Ayden-Grifton’s Marlon Cannon scored on a 5-yard run during Friday’s win over North Lenoir. Photo by William ‘Bud’ Hardy / Neuse News

By Junious Smith III

AYDEN — For Ayden-Grifton coach Paul Cornwell, thankfully the Chargers didn’t play how they practiced.

Ayden-Grifton defeated North Lenoir 35-0 Friday, picking up a historic shutout in the process. The Hawks (7-2, 2-2 EC2A) hadn’t been shut out since Oct. 17, 2014 — a streak of 55 games — and despite a lackluster start to the week, the Chargers (6-2, 2-2) more than rectified themselves on Game Day.

“Monday wasn’t great, Tuesday wasn’t great, Wednesday wasn’t great, but I thought in our walkthrough (Thursday) things started coming together,” Cornwell said. “It was just a mindset today — whatever happened, it clicked and they were ready to play. I give North Lenoir all the credit, they came out and did exactly what they wanted to do except for the turnovers. I don’t think the score really indicates how well-played this game was between two good football teams.”  

After forcing a three-and-out on the opening drive, Ayden-Grifton got the ball at the North Lenoir 18 when the Hawks punter’s knee hit the ground while trying to pick up the ball, forcing the play dead. On fourth-and-8, Josh Wright found Michael Webb in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown.

The Hawks looked to answer with a 16-play drive, including a pair of fourth-down conversions to get to the Chargers’ 12, but couldn’t convert. Ayden-Grifton responded with a 13-play, 88-yard drive of its own, aided by a North Lenoir offsides penalty on fourth-and-1, and capped off by Marlon Cannon’s 5-yard touchdown run to put the Chargers ahead 14-0 going into the break.

“It all starts with the preparation from Monday all the way to Thursday, getting ready for the game,” Cannon said. “Everybody (has to be) playing together as one, sticking together and in the end we’ll put it together on Fridays.”

The game shifted in the third quarter. North Lenoir forced a three-and-out, then went on another long drive to reach the Ayden-Grifton 7. From there, a Hawks ballcarrier had the ball stripped and Michael Webb took it 98 yards the other way for a touchdown. North Lenoir would lose the ball on its next play offensively and Webb scored again on a fumble recovery, effectively ending the game in the waning seconds of the third.

“We lost two in a row (against West Craven and Washington) and it seemed like a lot of people counted the Chargers out,” Webb said. “The talk had been that we haven’t played (anyone) this season, and I think today showed the Chargers can play football.”

Rahmik Moore added another touchdown early in the fourth for insurance.

Hawks coach Jim Collins said the focus is now on Kinston Nov. 1 and shaking off this loss.

“I love my team and we’ll bounce back,” Collins said. “We’ll have a great week of practice, I have a great group of seniors and we just had a rough game. If we can’t get ready for (Kinston), we can’t get ready for anybody so we’ll be ready to go.”

AYDEN-GRIFTON 35, NORTH LENOIR 0

NL           0              0              0              0 — 0    

AG          7              7              14           7 — 35

First Quarter

AG — Michael Webb 16 pass from Josh Wright (Christian Hernandez kick), 7:07

Second Quarter

AG — Marlon Cannon 5 run (Hernandez kick), 2:47

Third Quarter

AG — Webb 98 fumble return (Hernandez kick), :39

AG — Webb 30 fumble return (Hernandez kick), :26 

Fourth Quarter

AG — Rahmik Moore 9 run (Hernandez kick), 9:53

                                NL           AG

First Downs        11           9

Rushes-yards     48-122   27-168

Passing                 3-5-0      1-3-0

Passing yards     51           16

Total yards          173         184

Punts-avg.          0-0          2-23.5

Penalties             4-16       4-40

Fumbles-lost      4-2          1-0

Individual statistics

RUSHING—North Lenoir: Filipo Sualevai 13-53, Ny’Jai Koonce 10-38, Jaden Kilpatrick 11-29, Auston Dildy 1-11, Malik Jones 6-8, Tre Olds 1-6, Jelly Shackleford 1-0, Savion White 1-minus 1, Sayvone Grant 1-minus 3, TEAM 3-minus 20. Ayden-Grifton: Rahmik Moore 5-52, Michael Webb 5-45, Marlon Cannon 5-39, Isaiah Pelham 2-17, Brandon Lancaster 2-9, Josh Wright 5-8, Kevin Boomer 2-2, Nakeem Whitfield 1-minus 4.

PASSING—North Lenoir: Sualevai 2-3-0, 38; Dildy 1-1-0, 13; Koonce 0-1-0, 0. Ayden-Grifton: Wright 1-3-0, 16.

RECEIVING—North Lenoir: J. Shackleford 1-23, Kilpatrick 1-15, Landon Shackleford 1-13. Ayden-Grifton: Webb 1-16.