The final result was a 54-14 victory for Southeast Guilford in Friday night’s homecoming game for the Vikings. The visitors racked up 432 yards on the ground, led by Travis Dowda with 148 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns. Devon Person carried the ball 16 times for 127 yards and a touchdown for the Vikings.
The loss drops the home team to 0-2 in the Tri-County Conference and 0-6 overall, while the Falcons improve to 1-1 and 3-3. Next Friday, the Vikings have a date at ninth-ranked Ragsdale.
After being forced to punt on the first two possessions, a sequence of big plays began as the Falcons faced first and 20 on their third series starting from their own 30-yard line. After the snap, Dowda moved along the line of scrimmage from his right wingback spot, took the handoff from quarterback Darion Robinson and broke off left tackle for 70 yards and a touchdown. The conversion kick by Brandon Lane made it 7-0 with 1:06 left in the first quarter.
In the next minute and a-half, the Vikings scored twice in spectacular fashion, but a yellow flag thrown during each play indicated otherwise.
A block in the back negated a 98-yard return by D.J. Patterson on the ensuing kickoff. He was never challenged on the run after he crossed midfield. Starting from their own 30 after the penalty, a 13-yard run by Person was wiped off by a holding call.
Two plays later, quarterback Johnny Moore connected with Jeremy Kyle on a 78-yard pass and run for a touchdown only to have that flagged away by another holding call.
An interception of a Moore pass on the next play by Ben Areno gave the Falcons a short field for another touchdown run by Dowda. By halftime the visitors had amassed nearly 200 yards on the ground and a 27-0 lead.
Viking coach Ken Neal said that the runs by the Falcon motion backs (Dowda and Dion Bratcher) caused his defense a lot of problems.
“On tape it is going to show we were just missing them,” he said of their off tackle and wider runs beginning with motion from the opposite side. “They were sealing off T.J. (middle-linebacker, Powers) pretty good and getting out there. Sometimes they came through so close and had it timed so well, it took me a second to find where the ball was.”
After Lane put the first of four kickoffs in a row in the end zone to start the second half, Moore directed a balanced drive of 80 yards in 14 plays. His fourth completion of the series was a leaping grab in the end zone by tight end Jared Smearman for a 17-yard touchdown. The extra point was blocked making it 27-6.
“At halftime we told them we have to go out and establish something,” Neal said,” so we could start chipping away. We came out with a six-minute drive that took a lot of time off the clock, but you’ve got to make your kids realize they can do it too.”
But the Viking defense was unable to get the ball back on the next series. Robinson capped a 67-yard drive by taking it in himself from three yards out. It took only another 18 seconds for the Falcons to intercept a Moore pass and turn it into a touchdown on the next play for a 40-6 lead.
Early in the fourth quarter, a 40-yard run by Person set up his own one-yard plunge for a touchdown, completing another 80-yard drive. Moore ran for the two-point conversion to complete the Viking scoring.
For the game, the Vikings produced 21 first downs and 274yards of total offense. Moore completed 10 of 27 passes for 119 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions. Cordera Belk caught four for 54 yards and Smearman had three catches for 42.
Powers was credited with 12 tackles, bringing his team-leading season total to 70.
As a part of the homecoming festivities, the crowd estimated at just under 2,000 watched U.S. Army paratrooper Chad Muller bring the game ball to the center of the field before the game, without a bobble, from an altitude of 4,000 feet. Recently returned from Iraq, the former Golden Knight team member is attached to the 82nd Division at Fort Bragg.
Landing on target seconds before him was his jumping partner Col. Cheryl Riley of Whispering Pines. A dentist, she also returned to Fort Bragg recently after a tour of duty in Uzbekistan.
SE Guilford 7 20 13 14 — 54
Union Pines 0 0 6 8 — 14
Scoring: (S) Dowda 70 run (Lane kick); (S) Dowda 5 run (Lane kick); (S) Bratcher 25 run (Lane kick); Gentile 9 pass from Robinson (kick failed); (U) Smearman 17 pass from Moore (kick failed); (S) Robinson 3 run (Lane kick); (S) Gordon 7 pass from Robinson (pass failed); (U) Person 3 run (Moore run); (S) Robinson 10 run (Lane kick); (S) Gentile 3 run (Lane kick).
Team stats: First downs - (S) 21 (U) 21; Rushing - (S) 41-432 (U) 40-155; Passing - (S) 2-10, 20 yds., 2 tds. (U) 10-27, 119 yds., td., 3 int.; Penalties - (S) 11-96 (U) 8-76; Punts - (S) 2-39.5 (U) 5-30.8; Fumbles - (S) 1-0 (U) 3-0; Individual stats: Rushing - (S) Dowda 9-148, Bratcher 7-141, Davis 12-85, Robinson 5-48 (U) Person 16-127, Belk 5-25, Moore 9-(-14), Kyle 4-16, Patterson 5-(-6); Passing - (S) Robinson 2-9, 20 yds., 2 tds., Gentile 0-1 (U) Moore 10-27, 119 yds., td., 3 int.; Receiving - (S) Gentile 1-13, Gordon 1-7 (U) Belk 4-54, Smearman 3-42, Seawell 1-11; Kyle 1-12.
