HS football playoffs: North Rowan’s season ends at Tarboro
Published 11:16 pm Friday, November 29, 2019
- North Rowan's James Gladden (3), shown during a playoff win over Princeton on Nov. 22. On Friday night, the Cavaliers' season ended with a 49-0 loss at No. 1 seed Tarboro. ... File photo by Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Staff report
TARBORO — North Rowan’s nine-game winning streak and season came to an end here Friday night, falling to unbeaten Tarboro, 49-0, in the third round of the state 1AA high school football playoffs.
Coach Ben Hampton’s Cavaliers, who finish 9-4, were overmatched from the start, as the Vikings improved to 13-0 this season and extended their own winning streak to 43 games.
Tarboro, two-time defending state champs, is the No. 1 seed in the 1AA East bracket. The Vikings will host Edenton Holmes (12-0), 61-20 winners over Manteo, in the East final next Friday.
Tarboro scored touchdowns on all six of its possessions in the first half, and took a 43-0 lead to intermission. By rule, that lead started a running clock for the second half.
The Vikings received the second-half kickoff and went on to score another touchdown, an 8-yard run by Khalil Staton. That made it 49-0 and Tarboro began sitting its starters.
In the first quarter, Tarboro took advantage of two interceptions of North QB Kyree Sims. That led to rushing TDs from Cameron Powell and Travis Johnson. Later in the period, Tobias Joyner scored on a 3-yard run, for a 22-0 advantage.
Tarboro scored 21 more points in the second quarter — a 13-yard TD run by Staton, a 2-yarder from Johnson and a 10-yard scamper by Joyner. Kicker Layton Dupree kicked three extra points.
Quarterback Kimani McDaniels was also flawless in running the Vikings’ famed Tarboro-T. He didn’t score himself but had several big runs that set up TDs. McDaniels also had a 2-point conversion pass to Powell.
The Cavaliers’ senior running back, Malcolm Wilson, who came into the game with 1,649 yards and 31 touchdowns, rarely found a lane against the Vikings’ tough defense. A 19-yard gain early in the game may have been Wilson’s longest of the game.
North Carolina high school football playoffs (1AA)
Tarboro, NC
North Rowan 0 0 0 0 — 0
Tarboro 22 21 6 0 — 49
First Quarter
T — Powell 12 run (run for 2-point conversion), 10:15
T — Johnson 2 run (Dupree kick), 5:45
T — Joyner 3 run (Dupree kick), 0:18
Second Quarter
T — Staton 13 run (Powell pass from McDaniels), 9:31
T — Johnson 2 run (Dupree kick), 7:13
T — Joyner 10 run (kick failed), 1:27
Third Quarter
T — Staton 8 run (no try attempted), 8:44
