East allowed only two first downs by the winless Rams in the first half and seven for the night. Harding finished with 66 total yards.

Big defensive plays for the Mustangs included pass interceptions by Isaac Washington and Cal Hayes Jr. that set up a touchdown and field goal, respectively.

“Defensively, that’s the best we’ve played,” said coachJeff Safrit of East. “We stopped the run (47 yards rushing by the Rams), and we stopped the pass (19 yards). We stopped everything tonight we needed to stop. Defensively, we played with some intensity.”

Linemen Danny Misenheimer, Andrew Hallman and Thomas Hendrickson each had tackles for big losses by Harding backs. Hendrickson, on special teams, also had a blocked punt.

Harding did have its scoring opportunities, but couldn’t get the football in the end zone. When Raymond Barksdale blocked a punt tried by East’s Jordan Shinn late in the first half, the Rams got the ball at the East 21. Big plays by Misenheimer, lineman Henry Faavesi and linebacker Chris Faavesi pushed the Rams back to the 16, where Harding lost the ball on downs.

Then, in the third period, a 42-yard punt return by Antonio Harris led the way as the Rams reached East’s 16. Hayes ended that threat with a fourth-down pass interception thrown by Mike Smith, whose attempted field goal was ruined by a high center snap.

“The first half wasn’t too great,” said the 260-pound Faavesi, “but we picked it up in the second half and started getting the ball back.”

The defense, coached by Leland Peacock, seemed as if it came in looking for a shutout, but Faavesi said that wasn’t his main goal.

“I wasn’t expecting a shutout; I was just ready to play the game,” he said.

East, 2-2 in the conference and 4-3 overall, bounced back from a 28-7 loss to West Rowan the previous Friday.

“We played hard; we needed this one,” said Safrit. “We’ve got a break now (open date). We’ve got some stuff we’ve got to get healed up.”

East’s starting fullback, Jason Powles, did not play because of a shoulder injury. Starting wide receiver Brent Lambert played long enough to catch a 50-yard pass from quarterback Drew Davis to set up East’s first touchdown. Lambert has a strained medial collateral ligament in his knee.

“He’s still gimping around a little bit, so we got him out in the second half,” said the East coach.

East, with losses to Central Cabarrus and West Rowan in the SPC, isn’t in great position to capture one of the league’s three state playoff berths, but Safrit is still optimistic.

“We’re not out of anything. We’ve got four games left (Northwest Cabarrus, Kannapolis A.L. Brown, Concord and Sun Valley)!” he exclaimed.

Safrit also had praise for Harding (0-4, 0-6).

“They stopped us up pretty good in the first couple of series. They’ve got some good athletes,” he said of the Rams. “That 23 (Harris) is tough.”

Harris had 80 yards rushing in 17 carries along with several nice punt and kickoff returns. The rest of the Rams’ team accounted for minus 14 yards.

Sophomore halfback Hayes again led East’s offense with 209 all-purpose yards, including 164 yards rushing on 14 carries. Hayes scored East’s first touchdown on a 2-yard run in the opening period and got the final TD in the fourth quarter and a 67-yarder.

Other East touchdowns were scored by halfback Hendrickson on a 67-yard run on a second-and-long draw play in the second period; fullback Chris Faavesi on a 2-yarder in the third quarter; and receiver Andrew Barrier on a 2-yard pass from Davis in the third. Barrier also caught a pass from Davis for a 2-point conversion.