East Bladen’s Josh McKoy returned two pass interceptions for touchdowns to lead the Eagle junior varsity to a 46-20 non-conference football victory Thursday night over the pass-oriented Fairmont Golden Tornadoes in Fairmont.
Fairmont connected on a 45-yard touchdown pass on their fifth play from scrimmage and added the two point conversion for an early 8-0 lead.
East Bladen answered with a 64-yard scoring drive behind the strong running of Xavier Wooten and James Higgins. Higgins plowed into the end zone from three yards out for the touchdown, and Wooten tacked on the two point conversion to tie the game 8-8 with 4:13 remaining in the first quarter.
On the fifth play of Fairmont’s next possession, McKoy picked off a Tornado pass and raced 90 yards for a touchdown. Quarterback Quinton Bedsole tossed a 2-point conversion pass to Shy Pone that gave the Eagles a 16-8 lead.
After an exchange of possessions, Pone returned a Fairmont punt 53 yards for a touchdown but it was called back due to a penalty. On the fifth play of the drive, Wooten galloped around right end on a 26-yard touchdown run. Bedsole connected with Wooten for the two-point conversion giving East Bladen a 24-8 lead with 8:57 remaining in the second quarter.
The running of Wooten and Higgins moved the ball to the Tornado two yard line. Messiah Leach bolted through the middle for the touchdown, and Bedsole threw a 2-point conversion pass to Higgins that stretched the Eagle lead to 32-8 with 45 seconds on the first half clock.
The half ended with the Eagles’ Adonis Avery sacking the quarterback.
Fairmont opened the third quarter with a long drive, but on their tenth play, McKoy intercepted his second pick-six of the night and dashed 85 yards for the touchdown. The conversion failed and East Bladen led 38-8 at the 6:50 mark.
Fairmont mounted a 21-play drive ending with a 5 yard touchdown run. The conversion failed and East led 38-14.
East Bladen ran its only four offensive plays of the second half with Higgins going around left end for 10 yards for the score. The conversion failed and East led 46-14.
Fairmont scored on the ninth play of its next drive on a 25 yard touchdown run for the final margin of 46-14 as the conversion failed.
Wooten rushed 14 times for 136 yards to lead the Eagles. Higgins cracked the century mark with 101 yards on 11 carries. Bedsole was 1-3 passing from scrimmage for 9 yards and completed three 2-point conversion passes.
The Eagles finished with 257 yards of total offense and remained unbeaten with a 6-0 record.
“We beat a really good football team tonight,” said Coach Ritchie Priest. “Scheduling the game Tuesday, we had to adjust on the fly for their spread offense. We started slowly but picked up the intensity after their first score. The offensive line and backs did a great job. The defense was flying around and having fun. I am glad to be 6-0.”
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