Defense, which usually makes just a cameo appearance in the wide-open world of 8-man football, took center stage for Bethel Christian Academy in the NCISAA 1A state playoffs on Friday.

The Trojans completely dominated in the second half, holding Northeast-Hobgood to minus 13 yards and one first down over the final 24 minutes, and Bethel punched its ticket to the state championship game with a 30-14 victory over the third-seeded Eagles.

The Trojans will travel to Roanoke Rapids Saturday to face top-seeded Halifax Academy for the state title at 2 p.m.

“Our defense played lights out,” Bethel coach Brick Crowder said. “Turnovers and penalties slowed down the offense, so we needed a big game from the defense, and we got one.”

After a more typical offense-oriented first half, in which the Bethel led 22-14, neither team was able to duplicate that production after intermission.

The Eagles were especially feeble, as Bethel allowed the visitors to cross midfield just twice, both on possessions that started in Trojan territory following lost fumbles.

The outcome might have been settled earlier had Bethel not lost four fumbles, twice inside the Northeast-Hobgood 20.

The Trojans were also flagged eight times for 77 yards, including a couple of drive-killing holding calls.

“We wasted some opportunities to put more points on the board,” Crowder said. “When we weren’t putting the ball on the ground or making silly penalties, we actually moved the ball very well.”

Bethel rolled up 415 total yards, 351 on the ground led by the tandem of Rodney Warren (14 carries, 158 yards, two TD’s) and Josh Sutton (25 carries, 157 yards, one TD) .

The 6-0, 253-pound Warren punished the Eagles with some bruising inside runs, while the ultra-fast Sutton did most of his damage on the outside.

Sutton scored from 49 yards out on the game’s first play, and Warren found the end zone on runs of 24 and 51 yards, all in the first quarter.

But it was the passing game that finally put the game out of reach when quarterback Connor Williams connected with Quan Hamilton on a 61-yard scoring strike with 8:28 left in the game, the only points of the second half.

The clinching touchdown came on a fourth-and-17 from Bethel’s own 39-yard line.

“Our defense was playing so well I felt like we could take the chance,” Crowder said. “Besides, the play had been open all night. We just needed to execute it.”

In Saturday’s championship game, the Trojans will face a Halifax squad that has already beaten them twice this season, 70-48 on September 27, and 40-16 two weeks later.

Bethel was shorthanded in both of those contests with several starters serving suspensions.

“They won’t be facing the same team,” Crowder said. “We’ll be at full strength and we’ll be ready.”

BETHEL CHRISTIAN 30, NORTHEAST-HOBGOOD ACADEMY 14

Northeast-Hobgood       6              8              0              0—14

Bethel Christian               22           0              0              8—30

First Quarter

B—Josh Sutton 49 run (Quan Hamilton pass from Connor Williams), 11:48

B—Rodney Warren 24 run (run failed), 8:34

N—Michael Smith 16 pass from Cole Lanier (pass failed), 7:04

B—Warren 51 run (Sutton run), 3:02

Second Quarter

N—Smith 7 pass from Lanier (Zi Matthewson pass from JT Simmons), 10:02

Fourth Quarter

B—Hamilton 61 pass from Williams (Sutton run), 8:28

                                N             B

First Downs        7              18

Rushes-yards     32-27     52-351

Passing                 7-14-0   4-11-0

Passing yards     106         64

Total yards          133         415

Punts-avg.          3-42.3    0-0

Penalties             7-53       8-77

Fumbles-lost      4-1          4-4

Individual Statistics

RUSHING—Northeast: J.T. Simmons 16-29, Zi Matthewson 6-21, Josh Simmons 5-(minus 4), Cole Lanier 5-(minus 29). Bethel: Rodney Warren 14-158, Josh Sutton 25-157, Connor Williams 12-29, Tyler Eubanks 1-7.

PASSING—Northeast: Lanier 6-10-0 99, Simmons 1-4-0 7. Bethel: Williams 4-11-0 64.

RECEIVING—Northeast: Michael Smith 6-90, Matthewson 1-16. Bethel: Quan Hamilton 4-64.