Jacksonville 47, New Bern 6
Jacksonville is a talented football team, and when opponents make mistakes, the Cardinals make them pay.
New Bern never found a way to get untracked at Jacksonville to open Big Carolina 6A/7A Conference action. The Bears committed four turnovers and key penalties nullified two touchdowns while keeping Jacksonville drives alive.
Case in point, the Cardinals took a 7-0 lead on an Amari Pearson 4yard run. The drive was helped by back-to-back roughing the passer and pass interference calls.
Following a Jacksonville fumble recovery by SaRonn Thompson, the Cardinals scored on a 5-yard run by quarterback Josiah Benton. The drive was kept alive by a face mask call.
“Jacksonville is a very good football team, but I have to do a better job of getting my team and coaches prepared,” New Bern coach Terrance Saxby said.
Sammie Rogers had a pair of interceptions for the Cardinals. His first pick led to a 32 yard touchdown romp by Pearson for a 20-0 Jacksonville lead midway through the second quarter.
Pearson would finish the night with four touchdowns while Benton threw for two and Montez Jimenez scored on a short run.
Jacksonville (4-1, 1-0) led 26-6 at halftime and wasted no time adding to the score in the third period.
Dominic Williams returned the second half kickoff 63 yards to the 3 and Pearson punched it home on the next play just 21 seconds into the second half.
The lone score for New Bern (4-2, 0-1) was a 4-yard score by Karvin Magwood, his 19th of the year.
The Bears host White Oak next week while Jacksonville travels to J.H Rose.
Havelock 41, West Carteret 0
Havelock rebounded from a difficult loss to Croatan with a shutout at West Carteret in a Coastal 5A/6A Conference tussle.
The Rams (3-4, 2-1) played a solid game according to coach Brent Wooten.
“The biggest thing is the fact we had no turnovers and we committed just four penalties,” he said.
Michael Gatling once again led Havelock with four touchdowns, three rushing and one receiving. Quarterback Kaleb Montanye had plenty of time to find receivers, Wooten said.
“Our offensive line did a tremendous job in pass protection and our defensive line was just as impressive with their alignment and assignments,” he said.
This was the third time in six games the Patriots (2-4, 1-2) were held scoreless.
Havelock continues conference play next week at Dixon.
Pamlico 56, Jones Senior 22
In a Coastal Plains 1A/2A Conference opener, Pamlico used a 32-point second quarter to beat Jones Senior.
The Hurricanes have been dealing with the injury bug, but freshman Gavin Moody stepped up with 159 yards rushing and three scores.
“We started six freshmen tonight, and I am so proud of our guys showing up and playing with effort,” Pamlico coach Brandon Akins said.
Izmir Benjamin and Brayden Bujalski each had a pair of touchdowns as the Hurricanes improved to 2-4, 1-0.
Jones Senior (0-6, 0-1) plays at Southside next week while Pamlico will be at Northside-Pinetown.