BLADENBORO – Eddrick James and Kemarion Baldwin led the way for St. Pauls Friday night as the Bulldogs posted a 50-6 Southeastern Athletic Conference football victory over West Bladen.
James who averaged almost 100 yards rushing per game last season for Red Springs has blossomed as a wide receiver/kick returner after his transfer to St. Pauls this season. The 5-9 senior raced 39 yards on a punt return for a touchdown, then grabbed a swing pass and darted 45 yards for his 2nd touchdown and a 21-0 Bulldog lead.
Baldwin topped the Bulldog ground attack with 90 yards rushing on just 7 carries and dashed 35 yards for the touchdown that boosted the St. Pauls lead to 28-0.
St. Pauls scored a strange touchdown on their 1st play from scrimmage. Ja’queze Anderson, a 240-lb. senior, lined up in the backfield, took the snap and galloped 27 yards before fumbling. Teammate Kaelan Mulroy scooped up the fumble and ran the final 24 yards for the touchdown. Senior Moises Hernandez booted the 1st of his 3 extra points.
Senior Damarius Robinson banged through the middle for 13 yards, and freshman quarterback Hezekiah Adams scooted 11 yards for 1st downs to ignite a 2nd quarter Knight drive that covered 41 yards to the Bulldog 29 yard line before being stopped on downs.
Robinson ripped off runs of 4, 8 and 5 yards, and junior Gary Parker powered his way for 12 yards as the Knights drove 38 yards to the Bulldog 18 yard line just before halftime. However a holding penalty stalled the drive.
The Knights started the 2nd half with a 50-yard drive that was aided by a personal foul and unsportsmanlike penalty against St. Pauls. An apparent 27-yard touchdown pass from Adams to Cornelius Esters was nullified by a holding penalty, and St. Pauls Jamarcus Smith picked off a Knight pass on the next play and returned it 35 yards to the West 22 yard line.
Two plays later senior Mikail Breeden scooted 13 yards for the touchdown. Anderson plowed into the end zone for the conversion and a 36-0 lead.
Junior Zious Dorley returned a pass interception 45 yards for the next Bulldog touchdown. West Bladen junior Deonte Lacey blocked the extra point kick to keep the margin at 42-0.
After West Bladen lost a fumble at their own 30 yard line, quarterback Tommy Parker completed a 9-yard TD pass to Javier Ortiz for the final Bulldog touchdown. Anderson ran the conversion again for a 50-0 lead.
The Knights marched 57 yards in 4 plays with Robinson blasting through the line and racing 34 yards for the touchdown. Parker reeled off runs of 6 and 14 yards to get the drive moving.
“We always preach to play to the final whistle, and our guys did that,” said West Bladen Coach Stanley Williams. “We are trying to install a new culture here and get the kids to believe in what we are doing. Some West Bladen teams of the past would have given up in a game like this, but my guys didn’t and I am proud of them.”
Robinson was the workhorse of the Knight offense with a game-high 121 yards rushing on 20 carries. Parker rushed for 54 yards on 11 attempts. The Knights ran for 180 yards and had 194 yards of total offense.
Parker and sophomore Jahmar Richardson sparked the Knight defense with 7 tackles each. Lacey made 4 tackles, recovered a fumble and blocked an extra point kick.
Breeden threw for 105 yards, and the Bulldogs finished with 222 yards rushing and 336 total yards.
“We are going to get better,” said Coach Williams. “We have nowhere to go but up.”
The Knights, now 1-2 in league play and 2-3 overall, will visit Red Springs Tuesday night.
St. Pauls who were the Class 2-AA state runners-up a year ago have a showdown with Clinton for 1st place in the SAC-7 Tuesday night.
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