Aces notch first league win

Overcome penalties, get homecoming win

By Owen Hassell
Sports Correspondent

Saturday, October 31, 2009
EDENTON — 

With 120 yards of penalties, Edenton almost negated as many yards as leading rusher Jamez Moore posted Friday night.

The yellow flags, however, did not wipe away Moore’s three touchdowns in a 34-12 Aces victory against Currituck in a clash of winless Northeastern Coastal Conference teams.

Edenton (4-6, 1-4) might have extended its season into the 2A playoffs with a homecoming win, but more important to the team was to break through in league play.

“We talked about how important it was to get on the board in the conference,” Aces coach Bob Turner said. “We’ve come close at times and been killed at times in this conference and frustration had set in with the staff and players, so it was big to get one.”

A big 21-point first quarter did the trick while Edenton backs Moore and Daquan Ford delivered most of the damage. The duo scored all five touchdowns and combined for 282 yards rushing, with 209 coming from Moore.

Moore’s final score, and his second on a run over 40 yards, put the contest on ice with 2:53 remaining.

“We haven’t had that all year long,” Turner said. “But we talked at halftime about not being able to lay back, because we’re not a good enough team to lay back on anybody.”

Aaron Lindsey proved Turner was right and was the catalyst for a Knights rally. As Currituck (2-8, 0-5) stared another large hole down in a conference game, this time 21-0 in the opening quarter, he ran a kickoff return 78 yards to put the Knights on the board.

In the third quarter, the senior squirted ahead of the Edenton secondary to score on a 66-yard pass play from quarterback Dustin Midgett to make it 21-12. He finished with three catches for 86 yards.

“Lindsey has shown me a different side this season and has flipped a page,” Knights coach John Wheeler said. “He’s played a great game every game and never quits. He’s a leader.

“We’ve practiced that wedge (to score on kickoff return) all week in practice, and they bought into it. They executed it, and I’m proud of Lindsay and all my seniors tonight.“

Edenton penalties might have kept Currituck around, but Knights turnovers evened out the miscues.

After an 11-play drive stalled for the Aces, due in large part to five penalties for 55 yards, a punt to the Knights was fumbled and Edenton recovered.

Working from Currituck’s 22, Moore was able to rumble to the end zone with 4:02 left in the third quarter.

Twice Currituck got to the Aces’ 5 before throwing interceptions. The second pick came with 7:52 to go in the game and Edenton holding a 27-12 advantage.

“We were in the red zone three times, and if you don’t score there it’s going to be a long night,” Wheeler said. “It’s something we’ll definitely emphasize. It’s when you have to buckle down.”

Turner believes his club was fortunate penalties did not prevent it from winning, but knew it made the game more contested.

“We had some big ones in the second quarter that prevented us from putting them away,” Turner said. “It was holding us off from being able to cruise. It was one of those there where, yeah, we were making the penalty, and they were making the call.”