Trojans surge to take county battle with Western, 28-13

Harnett Central’s varsity football team surged in the second half to take its first win of the season, 28-13, over visiting county rival Western Harnett to start All American 3-A/4-A Conference play on Friday night.

“It’s kind of been our M.O. all year,” said Harnett Central coach Matt Migliore. “We move the ball between the 20s effectively and then we get inside the 20 and shoot ourselves in the foot. It was kind of the same thing in the first half. We made some adjustments to some minor things at halftime and the kids responded real well to them. And I thought defensively we played really darn good.”

Western Harnett coach Zach Tenuta said missed opportunities and not being able to stop Central’s run game in the second half were factors in the loss.

“You knew at some point in the game, somebody had to pull ahead and they were able to do it,” Tenuta said. “We had some opportunities throughout the game based off turnovers, based off decent field position and we didn’t take advantage of it the way that we probably needed to and part of that probably came back. And at the end of the game, whether we were tired or I don’t know what it was, we didn’t do a good job stopping the run, which I thought we did a great job of stopping in the first half.”

Senior Marquez Jones was a major factor in all facets of the game for the Trojans (1-2, 1-0 AAC). He ran for 127 yards and one touchdown on nine carries on offense, forced one fumble and had three interceptions on defense and blocked an extra point on special teams.

“He had a heck of a game,” Migliore said. “We’ve been waiting for that breakout game. He’s had some really good games over the last three years, but we’ve been waiting for that breakout game and finally got it and I think he got a pretty good boost of confidence from that.”

Junior Tay’Shawn Moore led Central offensively, running for 185 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries and catching four passes for 30 yards.

“Tay’s been grinding all year for us,” Migliore said. “He’s averaging near 150 yards a game. It’s that thing where we were just having a hard time punching it into the end zone. We were getting him rolling up and down the field and then we’d shoot ourselves in the foot. It’s not a secret he’s going to be our workhorse. He’s going to run the ball in the offense that we run.”

Aiden Taylor was 11-of-16 passing for 90 yards and a touchdown, with one interception, and ran for six yards on five carries. Chris Mills had four receptions for 43 yards and a touchdown and a 12-yard carry. Logan Taylor had two receptions for 17 yards. Isaiah Pearson was a perfect 4-for-4 kicking extra points.

Sophomore Bryce Browning was 22-of-42 passing for 173 yards and two touchdowns, with three interceptions, and junior Ian Bristow had five receptions for 76 yards and two touchdowns and a nine-yard carry to lead the Eagles (1-3, 0-1).

“Ian’s done a great job,” Tenuta said. “He’s a guy that when I took this job back in May, I knew he was a good player based on what he’s done previously. Him and Bryce Browning, who’s our quarterback now with Trent (Botts) being out, they have a great relationship, because they were our two receivers at the start of the season. There’s a lot of confidence there within both of those guys in each other. And we’re going to do what we can to get Ian Bristow the ball, because he does a heck of a job for us.”

Elijah Bass had five receptions for 42 yards. Sebastian Tyson had six receptions for 25 yards and ran for three yards on three carries. Josiah Smith had three receptions for 15 yards and a five-yard carry. Ziggy Stallworth had three receptions for 15 yards.

Central struck first late in the first quarter. Jones forced a fumble, recovered by Jaylan Burton, and one play later, Aiden Taylor found Mills in the end zone for a 26-yard score.

Western’s first points also came off of a turnover. Cameron Curva recovered a fumble, leading to Browning throwing to Bristow for a nine-yard touchdown. Moises Polston made the extra point.

Early in the third, a bad snap on a Western punt gave Central a short field. The Trojans took advantage, with Moore scoring on a three-yard run.

Western answered on the ensuing drive, with Browning connecting with Bristow again for a 10-yard touchdown. But Jones blocked the extra point.

Late in the third, Moore picked up his second score of the game on a 41-yard run. Central added one more score early in the fourth quarter on a 17-yard Jones run.

Harnett Central travels to conference opponent Westover (2-0) and Western Harnett is at home against league foe Pine Forest (2-1) on Friday night.