Northside 46, Croatan 11

Rahlai Anderson rushed for 218 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries as Northside won the battle of Coastal 5-A/6-A Conference unbeatens with a home victory over Croatan.

Zion Jones added 124 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries and junior Reginald Gray III completed eight of 11 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown.

The Monarchs also forced three turnovers as seniors Matthew Smoot and Evan Wanga each had interceptions in the end zone in the first half while senior Kaiden Bell picked off a pass in the third quarter.

Northside outgained Croatan 519 to 243.

Northside (6-0, 2-0) hosts West Carteret next week while Croatan (6-1, 2-1) hosts Richlands. 

Jacksonville 47, New Bern 6

Amari Pearson scored four touchdowns as Jacksonville earned a lopsided home win over New Bern to open Big Carolina 6-A/7-A Conference play.

Pearson got the Cardinals on the board with a 5-yard touchdown run. Josiah Benton scored on a 5-yard run and Pearson added a 32-yard touchdown to make it 20-0 in the second quarter.

Montez Jimenez added a rushing touchdown, and Hilary found Pearson for a 35-yard score. Sammie Rogers IV had two interceptions and SaRonn Thompson had a fumble recovery that led to a score.

Jacksonville (4-1, 1-0) visits J.H. Rose next week while New Bern (4-2, 0-1) hosts White Oak. 

East Duplin 37, Southwest 0

Esiah Bennerman rushed for 112 yards on nine carries and Noah LeBlanc scored three touchdowns in East Duplin’s win at Southwest in the East Central 3-A/4-A Conference opener.

LeBlanc ended with 92 yards on 14 carries, scoring on runs of 6, 2 and 34 yards. Keeshon Mckinnie added 92 yards on nine carries, scoring on a 53-yard run in the third quarter.

Brayden Jones threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Darwin Bonilla for the Panthers, who added a safety.

East Duplin (5-1, 1-0) visits Trask next week while Southwest (1-5, 0-1) visits Pender. 

Swansboro 35, Dixon 19

Swansboro snapped a three-game skid against Dixon as the Pirates fought off the Bulldogs in Coastal 5-A/6-A Conference action.

The Pirates put the game away with Eric Gonzales’ 50-yard rushing touchdown and Markis Sam’s late interception.

The Bulldogs trailed 28-7, but got a 15-yard rushing touchdown by Lonnie Stoweers and an 8-yard score by Aiden Tilley to get within 28-19. Stowers also had a 2-yard touchdown that tied the game at 7-7.

Carmello Beasley’s touchdown gave Swansboro a 7-0 lead. Sam gave the Pirates q 14-7 lead with a 50-yard kickoff return for a score while Austin Zoeckler found Gavin Hassek for a touchdown and Gavin Jones added a score.

Camerson Nilson connected on all five extra point kicks.

Swansboro (6-1, 2-1) has an open date next week before it visits Havelock on Oct. 16 while Dixon (2-4, 0-2) hosts Havelock next week. 

Liberty Christian 28, Community Christian 16

Eddie Deptola rushed for three touchdowns and threw for another as Liberty Christian earned a victory at Community Christian.

Deptola added two two-point conversions while John Hansley had a touchdown reception. Daniel Canales had an interception and fumble recovery, Noah Horne and Caleb Malpass each had forced fumbles and Eli Arnette had a sack.

The Heat earned its second win over Community Christian as it won the first meeting 44-0 on Aug. 28.

Liberty Christian (5-0) has an open dtate next week and hosts Sandhills Classical Christian on Oct. 16 while Community Christian (2-4) hosts Father Capodanno next week. 

D.H. Conley 35, White Oak 14

Host White Oak was outscored 21-0 in the second half in a Big Carolina 6-A/7-A Conference defeat to D.H. Conley.

White Oak took an 8-0 lead when Elliott Pineda returned an interception 78 yards for a touchdown before the team converted on the two-point conversion. Tony Hendricks then tied the game at 14-14 in the second quarter on a 40-yard touchdown run.

White Oak (2-3, 0-1) visits New Bern next week while D.H. Conley (5-1, 1-0) hosts South Central. 

Northside-Pinetown 45, Lejeune 7

Lejeune pulled within 14-7 late in the first quarter, but couldn’t draw closer as the host Devilpups opened Coastal Plains 1-A/2-A Conference play with a loss to Northside-Pinetown.

Grady Mahaffey’s 60-yard touchdown run cut the Panthers’ lead in half. However, Northside-Pinetown’s Anthony West answered with touchdown runs of 30 and 14 yards.

Lejeune (1-4, 0-1) visits East Carteret next week while Northside-Pinetown (6-0, 1-0) hosts Pamlico.

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