DUBLIN—Jaden Lewis rushed for five touchdowns and 244 yards as East Bladen defeated the West Bladen Knights 35-6 in football on Friday night to retain the Bell.
It was the 25th straight win for the Eagles against West Bladen dating back to 2002. The Knights owned the Bell its first year of existence in 2001, beating the Eagles on Sept. 27, 2001 at the old Tar Heel football field, 34-21.
The Bladen Battle for the Bell was established as a way to show supremacy, and East Bladen’s Jaden Lewis flexed that supremacy on Friday night.
Late in the first quarter, Jaden Lewis found the end zone from 79 yards away to give the Eagles an early 6-0 lead. In the second quarter, Lewis put on a show.
He scored three touchdowns, the first from 15 yards away with 8:14 left in the second period and another from 11 yards out a few minutes later. Lewis scored his third touchdown in the second period with a one-yard plunge that gave the Knights a 27-0 lead with 3:02 remaining in the half.
With no scoring in the third quarter, Jayden Lewis added to the Knights’ trauma by finding the endzone again from 13 yards away to push the advantage to 35-0 East Bladen.
The Knights found the endzone late as Knights’ quarterback Gaston Russ scored on a seven-yard keeper to make the final score 35-6.
East Bladen produced 353 yards offense, with 339 yards from the ground. Quarterback Ryan Priest completed two passes for 14 yards to go with the ground game of Jayden Lewis. Lewis claimed 244 yards rushing on 23 carries with his five touchdowns.
East Bladen coach Robby Priest said, “Though our energy and effort was there, execution could have been better in a lot of areas. But we won and we move on to the next one. I’m proud of how our players handled a rollercoaster week of practice and that says a lot about their character.
“They love that they get at it in practice. They understand that it is a process and they love it.”
West Bladen matched the physicality of the Eagles but it didn’t produce much fruit. The Knights only managed 73 yards of offense.
The Eagles move to 2-0 and will face Whiteville (2-0) in Elizabethtown on Sept 4. The Knights fall to 0-2 on the season. West Bladen will take on West Columbus (0-2) Sept 4 in Cerro Gordo.
