North falls 39-15 to Newton-Conover

NEWTON — Newton-Conover’s Red Devils simply had too many weapons for a turnover-plagued North Rowan football team here Friday night.

Quick tailback LaDoux Wilson scored three touchdowns and hard-running quarterback Curt Dukes ran for two TDs and passed for another as Newton-Conover captured a 39-15 victory in the quarterfinals of the state 2A playoffs.

Coach Nick Bazzle’s Southern District 7 champions improved to 11-2 for the season heading into next Friday’s semifinal contest at undefeated Eastern Randolph, which won its 14th straight game by a score of 38-10 at Ramseur. Newton-Conover has won its last seven games, including three in the playoffs.

Coach Roger Secreast’s Cavaliers, champions of the Central Carolina Conference, started the season 2-4, won seven straight games and finished with a 9-5 mark.

The 160-pound Wilson ran for 161 yards in 21 carries, giving over 2,000 yards for the season. He did all his scoring in the second half on runs of 8, 56 and 38 yards. Quarterback Dukes scored in the open 1:24 on a 25-yard run, passed to wide receiver Trey Connor for a 16-yard TD, then sneaked across the goal line from 1 yard out. He finished with 95 yards in 16 carries. Dukes had 95 yards rushing.

“I’ve said all along that little tailback was as fast as any we’ve seen, and he sure is. And I said the quarterback was good,” said Secreast. “I thought they outperformed us in every part of the game tonight, and we lost.”

The Red Devils had 350 yards total offense, including 333 on the ground, and only one turnover. North had 246 yards total offense and five turnovers — three pass interceptions and two fumbles.

“I guess it was our turn,” said Secreast of the turnovers, four of which set up Newton-Conover scores. “Sometimes it seems like when things go bad, they keep going bad. Against a good football team, you can’t make mistakes. Last week Shelby made mistakes the second half against us, and we won the football game. This week we made mistakes and got beat by another good football team.”

North had rallied to defeat Shelby 34-24 in the second round the previous Friday night.

The Cavaliers’ first turnover of the night came in the opening minute, when tailbackMarcus Lawing fumbled and defensive back Wilson recovered at the North 29.

Two plays later, Dukes went up the middle on a quarterback sneak for his 25-yard touchdown run. It was 6-0 with 10:36 to play in the first quarter after Avery Stewart’s extra-point kick failed.

North quarterback Alfonzo Miller, playing on a sprained ankle, then directed the Cavaliers on a drive that reached the Red Devils’ 13 before Miller’s second-down pass was intercepted by the ever-present Wilson.

The Red Devils, with Dukes and Wilson doing most of the damage, then drove 88 yards for their second touchdown, scored by Connor on a 16-yard pass from Dukes. North’s Jacques Taylor and Ben Motley stopped Wilson’s try for the 2-point conversion, leaving it 12-0 with 1:25 still left in the first quarter.

The Cavaliers made it a 12-7 game with 5:51 to go in the half, going 57 yards in only five plays after a Newton-Conover punt. Miller went the last 20 yards on a keeper, and Kevin Rutherford booted the extra point.

North was still very much in the contest in the third quarter, when the Cavaliers faced a fourth-and-one situation at their own 45. Miller tried to get the first down on a quarterback sneak, and the Red Devils’ defensive line held on downs.

The Cavaliers appeared to have regained possession when Ray Johnson Jr. recovered Dukes’ fumble two plays later. However, Johnson also fumbled the ball after a 21-yard runback, and Dontavious Lineberger recovered for the Red Devils at his own 35.

The home team was in charge from that point on. Three plays later, Dukes faked a handoff and took off on a misdirection play, going 50 yards to the North 11. Dukes also got the TD from 1 yard out. It was 18-7 with 4:19 left in the third period after Duke’ try for the 2-point conversion was stopped by James House.

Another turnover hit North on its next play. Miller pitched back to tight end Graham Hosch, the former starting QB, and Hosch’s pass was intercepted by Lineberger, who ran it back 26 yards to the North 13.

Wilson scored on an 8-yard run two plays later, then Stewart converted for a 25-7 advantage with 3:37 left in the third quarter.

North’s defense struck for the Cavaliers’ second TD early in the fourth quarter. Linebacker Jonathan Lomax stripped the ball from Dukes and ran 30 yards into the end zone. Hosch, who took over at quarterback after Miller reinjured his ankle, passed to Lawing for the 2-point conversion, pulling North within 32-15, but with only 6:41 to play.

Wilson wasted no time putting the Red Devils on the board again, streaking around the right side of his line and going 56 yards down the sideline. It was 32-15 after Stewart’s conversion.

Wilson needed one more carry to surpass the 2,000-yard rushing mark. With only 19 seconds to play, he ran 38 yards for his third TD, and Stewart added the extra point for the final 39-15 margin.

The 215-pound Lawing had a great first half with 93 yards rushing, but carried the ball only three times in the second half, when North had to go to the air. He finished with 94 yards in 17 carries.

“We played a good team. We didn’t want to give up. We tried our best,” said Lawing. “They were quick off the ball. Their secondary played pretty good on us. We tried to pass at the end. It worked a little bit, but we didn’t have enough to pull it out.”

Secreast said of the Red Devils, “This is a well-disciplined team, Newton-Conover, and they do a good job. I’m not taking anything away from these guys. They just outperformed us: That’s allI can say.”

He was pleased with a gutsy performance by former star wide receiver Miller, who suffered a severe ankle sprain at the end of the win over Shelby last Friday.

“The doctors released him, but he didn’t practice this week. They released him, and we tried to get what we could out of him. But he wasn’t able to run the football tonight. Without him being very mobile, we weren’t going to do much. We were running the football a lot the first half, and there was a reason for that. The quarterback was hobbled,” said the North coach.

Miller was carried off the field after re-injuring his ankle late in the third quarter. He was taken to Catawba Memorial Hospital in Hickory as a precaution, but Secreast said he thought it was a re-injury.

Hosch, the starting quarterback until a midseason knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery, then replaced Miller with his team down 25-7.

“Give Graham some credit. This is his first time back under pressure as a quarterback,” said Secreast.

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NOTES: Miller and Hosch combined to go 13-for-26 passing for 108 yards and three interceptions. ... North’s top pass receiver was Dre Byrd with four catches for 29 yards. Hosch and Lawing each had three receptions for 35 and 26 yards, respectively, while Chris Phillips had three catches for 18 yards. ... Miller ran for 36 yards in eight tries despite his injury. ... North also lost to Newton-Conover 14-7 in the first round of the 1995 playoffs.