South Lenoir falls to North Duplin

South Lenoir's defense held North Duplin scoreless in the second half of Friday's game. Photo by T.J. Edwards / Mount Olive Tribune

CALYPSO — Jeremy Joyner loves the talent in his locker room.

He can't wait for the growing pains to end.

South Lenoir's defense turned in crucial stops throughout its season-opening 22-0 loss to North Duplin Friday. Jonathan Haddock and Joseph Cobb each recovered a fumble, and the unit kept the Rebels scoreless in the second half.

The offense?

There's some fine-tuning left to be done in Deep Run.

The Blue Devils produced minus-31 yards in the opening half. Once quarterback Jon Howard found his footing and the line started to block with confidence, the Blue Devils moved the ball in the second half and had three possessions end on downs — all inside the red zone.

"Defensively, we missed some assignments early and offensively we did not execute well at all," Joyner said. "We made some adjustments at halftime. The defense, I thought, played well the second half and the offense played a lot better. When we get inside the red zone, we have to find a way to score.

"We had opportunities tonight, just couldn't punch it in."

Six false-start penalties proved the Blue Devils' downfall. One infraction occurred on third-and-goal at the ND 1-yard line in the third quarter and another stopped a possession late in the final period.

Howard completed five passes to four different receivers for a total of 26 yards in the second half. Sophomore running back Matias Blount paced the ground attack with 43 yards on three carries.

North Duplin built a 14-0 lead on a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs by Luis Olivos and quarterback Gage Outlaw.

The Rebels' defense posted a second-quarter safety.

Olivos, who rumbled for 131 yards, provided his second TD — a 3-yard burst with 40 seconds left before halftime.

South Lenoir yielded just 202 yards — all on the ground — over 54 plays.

"In a Hugh Martin-type offense, they're ground and pound, very physical," Joyner said. "They're happy with three or four yards (a play). If they get ahead of the chains in their offense, you get a stop for one (yard) or two and then they get a first down, that's stuff we've got to fix and come back next week with a better plan."

The Blue Devils entertain Jones Senior next Thursday.

NORTH DUPLIN 22, SOUTH LENOIR 0

SL            0              0              0              0 — 0
ND          14           8              0              0 — 22
First Quarter
ND — Olivos 1 run (Mendoza kick), 9:42
ND — Outlaw 1 run (Mendoza kick), 1:22
Second Quarter
ND — Safety (runner tackled in end zone), 3:30
ND — Olivos 3 run (Mendoza kick), 0:40

                                SL            ND
First Downs                            4             12
Rushes-Yds                         24-31    54-202
Passing                                5-14-0    0-0-0
Passing Yds                         26             0
Total yards                          57           202
Punts                                    3-31.0    2-16.0
Fumbles                               0-0          2-2
Penalties                             8-36       3-22
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — South Lenoir:  Jon Howard 5-(minus-13), Jonathan Haddock 4-1, Joseph Cobb 7-24, Xavier Mitchell 4-(minus-1), Matias Blount 3-43, Team 1-(minus-13). North Duplin: Luis Olivos 20-131, Saul Mendoza 18-62, Gage Outlaw 12-18, Yobany Zambrano 2-3, Team 2-(minus-12).
PASSING — South Lenoir: Howard 5-14-0, 26.
RECEIVING — South Lenoir: J. Cobb 2-2, Blount 1-(minus-1), Robert Cobb 1-27, Kodjo Missebukpo 1-(minus-2).

South Lenoir head football coach Jeremy Joyner gives insight on the Blue Devils’ first game of 2019. @NeuseNews @BCHanks @JuniousSmithIII pic.twitter.com/vTdD6dJWgg

— Rudy Coggins (@RudyCoggins) August 24, 2019