Wooten Leads South Lenoir to 28-14 Victory Over Lejeune

Sep 6

Sep 6 Wooten Leads South Lenoir to 28-14 Victory Over Lejeune

Written by: Keith Spence

DEEP RUN — South Lenoir won a football game Friday night, knocking off Lejeune 28-14 to run its record to 2-1, and Blue Devils coach Brandon Proctor still found plenty to be upset about.

Call it a sign of progress.

“You never have to apologize for a win, but that doesn’t mean you have to be happy,” Proctor said. “We know we can play better, and that should be our goal every week — to play as well as we can. We didn’t do that tonight.”

First-Half Domination With Little to Show For It

Proctor was especially disappointed with South Lenoir’s first-half performance. After allowing the Devilpups to take the opening kickoff and march right down the field for a 6-0 lead — Lejeune’s first points of the season — South Lenoir moved the ball almost at will but constantly shot itself in the foot with penalties and minor mistakes.

The Devils rolled up 181 first-half yards while holding Lejeune to just 53, including no first downs after the opening scoring drive.

SL did put together one nice drive in the opening 24 minutes, a 13-play, 90-yard possession that took nearly five minutes off the clock. Quarterback Christian Wooten finally cashed in with a 10-yard touchdown run that tied the score at 6-6, which is how the first half ended.

The Blue Devils lost a pair of fumbles and committed five penalties for 47 yards in the first half.

A Different Team in the Second Half

“I can’t really say what I told the team at halftime,” Proctor said. “Basically, we made some adjustments and did things much better in the second half, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement.”

South Lenoir set the tone on its first possession of the third quarter, driving 55 yards in five plays before Mike Jones reached the end zone on an 8-yard run in which he bowled over several Lejeune defenders.

Kendarius Bey then electrified the home crowd with a 47-yard touchdown burst on SL’s next drive to give the Devils some breathing room, 20-6, with 27 seconds remaining in the period.

Bey added a 4-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter before the Devilpups tacked on a late touchdown in the final minute.

But even a South Lenoir error contributed to Lejeune’s final score, as a fourth-down roughing-the-passer penalty allowed the Devilpups to retain possession.

Unstoppable Running Game

The Devils threw the ball just six times because they didn’t need to. SL piled up 337 yards on the ground, led by Wooten, who carried a team-high 15 times for 134 yards. Almost all of his production came on designed runs.

“The coaches told me earlier in the week that I was going to get the ball, so I was ready,” Wooten said. “I’m just glad I got the opportunity to help the team win.”

Wooten had seven runs of at least 10 yards and averaged nearly nine yards per carry. He was far from the only dangerous Devil runner, however.

In addition to his two touchdowns, Bey added 59 yards on the ground, Zion Carr ran for 51, Jones contributed 28, and workhorse running back Kamarion Uzzell-Graham carried 14 times for 62 yards.

“We have several guys that can run the football,” Proctor said. “Not one player’s a star, but they all run the ball hard and they’re all good players. We just need to develop more consistency on the offensive line so our running game can reach its full potential.”