Perfect Hawks improve to 4-0 with rout of East Carteret
North Lenoir senior cornerback Tre Olds (1) returns an East Carteret interception — his first of two in the game — during Tuesday’s 47-0 whitewash of the Mariners. Photo by Linda Whittington / Neuse News
By Bryan Hanks
LA GRANGE — For the first time since Jimmy Carter was president, the North Lenoir varsity football team is 4-0.
The Hawks started slow Tuesday night but hit their stride in the second quarter on their way to a 47-0 rout of East Carteret in a game that was moved from Sept. 6 due to Hurricane Dorian.
The Hawks improved to 4-0 with the victory; the last time North Lenoir was perfect after four games was on Sept. 26, 1980 after the Doug Hill-coached program opened with wins against South Lenoir, North Pitt, Greenville Conley and West Craven.
North Lenoir’s Ny’jai Koonce rushes during the first half of Tuesday’s game. The senior star rushed for two touchdowns and had two interceptions during the win. Photo by Linda Whittington / Neuse News
No North Lenoir football team has ever started a season 5-0, but the Hawks will have that opportunity Friday at Eastern Wayne (0-4).
“I always say to our kids, you play one play at a time — one quarter, one half — and then you make adjustments and play your second half,” North Lenoir second-year coach Jim Collins said. “That’s how we’ve been; I haven’t even looked at Eastern Wayne because I wanted to focus on (Tuesday’s) game.”
In Tuesday’s contest, the Hawks were forced to punt on their first drive of the game, but scored on their final five possessions of the first half to take a 32-0 lead at the half. They scored twice more in the third quarter — including a 32-yard field goal by Michael Moore — and added a touchdown at the 1:47 mark of the final frame that started a running clock.
The offensive production was spread all over the place by North Lenoir, which had eight players with at least two rushing attempts. Malik Jones (eight carries, 113 yards), Jaquon Shackleford (three carries, 76 yards) and Ny’jai Koonce (seven carries, 58 yards) had two rushing touchdowns each, while quarterback Filipio Sualevai completed his only pass out of two attempts for a 25-yard touchdown to Savion White.
The Hawks finished with 388 yards of offense, including 363 on the ground.
“It’s hard to defend us when we’re spreading it out like that,” Collins said.
However, it was North Lenoir’s stifling defense that was most impressive in Tuesday’s victory. The Hawks held the Mariners (0-4) to only 77 total yards, including 80 yards rushing on 32 attempts.
The defensive dominance was most pronounced through the air, though, as North Lenoir held East Carteret sophomore quarterback Adam McIntosh to minus-3 yards passing on one completion out of 15 attempts.
In fact, McIntosh completed more passes to two North Lenoir defenders — senior quarterback Tre Olds and Koonce, who had two interceptions each — than he did to his own receivers.
North Lenoir head coach Jim Collins talks to one of his players during Tuesday’s win. Photo by Linda Whittington / Neuse News
“Coach came out during practice and told us we had to be focused and play our zones,” Olds said. “Once we did that and executed, he said it would turn out like it did tonight.”
North Lenoir turns its attention to Eastern Wayne, where the Hawks will visit Friday night. It’ll be the third game in eight days for the Hawks. Collins praised the efforts of the team’s trainer — his wife Christi — in helping keep his Hawks healthy during this key stretch of games.
“She does a great job; she’s on the kids all the time about drinking plenty of water and eating right,” Collins said of his wife. “It showed in tonight’s game; we didn’t have a single kid come off the field because of cramps.”
Extra points: The two other times North Lenoir started 4-0, they were shut out in their fifth games — 16-0 vs. Northern Nash in 1973 and 70-0 at Southern Nash in 1980. The 70-0 loss is the second-worst in program history. … Following NL’s 4-0 start in 1973, the Hawks ended up 4-6; in 1980, the Hawks were 6-4. … North Lenoir has only had winning streaks of five games or more five times in program history; the last time it occurred was from Aug. 29-Oct. 3, 2003 under coach Wayne Jackson in the best season in program history when the Hawks finished 8-3. ... The longest winning streak in NL history — six games — came over the final three games of 1969 and the first three of 1970 under coach Cleve Creech. North Lenoir was called the Buccaneers in 1969 before changing their nickname to Hawks for the 1970 campaign. … The Hawks extended the Lenoir County record of non-shutouts to 51 Tuesday. The last time NL was shut out was in a 54-0 loss to Greene Central on Oct. 17, 2014. … NL has played its next opponent, Eastern Wayne, 20 times in program history (1970-76, 2000, 2015-16) and are 4-16 all-time against the
North Lenoir Principal Gil Respess got plenty of exercise Tuesday — the administrator sprints in front of the fans every time the Hawks score. Photo by Linda Whittington / Neuse News
North Lenoir 47, East Carteret 0
EC 0 0 0 0 — 0
NL 7 25 9 6 — 47
First Quarter
NL—Malik Jones 4 run (Trey Kivett kick), 0:32.1
Second Quarter
NL—Ny’jai Koonce 3 run (Kivett kick), 10:31
NL—Savion White 25 pass from Filipio Sualevai (kick failed), 5:20
NL—Jaquon Shackleford 24 run (kick blocked), 2:04
NL—Jones 35 run (kick blocked), 0:31.3
Third Quarter
NL—Koonce 30 run (kick blocked), 5:42
NL—Michael Moore 32 field goal, 3:02
Fourth Quarter
NL—Shackleford 44 run (kick failed), 1:47
EC NL
First downs 6 12
Rushes 32-80 45-363
Passing 1-15-4 1-2-0
Passing yards minus-3 25
Total yards 77 388
Punts 3-20.3 3-25.7
Fumbles/Lost 2-2 2-1
Penalties 1-15 5-30
Individual statistics
Rushing — East Carteret: Adam McIntosh 12-52, Deshawn Frazier 8-20, Tyler Hodge 4-11, Miguel Bassotto 4-7, Qualik Nolon 4-(minus-10). North Lenoir: Malik Jones 8-113, Jaquan Shackleford 3-76, Ny’jai Koonce 7-58, Filipio Sualevai 5-56, Jaden Kilpatrick 7-31, Savyone Grant 9-17, Savion White 4-12, Maki Starkey 2-0.
Passing — EC: McIntosh 1-15-4, (minus-3). NL: Sualevai 1-2-0, 25.
Receiving — EC: Frazier 1-(minus-3). NL: White 1-25.
