Southwest Edgecombe powers past North Lenoir 43-0

Written by: Keith Spence

LaGRANGE – North Lenoir got a tough welcome to the new Three Rivers 4A Conference on Friday night, falling 43-0 to perennial contender Southwest Edgecombe at Bullock Field.

“Southwest is a well-coached, talented football team, just like we knew they’d be,” North Lenoir coach Larry Dale said. “They won the game at the line of scrimmage and showed us some things we need to work on.”

Punishing ground game
The Cougars set the tone early with a dominant rushing attack, piling up 101 yards on the ground in the first quarter alone. Five different SWE ball carriers averaged more than 11 yards per carry in the opening period.

North Lenoir managed just one first down in the quarter, which came on a Cougar penalty.

Air attack clicks
After establishing the run, Southwest showed balance through the air. Quarterback Devion Mayo Jr. completed just one pass for five yards in the opening period but connected for three touchdowns in the second quarter.

His top target was 6-foot-5 senior Justin Bridges, who hauled in scoring strikes of 77 and 72 yards. In the closing seconds of the half, following a North Lenoir fumble, Mayo added a 12-yard touchdown pass to Tavion Dickens.

Mayo finished 4-of-5 passing for 166 yards.

“They’ve got guys who can run and we had a hard time keeping up with them,” Dale said. “It was a learning experience for our guys that will help us down the road.”

Second-half response
With the Cougars leading 35-0 at halftime, a running clock was used in the second half. North Lenoir responded by controlling the ball for nearly 14 straight minutes, including the entire third quarter, on a drive from its own 30 to the SWE 19 before being stopped on downs.

Senior Jaquell Garner, returning after missing last week’s game, led the drive with seven carries for 33 yards. He finished with 44 yards on 15 attempts.

“We kept fighting to the end, and we had some nice moments,” Dale said. “It was also good to get Jaquell back. He didn’t play last week, but he ran the ball hard and should be a big part of our offense going forward.”

What’s next
North Lenoir (1-4, 0-1) continues conference play at Eastern Wayne (3-1, 1-0), which opened league action with a 32-20 win over North Johnston. Southwest Edgecombe (2-2, 1-0) steps out of conference next week to visit Wilson Prep (1-4).