On Thursday East Duplin will have to hit the road after three straight games at home. They will venture away from home to square off against the Kinston Vikings at 7:00 p.m. Hopefully East Duplin focused on turnovers this week as the team gave up four on Friday.
East Duplin came up short against James Kenan, falling 43-20. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest loss the Panthers have suffered against the Tigers since September 11, 2015.
East Duplin might have lost, but man, Shawn Davis was a machine: he rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: East Duplin was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 222 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 168 rushing yards in five consecutive games.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Kinston). They took their match on the road on Friday with ease, bagging a 39-0 victory over South Lenoir. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Vikings considering their 12-point performance the matchup before.
Jeremiah Hart had an outrageously good game as he rushed for 162 yards and two touchdowns on only 14 carries. The team also got some help courtesy of Tyler Jones, who threw for 102 yards and two touchdowns.
East Duplin now has a losing record at 2-3. As for Kinston, the win was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 3-2.
Thursday's contest might be decided in the trenches. East Duplin has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 282.2 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Kinston, though, as they've been averaging only 88.4. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Everything came up roses for East Duplin against Kinston in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, as the team secured a 66-12 victory. In that game, East Duplin amassed a halftime lead of 52-12, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Thursday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
