Arendell Parrott’s Nick Harrison catches a touchdown pass in the first quarter of Friday’s win against Fayetteville Christian. Photo by William ‘Bud’ Hardy / Neuse News

It was a great Senior Night for Arendell Parrott on Friday. 

Despite not having the ball as much as they’re used to, the Patriots took advantage of their scoring opportunities en route to a 28-0 shutout win over Fayetteville Christian. 

With the win, Matt Beaman and his squad have all but clinched the top seed for the NCISAA Division 1 8-man state playoffs. They’ve also secured their first conference championship since 2005. 

“We had to execute,” Beaman said. (Fayetteville Christian) had a gameplan and they wanted to take the big play away from us. We had to win ugly tonight and I was proud of how we executed.”

The Patriots (6-2, 6-0 NCISAA Big 8) started fast with an eight-play, 45-yard opening drive capped off by a Wilkes Thomas pass to Nick Harrison for a 23-yard touchdown. 

Fayetteville Christian (2-5, 2-4) had two big chances to score near the goal line, but they didn’t take advantage.

With 1st-and-goal inside the Patriots’ 5, a snap went over Daniel Floyd’s head for a 23-yard loss and they came up empty. Late in the first half, Fayetteville Christian had 1st-and-goal at the 1 and once again went backwards, leading to no score.

Sandwiched in between those possessions was a 13-play, 90-yard touchdown drive by the Patriots. Blake Smith capped it off with a 1-yard touchdown run and Trey McLawhorn added the two-point conversion to make it 15-0 at halftime.

“It felt great,” Smith said about his team’s performance. “I’ve been (at Parrott) for a long time, so it was awesome to go out with a bang. Winning a conference championship on our home field for Senior Night is exactly what our class wanted.”

The Patriots opened the second half by getting a turnover on downs after a lengthy drive from the Warriors. Then, on the Patriots first offensive play of the second half, McLawhorn had a 69-yard touchdown run to break the game open late in the third quarter.

McLawhorn would finish with 176 rushing yards in his final regular-season home game.

“I think we’ve left a great legacy,” McLawhorn said. “There’s a winning tradition at this school, so doing something that hasn’t happened in a long time is awesome. We still have some unfinished business, but we’re definitely going to enjoy this win.”

Senior safety Hunter Blythe played a huge role with a couple of fumble recoveries and an interception. Smith’s second touchdown of the night sealed the deal in the fourth quarter. 

Blythe said that playing for his friend, senior linebacker Weaver Sumrell (who went out with an injury in this game), motivated him to step up for his team.

“All I wanted to do was make some plays,” Blythe added. “Hopefully, Weaver will be alright, but our depth is so important to our success. Being able to help my team was a good feeling.”

Arendell Parrott has one more regular season game at Rocky Mount Academy next week. With a win, they’d officially have home field advantage throughout the postseason. 

After next week’s regular season finale, they’ll host one of the two playoff semifinals on Friday, November 1 at Hodges Field.

“We just have to get better every week,” Beaman said about the regular-season finale. “Rocky Mount Academy hasn’t won a game yet, but they’re going to be ready to play spoiler against us. We have to prepare like every game it’s a state championship, so hopefully we’ll take care of business next week.”

Arendell Parrott 28, Fayetteville Christian 0

Fayetteville Christian       0           0          0          0 — 0    

Parrott Academy              7           8          6          7 — 28

First Quarter

P—Nick Harrison 23 pass from Wilkes Thomas (Harrison kick), 9:24

Second Quarter

P—Blake Smith 2 run (Trey McLawhorn run), 5:47

Third Quarter

P—McLawhorn 69 run (Harrison kick), 3:27

Fourth Quarter

P—Smith 2 run (Kick blocked), 8:51

                             FCS         APA

First Downs         17            20

Rushes-yards   39-163  32-253

Passing              5-16-1   13-17-0

Passing yards       90          170

Total yards           253         423

Punts-avg.           0-0         1-4.0          

Penalties             10-61       6-50

Fumbles-lost        4-2         4-4

Individual Statistics

RUSHING—Fayetteville Christian: Travonte Robinson 16-101, Laterrion Johnson 8-41, Daniel Floyd 8-16, Jonathan Soriano 3-7, Shahron James 1-2, David Herden 3--14. Parrott: Trey McLawhorn 19-176, Morgan McPhaul 1-48, Blake Smith 7-21, Dallas Hill 3-15, Wilkes Thomas 2--7.

PASSING—Fayetteville Christian: Daniel Floyd, 3-9-1 70, David Herden, 2-8-0 20. Parrott: Thomas 13-17-0 170.

RECEIVING—Fayetteville Christian: Laterrion Johnson 2-48, Shahron James 1-25, Travonte Robinson 2-17. Parrott: Nick Harrison 5-84, Jonah Beaman 2-38, McLawhorn 5-28, Morgan McPhaul 1-20.