The dust has settled from the second round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association football playoffs, and only Clayton and Cleveland remain.
Round three is four days away, so let’s go ahead and look back:
pasquotank county 54, princeton 41
Princeton’s high-powered offense kept it in the game for a while, but Pasquotank’s relentless ground game won out in the end.
The Panthers (8-3) rushed for 411 yards and eight touchdowns on 32 carries to help the hosts withstand a late push — including a 20-point fourth quarter — from the Bulldogs (7-5).
Teo McPhatter ended his sophomore season with 249 yards and three touchdowns on an eye-popping 47 carries, Evan Holmes hauled in both McPhatter pass completions for 65 yards and a score and Taylor Parrish added a pair of rushing touchdowns for Princeton.
Pasquotank County hosts Kinston in round three.
East Duplin 48, North Johnston 20
East Duplin built a 27-6 halftime lead en route to a big win over visiting North Johnston. East Duplin (9-2) rushed for 380 yards and six scores on just 21 carries, which canceled out a big night from North Johnston quarterback Kaleb Pone.
The senior closed his record-breaking career with 141 passing yards and a score to go along with 126 rushing yards. Maleek Farris-Teachey (116 yards) and Juan Sanchez Fuentes each scored a rushing touchdown for the Panthers, who end their season at 6-6.
East Duplin will host SouthWest Edgecombe in the third round.
seventy-first 22, south Johnston 3
The old saying “defense wins championships” was on full display in Fayetteville on Friday night, as Seventy-First smothered South Johnston in a second-round 6A clash.
The Falcons (9-2) picked off two passes, returning one for a touchdown, and allowed only 154 yards of total offense. Jayson Franklin (191) and Shon Pone (100) each topped 100 rushing yards and found the end zone for Seventy-First, which will visit North Nash in round three.
The Trojans (8-4) got 112 rushing yards and a score from senior Holt Langston on the night.
clayton 29, new hanover 0
The Clayton defense came up big once again as the Comets posted a shutout to reach the second round.
The Comets will entertain Conley on Friday night.
cleveland 55, south garner 3
We were wondering how Cleveland would respond to its first regular-season loss since 2019 before the second-round contest with South Garner.
The answer is emphatically. The Rams forced four interceptions, recorded 13 tackles for loss, tallied five sacks and, oh by the way, scored 55 points in a blowout.
Kaleb Ferrell rushed for a pair of touchdowns, while Porter Bennett, Jaden Tibbs and Maddox Borden also found the end zone.
Diondre Overton made 17 tackles in the game for the Rams (10-1), who host another Greater Neuse River 7A foe, Southeast Raleigh, in round three.