By John Clark
TARBORO – Opportunistic Tarboro capitalized on several East Bladen mistakes and scored just enough to defeat the Eagles 20-13 Friday night in the NCHSAA Class 1A Eastern Semifinals.
The top-seeded Vikings, now 12-0, advanced to their 7th consecutive Eastern championship game against No. 2 seed West Columbus – a 21-16 winner over Wilson Prep. Coach Robby Priest’s Eagles, the No. 13 seed, finished the season with an 8-6 record.
The Eagle defense limited the high-powered Vikings to 221 rushing yards and only 20 points. Tarboro did not attempt a pass in the game. East Bladen rushed for 123 yards and junior quarterback Kewone Maynor completed 4 of 7 passes for 75 yards. However the Eagles were plagued by 9 penalties totaling 85 yards.
The Vikings pounced on the opening kickoff and covered 54 yards in 4 plays. Wishbone fullback Mason Satterfield bolted 45 yards on the 1st snap from center. Sophomore Kamerin McDowell-Moore carried 2 yards for the touchdown, and senior Oscar Perez Gaspar kicked the conversion for a 7-0 Tarboro lead.
East junior Xavier Best returned the ensuing kickoff 62 yards, but a block-in-the-back penalty moved the ball back to the Eagle 38 yard line. The Eagles ground out a 62-yard scoring drive that consumed 15 plays.
Senior Na’Toren Corbett reeled off runs of 8 and 15 yards to pick up 1st downs, and Maynor fired a 13-yard pass to junior Malaki Moore for another 1st down. Corbett outran the Viking defense to the right pylon on a 3-yard touchdown run. Senior Blaine Pope nailed the conversion kick to tie the game 7-7.
Senior Omarion Lewis returned the Eagle squib kickoff 25 yards to the East 42 yard line. A Viking punt pushed East back to their own 10 yard line, and after a 3-and-out, a 12-yard punt gave the ball back to Tarboro at the Eagle 26 yard line. McDowell-Moore scooted around left end on the next play to put the Vikings on top 13-7 early in the 2nd period.
The Eagles responded with another 70-yard, 15-play drive. Maynor tossed a swing pass out to Moore who flew 27 yards down the sideline to the Viking 43 yard line. Senior Jadon Pridgen snared a Maynor pass for a 15-yard gain that was partly nullified by another block-in-the back penalty.
Senior Masion Brooks was the workhorse of the drive with 8 carries for 27 yards, before he dashed around left end on a 17-yard touchdown run. The conversion kick was wide left leaving the score tied 13-13 at halftime.
After the Viking defense forced a 3-and-out to start the 2nd half, Lewis raced 57 yards on the punt return to the Eagle 33 yard line. McDowell-Moore ripped off a pair of 8-yard runs, before Satterfield picked up 7 yards then darted 9 yards for the touchdown. Perez Gaspar added the point for a 20-13 lead.
Senior Chris Harding’s juggling catch of a 20-yard pass from Maynor was nullified by a blindside block penalty and led to an Eagle punt. Tarboro mounted a 34-yard, 8-play drive that was stopped on downs at the East 34 yard line.
Brooks powered through the line on runs of 8 and 7 yards, before the quarter ended. However, 3 plays into the final period East Bladen was forced to punt. They never had possession of the ball again as the Vikings consumed the final 10 minutes on the clock with the help of 3 Eagle penalties and a key run by Lewis, the Viking quarterback.
Tarboro’s Caiden Everette was knocked out of bounds for what would have been a 4th-and-11 situation at the Viking 26, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty resulted in a 1st down at the 41.
Two plays later, on 3rd down, Lewis missed the handoff to the back but scampered 13 yards around left end for a 1st down. Brooks and Pridgen threw a Viking runner for a 2-yard loss 2 plays later to force a punt, but the Eagles roughed the punter and Tarboro was awarded a 1st down at the East Bladen 29.
On 4th-and-1 at the East 20 yard line, the Eagles jumped offside, and Tarboro was able to take a knee twice to run out the clock.
Brooks finished with 85 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. The burly halfback raised his season rushing total to 2,106 yards and 40 touchdowns. Corbett gained 36 yards and scored a touchdown on 14 rushes. Moore caught 2 passes for 40 yards.
Satterfield ran for 76 yards and a touchdown on 8 carries for Tarboro. McDowell-Moore rushed for 69 yards and 2 touchdowns on 8 attempts. Everette totaled 46 yards on 11 rushes.
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