Eagles Rout Union 50-0

ELIZABETHTOWN — East Bladen came out rested and sharp in their 50-0 rout of Union Friday night in the second round of the 2A playoffs. 0

The two-week rest from a bye week and a first round bye proved to do wonders for the Eagles as their defense pitched its fourth shutout of the year.

“I thought we were sharp on both sides of the ball despite that it was our first game in 21 days. We’re looking forward to round three,” stated Eagles Coach Robby Priest.

The Eagles (8-3) drove down the field on the first drive of the game, going nine plays for 83 yards culminated by a six-yard Dashon Campbell touchdown. Keyshaun Kemp ran in the two- point conversion to give the Eagles an 8-0 advantage.

East Bladen kept the momentum going on defense as senior Julius Battle recovered a Union fumble on the Spartan 34 yard line. Kemp found Campbell for a 21-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to 14-0. Campbell ran in the two-point conversion to give the Eagles a 16-0 advantage. Kemp added to the East Bladen lead with a two-yard plunge. Campbell converted two points to push the score to 24-0 in the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter didn’t get much better for the Spartans as sophomore Jaden Lewis ran it in from the seven-yard line. Campbell’s two-point conversion made the score East Bladen 32, Union 0. Campbell scored again from two yards away and Battle carried it in from the seven yard line a few minutes later to push the lead to 44-0 with the Kemp to Khalil McKoy pass for the two-point conversion.

The NCHSAA rules states that when a team gets a 35 point or more lead, the clock must run non-stop for sportsmanship purposes. The clock ran continuously for the remainder of the game.

East Bladens’ JV played most of the rest of the game, culminated by a Ryne Priest one yard sneak in the fourth quarter to push the score to 50-0 for the final.

East Bladen amassed 380 yards on the ground against Union. Dashon Campbell led the Eagles with 81 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns.

East Bladen will host Manteo (7-3) Nov. 21. The Redskins defeated Northampton County 36-8 in the second round.

Coach Mark Oates’ Union Spartans finish the season 3-9. Their playoff win last week 28-26 against Northwest Halifax in the first round was the Spartans first playoff win since Nov. 18, 2016 when the defeated Trask 41-14.