Spread the love

By John Clark

ELIZABETHTOWN – Senior Masion Brooks ran for 128 yards and 4 touchdowns, and his East Bladen Eagles smashed North Edgecombe with a 37-0 2nd quarter blitz enroute to a 57-14 victory in the opening round of the Class 1A Football Playoffs.

Coach Robby Priest’s Eagles, the No. 13 seed, improved to 6-5 and will travel to No. 4 seed Northside-Pinetown (8-2) Friday night.

Brooks only carried the ball 5 times but scored the first 4 East Bladen touchdowns on runs of 20, 20, 38 and 39 yards. Senior Jayden Daily rushed 5 times for 51 yards and scored the final East touchdown on a 22-yard run.

Sophomore quarterback Keyshawn Kemp completed 4 of 4 passes for 109 yards and threw touchdown passes of 29 yards to senior Jadon Pridgen and 35 yards to junior Malaki Moore. Moore finished with 2 receptions for 62 yards, and Pridgen had 2 catches for 47 yards.

Moore’s 25-yard return of the opening kickoff set the Eagles up at the Warriors 42 yard line. Junior quarterback Kewone Maynor scampered for 21 yards, before Brooks bulled through the line and scored standing up on a 20-yard run. Senior Blaine Pope who converted all 5 of his extra-point kicks added the point for a 7-0 lead at the 10:37 mark.

Junior Xavier Best’s 24-yard punt return started the next East drive at the North 37. Senior Na’Toren Corbett ripped off runs of 11 and 7 yards, before Brooks powered through the left side on another 20-yard TD run. Pope tacked on the point for a 14-0 Eagle lead with 6:35 left in the period.

Senior Jaheim Knight, a 265-pound bruiser, reeled off runs of 7 and 10 yards, and junior Michael Dickens picked up 19 yards as the Warriors drove to the Eagle 45 yardline. However Pridgen stopped Jahmarie Dickens for no gain on 4th down to turn the ball over on downs.

On the next play Michael Dickens intercepted an East pass and returned the ball to the Eagle 32 yardline. A pass interference penalty resulted in a 1st down, and quarterback Zyquarius Cherry tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Knight to slice the lead to 14-6 23 seconds before the quarter break.

Senior Jamarius Smith scooted 27 yards on the kickoff return to give East possession at the North 48. Corbett bolted 10 yards, before Brooks plowed through the left side and galloped 38 yards for a touchdown on the 1st play of the 2nd quarter. Senior Matthew Kemp banged through the line for the 2-point conversion and a 22-6 lead.

Knight gained 20 yards as the Warriors picked up a pair of 1st downs, but Brooks tackled Knight for a 3-yard loss to stop the drive on downs at the East 23 yard line.

Keyshawn Kemp connected with Moore on a 27-yard pass play, before Brooks blasted through the Warrior defense on a 39-yard touchdown run. Pope’s kick pushed the lead to 29-6 with 6:51 on the clock.

The Warriors were stopped on downs again at their own 29 yard line. Keyshawn Kemp fired a pass to Pridgen who pulled away from a tackler to complete the 29-yard touchdown play. Pope converted the kick to boost the lead to 36-6 2:35 before halftime.

Moore recovered an Eagle onside kick at the Warrior 47 yard line. Keyshawn Kemp flipped a pass to Pridgen for 18 yards then hurled a 35-yard touchdown pass to Moore. Pope nailed the conversion and East led 43-6 at the 2:13 mark.

Smith recovered a North fumble 2 plays later to give East the ball at the Eagle 49. Keyshawn Kemp scampered 10 yards, before Best charged through the line on a 41-yard touchdown run. Corbett ran the conversion to widen the gap to 51-6 with 1:14 left in the half.

The entire 2nd half was played with a running clock. Dailey carried twice for 37 yards scoring the final Eagle TD on a 22-yard run. The Eagles took a knee on the conversion.

Knight rambled 26 yards for a Warrior touchdown as the 3rd quarter ended. Senior Kevon Savage ran the 2-point conversion to whittle the final margin to 57-14.

East Bladen rushed 24 times for 297 yards, and Keyshawn Kemp’s 109 yards passing boosted their total yards to 406. North Edgecombe ran for 182 yards on 41 attempts but netted only 7 yards on 2 pass completions.

Knight led the Warrior ground game with 84 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries and also caught the 9-yard TD pass. Savage added 42 yards on 14 rushes.