Staff report

SPENCER — North Rowan amassed 484 total yards and easily defeated visiting East Rowan, 51-10, in Friday night’s season opener for both teams.

Running back Jaemias Morrow launched his senior year with a pair of touchdowns and 155 yards rushing. He opened the scoring with a 6-yard TD just 1:46 into the game and added a 36-yard score in the third quarter. Teammate Jeremiah Alford, North’s junior quarterback, completed 4 of 7 passes for 155 yards — two of them for touchdowns — and rushed for 95 yards and two additional touchdowns. Wide receiver Ason Best made two receptions for 116 yards, including a 72-yard touchdown catch that gave North a 37-10 lead midway through the third period.

Naj McCoy recovered a first-period fumble and Tsion Kelly intercepted a pass early in the second. Defensive end Gavin Hodgson made a fumble recovery for East.

“I was nervous for myself and how our kids were going to respond,” first-year coach Josh Sophia said after making a successful coaching debut at North. “We had some bumps out there, especially in the first half. But most of it was just first-game stuff.

Sophia previously served as an assistant to former North coaches Joe Nixon and Ben Hampton. He was a head coach at Camden County the past two seasons.

East was limited to 10 first downs and 189 total yards. The Mustangs received solid performances from senior wideout Tijon Everhart (14 rushes, 109 yards) and junior quarterback Will Klingler, who completed 10 of 19 passes. Senior Gavin Walker scored East’s lone touchdown on a short, third-quarter run.

Both teams face difficult assignments next week. East plays the second of three season-opening road games at North Stanly. The Cavs travel to Forest Hills.

More to come on this game in Tuesday’s print edition.

 

Summary

East Rowan     0     3     7     0 — 10

North Rowan  15    8    21    7 — 51

NR — Morrow 6 run (Miller run), 10:14 1st

NR — Alford — 3 run (Montes-Medrano kick), 0:20 1st

NR — Alford 23 run (Alford run), 1:14 2nd

ER — Honeycutt FG 23, 0:00

ER — Walker 2 run (Honeycutt kick), 9:19 3rd

NR — Morrow 36 run (Montes-Medrano kick), 8:58 3rd

NR — Best 72 pass from Alford (Montes-Medrano kick), 5:41 3rd

NR — Alexander 28 pass from Alford (Montes-Medrano kick), 0:52 3rd

NR — Maxwell 5 run (Montes-Medrano kick), 5:42 4th

Team Stats                                  ER                          NR

First downs                                 10                            17

Rushes-yards                           30-139                   44-329

Passing yards                              50                          155

Passes                                      12-25-1                     4-7-0

Penalties                                    4-40                     12-120

Punts                                           4-36                          0

Fumbles-lost                              3-1                          2-1

Individual Stats

Rushing — East: Everhart 14-109; Walker 5-18; Danzine 5-14; Klingler 5-4; Goodman 1-(minus 6). North — Morrow 18-155; Alford 11-95; Maxwell 6-31; Kelly 1-14; Oglesby 3-13; Best 1-12; Tarver 1-9; Miller 3-0.

Passing — East: Klingler 10-19-0, 48; Walker 2-6-1, 2. North — Alford 4-7-0, 155.

Receiving — East: Goodman 5-40; Brooks 2-3; Danzine 2-0; Walker 1-5; Everhart 1-2; Stamey 1-0. North: Best 2-116; Alexander 1-28; Tarver 1-11.