North Moore has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will square off against the Wilson Prep Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but North Moore had no problem doing just that on Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Bertie 58-20 at home.
North Moore's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Colby Pennington led the charge by rushing for 57 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries, while also catching a touchdown. Jakarey Gillis also deserves a shout-out for his two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Wilson Prep came tearing into Friday's game with ten straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 30.4 points) and they left with even more momentum. They really took it to Weldon for the full four quarters, racking up a 50-8 win at home. The game was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point Wilson Prep had established a 22 point advantage.
Xavier Williams and Khamani Barnes were among the main playmakers for Wilson Prep as the former rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries and the latter rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries. Barnes was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 53 yards. Christian Richardson was another key contributor, rushing for 108 yards and a touchdown on only ten carries.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Wilson Prep's defense and their four sacks. In that department, Joshua Jordan was the leader with two sacks.
North Moore's victory was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-2. That said, the team wasn't facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 0-11 Chatham Central and 0-11 Chatham Central (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 26.5% over those games). As for Wilson Prep, their victory bumped their record up to 10-1.
We should be in store for an exciting game Thursday as both teams have no problem gaining yardage. North Moore has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 384.4 total yards per game. However, it's not like Wilson Prep struggles in that department as they've been even better at 452.1 per game. With a pair of commanding offenses duking it out, the defenses are going to have their work cut out for them. Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other football content.
