Xavier Wooten rushed for 168 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the East Bladen JV football team to a 26-6 victory over South Columbus in the season opener for the Eagle JV team.
On the second play from scrimmage, halfback Trey Carter went around left end for a 69 yard touchdown run that gave the Eagles a quick 6-0 lead. The extra point attempt was no good. East Bladen led 6-0.
After a lightning delay, Wooten recovered the ensuing kickoff to give East Bladen possession. A ten play drive ended on the South Columbus 22 yard line after a fourth down pass attempt fell incomplete.
A strong defensive effort limited the Stallions to a three and out possession.
On the first play of the second quarter, Wooten ran a sweep to the right, cut back across the field and outran the South Columbus defense for a 52 yard touchdown. The extra point attempt was no good. East Bladen led 12-0.
South Columbus mounted an eight play drive to the East Bladen 39 yard line but the Eagle defense forced a punt.
On the eighth play of their next drive, quarterback Quentin Bedsole connected with Shy Pone on a 53 yard touchdown pass behind the Stallion defense. James Higgins plowed in for the extra point to give the Eagles a 20-0 lead heading into halftime.
The Stallions were held to a three and out possession to start the third quarter.
The Eagles move the ball down the field including two pass completions from Pierce Melvin to Higgins but came up just short on fourth down and gave up the football.
South Columbus fumbled the snap on first down and Tyrone Smith recovered the ball for the Eagles on the 20 yard line. Two plays later, Wooten scored his second touchdown of the night on a 16 yard run. The extra point attempt was no good. East Bladen led 26-0.
South Columbus scored their only touchdown of the night on a 33 yard run on their next possession to make the score 26-6.
East Bladen had a four play possession before turning the ball over on downs.
East Bladen’s Pone intercepted a Stallion pass deep in Eagle territory to stop another scoring threat.
East Bladen used two running plays to end the game and claim the victory.
The Eagles piled up 304 yards of total offense, while limiting South Columbus to 124 total yards of offense.
Carter finished with 91 yards on 5 rushing attempts. Wooten needed 13 carries to amass his 168 yards. Bedsole completed 1 of 3 passes for 53 yards. Melvin connected on 2 of 3 passes for 40 yards.
East Bladen JV coach Ritchie Priest said, “I was impressed with the way our team played. Even though we are young, they came out and competed really hard and executed the things we have been working on in practice. It is a good way to start off the season.”
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