By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Eastern quarterback Jason Ball threw a touchdown pass to Dalton Helton with 36 seconds left in the game, and Eastern Alamance, after losing a 26-point lead, pulled out a 48-44 non-conference victory against Northern Guilford in its home opener Friday night in Mebane.
The Eagles (3-0) remain Alamance County’s only undefeated team.
Northern Guilford (0-3) scored the first two touchdowns of the fourth quarter to go ahead.
Ball threw a touchdown pass to Taraji Rogers for the game’s first points in the first quarter. Tyrek Samul ran for Eastern’s second touchdown.
The Eagles went up 19-7 when Deshan Hairston returned a fumble for a touchdown. It was 25-7 at halftime after Anthony Saunders blocked a punt, retrieved the ball, and ran to the end zone.
Eastern scored on Samuel’s 63-yard touchdown run and Josh Murray’s two-point conversion run for a 33-7 edge.
After the Nighthawks (0-3) climbed within 33-21, Ball and Charlie Deacon combined on an 82-yard touchdown pass play in the third quarter.
Williams 17, Southern Durham 8: Haneef Rasheed II scored on a touchdown run in both halves and the Williams defense came up with clutch plays in the home opener at Burlington Memorial Stadium.
Rasheed scored the game’s first points on a 6-yard run in the second quarter. Southern Durham led 8-7 at halftime before Grant Spoon’s field goal put the Bulldogs (2-1) ahead in the non-league game.
Zion Amadi’s interception helped preserve the lead and Rasheed’s 25-yard touchdown run pushed Williams to a 17-8 edge late in the third quarter.
Quarterback Dan Mahan, injured a week earlier in a loss at Eastern Guilford, didn’t play for Williams. Instead sophomore Kyrian Fuller guided the Bulldogs. Southern Durham is 1-2.
Western Alamance 31, North Stanly 21: At Elon, Cam Cotton scored on three short touchdown runs as Western Alamance rallied for the non-league home victory.
Cotton reached the end zone on runs of 1, 3 and 4 yards.
William Clinkscales returned an interception 35 yards for Western’s final touchdown.
The Warriors (2-1) trailed 15-7 at halftime. North Stanly dropped to 2-1.
Southern Alamance 65, Chapel Hill 27: At Mt. Hermon, Logan Foust scored on three touchdown runs and Jackson Parrish reached the end zone twice in the host Patriots’ non-league victory against an opponent that was a conference foe a year ago.
Foust gained 143 yards on 19 carries and Parrish racked up 126 yards on 17 attempts. Foust had scoring runs of 9, 6 and 8 yards. Parrish scored from 2 and 13 yards out. Landon Dodson’s 2-yard run and Josiah Tysinger’s 18-yard run helped Southern in a big second half.
Justin Donley scored Southern’s final touchdown.
The Patriots held a 33-6 scoring edge in the second half. Chapel Hill fell to 2-1.
Southeast Alamance 55, Chatham Central 7: At Haw River, the host Stallions won a football game for the first time in school history with a rout in their Mid-Carolina Conference opener.
Southeast is 1-2. Chatham Central (0-3) has lost nine straight games.
Cummings 54, Jordan-Matthews 6: At Siler City, the visiting Cavaliers rolled in their Mid-Carolina Conference opener.
Cummings (2-1) held a 41-0 halftime lead. Jordan-Matthews is 0-3.
Bartlett Yancey at Graham: This game wasn’t completed. The Mid-Carolina Conference game, which was Graham’s home opener, was stopped in the second quarter and didn’t continue.
Here’s information according to a post by Les Atkins, public information officer for the Alamance-Burlington School System, on the district’s website: “The decision was made to stop play after the referee observed a laser beam pointed onto the field. Both teams’ players and spectators were asked to promptly exit the stadium. There were no weapons reported, only the laser beam that prompted the decision. All attendees safely excited the stadium. The Graham Police Department, School Resource Officers, and ABSS Athletic officials are investigating the circumstances around this incident.”
Bartlett Yancey was ahead 20-0 at the time play was stopped.
It’s unclear if the game will be completed at a later date.
