Central turns back E.E. Smith

Harnett Central defeated E.E. Smith, 28-14, at Homecoming for the Trojans on Tuesday night.

“22 years of coaching football, I’ve never played a game on a Tuesday night,” said Central coach Matt Migliore.

The Golden Bulls were coming off a quarantine.

“We had been practicing, which was to our benefit,” Migliore said.

The rescheduled triumph put Central at 2-3 for the season and 2-1 in the All American Conference going into a game at Terry Sanford on Friday night.

“Playing on two days of preparation is not ideal,” Migliore said. “We’ve got to figure that out and get ready.”

Tay’Shawn Moore’s scoring run with 1:15 left in the half provided a 7-0 lead for the Trojans at the break.

Adriana Bell was named Homecoming Queen and Xavier Bailey was recognized as Homecoming King at halftime.

Central extended its lead to 14-0 with 9:52 left in the third quarter on a scoring pass from Aiden Taylor to Moore.

The Trojans went up 21-6 on a lengthy scoring run by Chris Mills with 11:48 left to play.

Moore rushed for his third TD of the game with 5:53 to go.

Migliore was pleased with the run game and the defense, with the exception of a 99-yard scoring run by Malik Brunson of the visitors with 1:38 remaining.