ELIZABETH CITY — Northeastern continued to be a thorn in the Columbus County football side as the Eagles defeated South Columbus 56-21 Friday night in the second round of the 3A playoffs.
The Northeastern Eagles knocked Whiteville out of the playoffs last year 24-14 in the 2A Eastern Finals. The Eagles (8-3) advance to the third round to face Pender November 21 in Burgaw.
The Eagles got on the board first as quarterback Zak Ishman threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Devon Sheaves to give Northeastern an early 7-0 lead with the Peyton Paris extra point with 7:59 left in the first quarter. Ishman, the 6′ 2″ junior quarterback for the Eagles, threw for 322 yards and four touchdowns, on 18 of 22 of his passes completed.
After the Stallions scored on a touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7, South Columbus got a big break from the kickoff team, pinning the Eagles down at their five-yard line on the kickoff after the touchdown. But the gift faded away as Damar Mcneill took the handoff and ran 95 yards for a touchdown to put the Eagles back on top 14-7. Paris hit the PAT.
South Columbus took the next drive down the field to tie the score 14-14. Oscar Valdez hit the extra point for the Stallions with 1:56 left in the first quarter. McNeil, who had 174 yards and two touchdowns on the night for Northeastern, found the end zone again from 15 yards out with 4:12 in the second quarter to put the Eagles back on top 21-14 with the Paris extra point.
Northeastern forced the Stallions to punt on their next drive and Isman threw to Uzziah Haney to extend the lead to 28-14 with the extra point. The Stallions scored quickly with a long Jaxson Greene touchdown pass only to have the Eagles return the favor, capped off by a 25-yard McNeill run. Peyton Paris hit the extra point to make it 35-21 Eagles going into the half.
The Eagles came out in the second half and hurt the Stallions bad with a 85-yard kickoff return to put Northeastern ahead 42-21 with the Paris PAT. Ishman threw his third touchdown of the night, connecting with Ayden Holly from five yards away to push the lead to 49-21. Ishman found Haney again in the back of the end zone with 31 seconds left in the third quarter. Peyton Paris hit the extra point to push the Eagles advantage to 56-21.
Due to the Sportsmanship Rule, the clock ran continuously the rest of the game. This occurs when a team has a 35-point advantage anytime during the contest.
Uzziah Haney had 104 yards receiving on six catches to go with his touchdown for the Eagles. Devon Sheares contributed 85 yards receiving and a touchdown.
Northeastern goes to face Pender next Friday. The Patriots (10-1) pounded Hertford County 60-0 in the 3A second round contest Friday night.
South Columbus (7-5) concluded its season as Southeastern Conference Co-Champions.
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