West Craven logs road shutout over Greene Central in Eastern Carolina 2-A play
Greene Central quarterback Cole Dawson, left, talks with his offensive coordinator after a three-and-out series against West Craven on Friday evening. Rudy Coggins/NeuseNews
SNOW HILL — Helmets in hand and on bended knee, numerous soulful, sad eyes either peered at Greene Central head coach Jay Wilson or looked off into the distance Friday evening.
Frustration and disappointment shrouded their faces.
The Rams quietly listened as Wilson energetically stressed the importance of not giving up and staying mentally focused after a 36-0 shutout loss against Eastern Carolina 2-A Conference foe West Craven.
"We've had bad weeks back to back, giving up more touchdowns and not scoring," Wilson said. "Don't quit mentally, stay in it mentally. Stay watching film and stay inside the game. In two weeks, you could go from four wins to six wins.
"Anything can happen."
On this night, Murphy's Law descended upon the James R. Fulghum Athletic Complex much to Greene Central's dismay. West Craven (6-3, 4-1 EC2A) converted two fumbles into touchdowns and displayed its athleticism all over the field en route to the win.
In 15 matchups, Greene Central has never defeated West Craven.
Wilson said his team didn't match the Eagles' intensity and aggressiveness. He felt the coaching staff had schemed well, but nothing in the playbook generated much offense. GC managed zero yards rushing and just 64 yards total on 49 offensive plays.
West Craven's defense posted three sacks, yielded only one third-down conversion and logged 11 tackles for loss.
"Their front five really controlled the line of scrimmage," Wilson said. "You look up and they're moving the line two to three yards every single play, so by the time the backs got the ball and were trying to find a hole, there were two or three guys in their lap.
"You just can't win if you can't control the line of scrimmage."
West Craven punched in three touchdowns in short-field situations from the GC 27, 44 and 17. Quarterback Trent Casey directed a 14-play, 99-yard drive that erased more than five minutes off the clock before halftime, and orchestrated a 73-yard scoring possession in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles collected 299 yards of total offense.
Greene Central (4-5, 1-3) entertains Ayden-Grifton next Friday.
West Craven 8 14 7 7 — 36
Greene Central 0 0 0 0 — 0
First Quarter
WC — Shelton 2 run (Cherry run), 1:39.3
Second Quarter
WC — Kearny 2 run (run failed), 10:13.3
WC — Shelton 12 run (Moore pass from Cherry), 2:01
Third Quarter
WC — Kearny 7 pass from Casey (Decker kick), 6:45
Fourth Quarter
WC — Gillyard 22 pass from Casey (Decker kick), 7:16.4
WC GC
First downs 19 5
Rushes-yds 46-146 26-0
Passing 9-16-0 4-23-1
Passing yds 153 64
Total yards 299 64
Fumbles-lost 3-0 2-2
Punts-yds 4-35.8 6-36.8
Penalties-yds 9-82 6-70
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Greene Central: Debo Pigford 3-8, Cole Dawson 8-(minus-5), Lamar Pridgen 2-0, Jaden Tyson 8-4, Hezekiah Pagan 5-(minus-7). West Craven: Silas Wallaces 8-13, Trent Casey 6-(minus-21), DayQuan Shelton 22-101, Tyquan Kearny 2-3, Arthur Abrams 1-5, Niante Lockett 3-19, TaQuandre Cherry 1-0, Jon Ward 3-26.
PASSING — Greene Central: Dawson 3-22-1, 43; Zak Smith 1-1-0, 21. West Craven: Casey 9-16-0, 153.
RECEIVING — Greene Central: Pigford 1-21, Perry Tingen 1-16, Tyson 1-0, Smith 1-27. West Craven: Kearny 3-55, Abrams 3-30, Devin Gillyard 3-68.
