03/28/2024
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East Bladen High SchoolAfter a lightning delay of more than an hour, East Bladen’s Eagles rolled to a 48-0 halftime lead en route to a 54-10 non-conference football victory at St. Pauls Friday night.

Once the teams took the field shortly after 8:30 p.m., the Eagles quickly took charge as junior Michael Walter tackled the Bulldog quarterback for a 12-yard loss and forced a punt.

East Bladen overcame two penalties and moved 50 yards in 6 plays to take a 7-0 lead. Junior Eian Hines dashed 49 yards to the Bulldog one yard line on a counter play. After a couple of procedure penalties, senior Nikita Owens banged through the middle from 6 yards out for the touchdown. Junior Jesus Ramos booted the extra point with 7 minutes left in the quarter.

The Eagle defense forced another 3-and-out, and the offense responded with a 50-yard drive in just 4 plays. Again the Eagles overcame two penalties on the drive. “Trying to keep our focus after that delay was the hard part,” said East Bladen Coach Robby Priest.

Junior Ethan Hines had a 49-yard scoring run called back by an illegal block, but on the next play his brother Eian darted 40 yards for the touchdown. Ramos converted the point for a 14-0 lead with 3:21 on the first quarter clock.

The Bulldogs did manage to pick up two first downs on their next possession before an intentional grounding penalty led to St. Pauls turning the ball over on downs at the Bulldog 47.

Ethan Hines broke free for runs of 12 and 15 yards to spark the 47-yard scoring drive that ended when senior quarterback Tyquan McMillian flipped a 5-yard touchdown pass to Owens. Ramos tacked on the point for a 21-0 lead 52 seconds into the second period.

The Eagles were stopped on downs at the St. Pauls 46 on their next possession, but 4 plays later, Owens picked off a Bulldog pass and returned it 22 yards to the Bulldog 35 yard line.

East Bladen struck quickly as McMillian hurled a 29 yard pass to sophomore Sincere Smith. Owens gained 5 yards, before Eian Hines barreled into the end zone from a yard out for the touchdown. Ramos added the extra point for a 28-0 Eagle lead with 5:02 left in the half.

On the first play of the next Bulldog possession, Eagle junior defensive back Kyle Tatum picked off a pass and bolted 50 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. Ramos nailed the conversion for a 35-0 lead at the 4:47 mark.

The next Bulldog possession ended when East Bladen senior Chris Cromartie blocked a St. Pauls punt and recovered the ball at the Bulldog 19. Four plays later Ethan Hines scooted 4 yards for the touchdown, and Ramos kicked the extra point for a 42-0 lead with 1:40 on the first half clock.

On the second play of the next St. Pauls possession, a high snap sailed over the quarterback, and Cromartie recovered the ball just inside the back line of the end zone for the touchdown. The Eagles took a knee on the conversion for a 48-0 halftime lead.

Ethan Hines fielded the second half kick-off, veered right and galloped 76 yards for the final East Bladen touchdown. Another knee on the conversion kept the score at 54-0.

The Eagle reserves played almost all of the second half which was played with a running clock due to the 40-point lead rule. St. Pauls did manage to gain 91 yards of second-half offense after being held to minus four yards in the first half.

A high snap in a punting situation led to the Eagle punter being trapped in the end zone for a safety with 7:18 left in the game.

Following the free kick, a 27-yard pass from sophomore Tommy Jackson to sophomore Noah Wheeler put the Bulldogs on the Eagle one yard line. Jackson lunged the final yard for the touchdown, then fired a 2-point conversion pass to Michael Barnes for the final points.

There was only time left for the kick-off and one Eagle knee before the game ended.

Eian Hines finished with 106 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns on just 8 carries. Ethan Hines rushed 10 times for 68 yards and a touchdown and also had the 76-yard kick-off return touchdown.

Owens rushed for a touchdown and caught a pass for another touchdown. Cromartie blocked a punt to set up a touchdown and recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown. Tatum’s interception return gave the Eagles two defensive touchdowns.

“We scored in every phase of the game,” said Coach Priest. “Defense, offense, special teams. That was something that we had talked about coming into tonight.”

With two interceptions, a blocked punt and a fumble recovery, the Eagle defense forced four turnovers and scored on two of them. The other two turnovers set up touchdowns.

The Eagles ran for 204 yards on 29 attempts, and McMillian connected on 2 of 4 passes for 34 yards and a touchdown.

“I thought the offensive line played a little better tonight,” continued Priest. “We are not a finished product yet, but we are a work in progress.”

The Eagles, now 3-0 on the season, will enjoy an open date next week, before hosting Wilmington Laney on September 18.

Scoring summary

East Bladen 14 – 34 – 6 – 0 — 54
St. Pauls 0 – 0 – 0 -10 — 10

EB – Nikita Owens 6 run (Jesus Ramos kick)
EB – Eian Hines 40 run (Ramos kick)
EB – Owens 5 pass from Tyquan McMillian (Ramos kick)
EB – Eian Hines 1 run (Ramos kick)
EB – Kyle Tatum 50 interception return (Ramos kick)
EB – Ethan Hines 4 run (Ramos kick)
EB – Chris Cromartie recovered fumble in end zone (Knee taken)
EB – Ethan Hines 76 kick-off return (Knee taken)
SP – Safety – Punter tackled in end zone
SP – Tommy Jackson 1 run (Michael Barnes pass from Jackson)

Rushing: EB – Eian Hines 8-106, Ethan Hines 10-68, Owens 5-27, McMillian 1-6, Bernard Robinson 2-1, Sincere Smith 1-0. SP – Trey Thompson 6-17, Chris Graham 2-5, Christian Edwards 1-4, Renardo Jenkins 3-(-9), Jackson 14- (-11).

Passing: EB – McMillian 2-4-0, 34. SP – Jackson 8-18-2, 81.

Receiving: EB – Smith 1-29, Owens 1-5. SP – Noah Wheeler 3-42, Jenkins 2-32, Thompson 1-6, Edwards 1-1.

Records: East Bladen 3-0, St. Pauls 0-3.

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