ELIZABETHTOWN – Senior Ethan Hines rushed for 242 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead East Bladen to a 28-14 victory over Heide Trask on Senior Night Friday at East.
“He would have had over 300 yards if they hadn’t called that one back,” said Eagle Coach Robby Priest. “I like our running game. It’s getting better. Ethan and Xavier (Wooten) ran hard, and the line is blocking better now.”
The visiting Titans took the opening kick-off and ground out a 68-yard, 14-play drive that consumed 8 and a half minutes of clock time. Sophmore B. J. Jordan scored from 5 yards out on a fourth-and-goal play. Junior Fernando Aldama booted the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
The Eagles answered with a 58-yard drive in 10 plays. Ethan Hines ignited the drive with an 18-yard dash, then ended the quarter with runs of 8 and 11 yards.
Wooten plowed through the line and scored standing up from 5 yards out. Sophmore Pierce Melvin tied the game 7-7 with his extra point kick with 10:43 left in the half.
Jordan grabbed the Eagle kick-off before it bounced out-of-bounds and returned it 65 yards, before Eagle senior Eian Hines ran him down, knocked the ball loose and recovered it at the East Bladen 15 yardline.
The Eagles embarked on another long clock-eating drive, moving 67 yards in 13 plays. Ethan Hines ripped off runs of 10, 15 and 15 yards during the drive, and sophmore quarterback Quinton Bedsole fired a 17-yard pass to senior Michael Walter. However the drive was stopped on downs at the Trask 18 yardline.
East Bladen opened the second half with a 64-yard, 10-play drive. Ethan Hines carried 5 times for 34 yards during the drive, and Wooten toted the ball 4 times for 26 yards. Wooten banged through the left side, crashed through a tackle and scored from 10 yards out for a 14-7 Eagle lead after Melvin tacked on the extra point with 6:37 remaining in the period.
The Titans answered with a 60-yard drive in 11 plays. Jordan circled left end for 26 yards, and quarterback Tyrease Armstrong charged through the line from 3 yards out for the touchdown. Aldama’s conversion tied the game 14-14 with 41 seconds left in the quarter.
Back came the Eagles with a 70-yard, 9-play drive. Ethan Hines picked up 24 yards on 4 carries, before breaking loose on a 30-yard touchdown run where he spun through 3 defenders at the 10 yardline then blasted through 2 more at the goalline. Melvin split the uprights for a 21-14 lead with 8:30 on the clock.
Trask’s Brandon Anderson returned the short kick-off 18 yards to the Eagle 49. The Titans moved to the East 29, but a fourth down pass fell incomplete to end the threat.
On the next play Ethan Hines squirted through the line and sprinted away from the defense on a 71-yard touchdown run. Melvin nailed his fourth straight extra point for a 28-14 lead at the 3:57 mark.
East Bladen junior Bernard Robinson blew up an attempted reverse pass by the Titans and dropped the runner for a 9-yard loss on the next Trask possession. The Titans were stopped on downs at their own 48.
Ethan Hines’ apparent 48-yard touchdown run on the next play was nullified by a holding penalty, but the Eagles ran out the clock 2 plays later.
Wooten finished with 59 yards and 2 touchdowns on 17 carries. The Eagles piled up a 315-158 advantage in rushing yards and a 332-177 edge in total yards.
“Not a bad birthday present,” said Coach Priest who celebrated his birthday on Veterans Day. “I think we just wore them down with our size, but that is a hard offense to prepare for with all those inside hand-offs. You can’t find the ball.”
Honored before the game were 12 Eagle seniors- Kyle Tatum, Aaron Laforte, Eian Hines, Ethan Hines, Terrance Southern, C. J. Murphy, Nick Collins, Michael Walter, Derrick Burney, Giordan Graham, John Dean Alsup and Tim Blanks.
East Bladen improved to 7-4 with the victory and will wait Saturday for the NCHSAA Class 2A Play-off pairings to find out where they will be playing next Friday.
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