yards of total offense, with just 26 on the ground.

“We went after the ball well but can do it better,” said ED defensive coordinator Seth Sandlin. “We definitely need to do a better job of tackling.”

Dixon’s Brandon Tozier hit on 11 of 16 passes for 97 yards and Jake Howard rushed for 79 yards via two plays. But that was insignificant during the blowout.

Princeton lost 35-31 to Smithfield-Selma last Friday, a school it whipped 42-21 a season ago. Those blue and gold Bulldogs posted an 11-2 mark, falling to state 2A runnerup Wallace-Rose Hill 34-25 in the 2A East Region final.

Earlier last season, Princeton slipped past the Panthers 36-30 in Beulaville. ED went on to win an ECC title by going unbeaten in league play, topping WRH 24-21 early in the conference season. The Panthers were eliminated by WRH in the third round by 24-21.

Princeton won the 2020 game 22-15 in Princeton. Yet both games were tossups for both schools as the margin of victory was razor thin. Those are the only previous games between the schools.

Princeton head coach Travis Gaster is the son of coaching legend Jack Gaster, who won back-to-back state titles at Albemarle, including a couple over Holley’s father, Jack, who is second all-time in wins in North Carolina after having the top spot for about 15 seasons.

Princeton lost an extremely solid QB and RB, but returns enough to cause havoc for the opposition in Christian Perris (1,961 yards, 31 TDs last fall) and Brandon Turner (712 yards, 11 TDs).

Yet the biggest push may come from two-way lineman Jake Crocker, a 6-6, 300 pounder.

“I think he’s their best player,” Sandlin said. “I think handling him is key, as is (ED) not over-running a play. Last year our pursuit got us in trouble.

“That’s a great program with community support. We have to eliminate big plays. I see no difference between turf and our surface.”

The biggest difference is that Princeton runs the Single-Wing offense that few teams use in the pass-happy state of prep football. ED counters with a similarly tough-to-figure Wing-T.

“That’s why it’s so important to have our scout team be as much in position as possible in practice,” Holley said. “We need to get the reads we will see.”

The big and physical front line works its way into a rugby-like scrum and finding what player the ball is hiked to becomes a huge concern. The Wing-T has similar misdirection tactics.

Make no mistake: the Panthers want both revenge after losing a pair of contests where victory was a play away.

Michael Jaenicke can be reached at mjaenicke@apgenc.com

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