Northside went to the air to try to defeat Clinton, but the Dark Horses’ run game ultimately grounded the Monarchs from soaring out of town with a victory.

Instead, the third-ranked Dark Horses (3-0) downed the No. 9 Monarchs 35-16 in a game in which one team (Northside) threw the ball 23 times – or once more than the team’s total number of completions in its first three games – while the other didn’t even attempt a pass.

Talk about contrast in styles

Not that Northside first-year coach Kendrick Pollock wasn’t trying to force the Dark Horses to throw it. He was. But Clinton didn’t have to, although at least twice it looked like quarterback Kris Williams was looking to pass. Instead, he chose to run.

“We had to put them in position to throw the ball and we didn’t,” Pollock said. “A couple times we got them back behind the sticks, but we know what coach (Bob) Lewis is going to do. He’s going to play that power football. We know it if it was less than fourth-and-5 there was a good chance he was going for it.”

Williams has now thrown the ball seven times in three games.

Of Northside quarterback Jonte McMullen’s 23 passes, 17 came in the second half. He was 5 for 6 for 64 yards an interception in the opening half and 5 for 17 in the second half for 93 yards.

“It was something we saw,” Pollock said in explaining why Northside went to the air more in the second half. “We thought we could take advantage of our receivers on their DBs. We threw the ball pretty well.”

It happened again

Richlands fans may be feeling a bit of déjà vu after the Wildcats’ 20-14 home loss to South Lenoir.

It was two years ago when the Wildcats lost 13-7 in overtime at home to the Blue Devils in a game that saw Richlands dominate the statistics.

The Wildcats again controlled the numbers this year in their home encounter with the Blue Devils and again fell on the losing end to South Lenoir. Richlands outgained South Lenoir 258 to 190, including 172 to 46 in the first half.

Perhaps the Wildcats should only schedule road games against the Blue Devils, given Richlands won at Deep Run 33-0 last year.

QB goes down

Richlands senior quarterback Adam Murphy went down with a shoulder injury after he was blocked following an interception late in the second quarter with the Wildcats leading 7-6.

Murphy, who had rushed for 54 yards on six carries and completed two of five passes for 25 yards and two picks, missed the rest of the game. He was replaced by sophomore Houston Lish.

A big game

Could there be another highscoring affair between East Duplin and North Lenoir next week in Beulaville? That’s possible after the Panthers beat James Kenan 44-0 on Friday and the Hawks defeated Southern Wayne 63-57.

For the record, East Duplin beat North Lenoir 65-34 last year. The Panthers also beat the Hawks 60-0 in 2014.

A penalty of precaution

A South Lenoir defender was flagged in the first quarter for a 15-yard illegal equipment penalty following a 9-yard run to the Blue Devils’ 27-yard line by Richlands’ Matt Westlake.

The reason?

Because he continued chasing after Westlake after the defender received a hard block that jarred his helmet off his head. As required, he was forced to go to the sideline for a play.

This rule was put in place to help prevent concussions.