East Duplin 16, Wallace=Rose Hill 14

East Duplin scored a safety with 46.7 seconds left as the Panthers nipped rival Wallace-Rose Hill on Saturday.

The Bulldogs were attempting to punt from their own 17-yard line with the game tied at 14-14, but the snap sailed over the punter’s head and into the back of the end zone.

East Duplin then mustered a first down on its possession to seal their second consecutive win over Wallace-Rose Hill. The Panthers won last year 21-0. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 42-23-2.

The Panthers took a 7-0 on their first possession when Brayden Jones threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Nickolas Davis.

Wallace-Rose Hill’s Adrian Glover scored on a 33-yard run in the third to bring his team to within 7-6. The Panthers extended the lead to 14-6 in the third when Davis recovered the ball in the end zone after Noah LeBlanc fumbled at the 1-yard line following a 12-yard run.

In the fourth, Wallace-Rose scored on a safety and Glover scored on a 15-yard run to tie the game at 14-14.

LeBlanc ended with 18 tackles, three for loss, and a sack. Scott had eight tackles, James Matas had nine tackles and two sacks and Blake Shuddekopf had six tackles, including four for loss for the Panthers. 

East Duplin (1-0) visits Princeton next week while Wallace-Rose Hill (0-1) hosts Kinston. 

Jacksonville 49, West Carteret 0

Jacksonville scored early and often as the Cardinals opened with a victory at West Carteret on Saturday.

Amari Pearson got the scoring going when he got the ball from quarterback Isaiah Hilary and darted 35 yards for a touchdown. Josiah Benton made it 14-0 on a keeper.

Following a safety, Pearson scampered 45 yards for a touchdown to make it 22-0. Joshiah Jordan added a 50-yard scoring run and Benton followed with a 47-yard score.

Mikal White had a 10-yard touchdown catch from Hilary while Arlens Surin added a 55-yard score for the Cardinals, who have won seven consecutive games against West Carteret. The Patriots’ last win in the series was a 24-19 victory in the 2021 spring season.

The Cardinals lead the all-time series 26-7.

Jacksonville (1-0) hosts Northside next week while West Carteret (0-1) visits East Carteret. 

Croatan 50, East Carteret 0

Andrew Boucher scored two first-quarter touchdowns and Croatan never looked back in a season-opening win over East Carteret.

Boucher had early scoring runs of 4 and 37 yards as the Cougars built a 13-0 lead. He added a 35-yard run in the third to make it 40-0.

Quarterback Kannon McBride had two touchdown runs of five yards and added a short field goal while Robert Holmes added a 10-yard touchdown and Easton Lindquist had a 10-yard score late.

The Cougars (1-0) have won eight consecutive games against the Mariners (0-1), outscoring East Carteret 341-42 with five shutouts in that span. Croatan leads the all-time series 20-8.

Croatan visits Topsail next week while East Carteret hosts West Carteret. 

Topsail 20, Dixon 8

Aiden Tilley threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Luke Tranfaglia on the game’s opening possession and Lonnie Stowers added the two-point conversion, but that’s all the scoring Dixon mustered in a loss at Topsail on Thursday.

The score capped a 95-yard, 12-play drive. Tilley finished with 63 yards rushing on 14 carries. Topsail’s Kyle Albert rushed for 152 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries and had two interceptions as the Pirates avenged a 42-40 overtime loss to the Bulldogs last year.

Topsail leads the all-time series 27-8.

Dixon (0-1) hosts Beddingfield next week. Topsail (1-0) hosts Croatan next week.

Chris Miller can be contacted via email at cmiller@jdnews.com. Follow him on X @jdnsports.