Jarrett Shuler and Ross Ensley pursue Whiteville’s Nydir Carr in the Devils win (Fran & Christie Photo)
Whiteville – The Maroon Devils proved to be resilient in their win over Whiteville on Friday. Whiteville entered the contest as the #3 seed in the West, and featured one of the best running backs in the 1A ranks. Swain, on the other hand, appeared to be stumbling into the third round following a poor performance against Avery. The Maroon Devils survived a first half onslaught from Whiteville, made adjustments, and shut out the Wolfpack and their potent offense over the game’s final 24 minutes to take a 35-24 win.
The first half was the Terrin Manning show, as the Whiteville back sliced and bulled his way to 3 touchdowns and rushed for over a 100 yards. Manning put the Wolfpack on top with 29 yard run, breaking several tackles along the way, on the opening possession of the game.
But the Maroon Devils would answer, in typical Maroon Devil fashion, with a 9 play 80 yard drive. Facing fourth and one from the Whiteville 24 yard line senior running back Taylor Oros broke free and sprinted the 24 yards to put the Devils on the board. Cooper Reinert tied the game at 7 with 4:07 left in the first quarter.
Whiteville scored again on their next possession to cap their own 10 play 63 yard drive. Again it was Manning, who with the Wolfpack facing a third and goal from the Swain five, bullied his way for the touchdown. Following the extra point Whiteville took a 14-7 lead just a minute into the second quarter.
Once again Swain answered, this time going to work on a 12 play 84 yard drive all on the ground. Derek Fortner and Chris Miller did the majority of the work carrying the ball. Facing a third and 2 from the Whiteville 4 yard line it was Derek Fortner who plunged over for the Devils second score. Again Reinert tied the game with the extra point.
The Wolfpack showed their explosiveness on their next possessoin. Following the Devils kickoff Whiteville took over on their own 43 yard line. Quarterback Nydir Carr pitched it back to Manning who did the rest scampering 57 yards to put the Wolfpack back in front with 4:24 left before the half.
The Maroon Devils next score would change the complication of the game. Following two running plays the Devils faced a crucial third and 4 from their own 21 yard line. Quarterback Trent Wright fumbled the snap, alertly Wright picked up the ball and continued the play, which was to have been a pass play. The Whiteville defense reacted to the fumble by going to the ball, which in the secondary left both Kobe Toineeta and Jordan Cody all alone. Wright threw the ball to Jordan Cody, who, with a key block from Toineeta, did the rest scoring on what turned out to be a 79 yard touchdown pass. Reinert tied the game again at 21 with 3:08 left before the half.
Jordan Cody scores on a 79 yard touchdown pass from Trent Wright (Fran & Christie Photo)
Whiteville responded with a drive that took them to the Maroon Devil 2 yard line, before an illegal motion penalty moved them back to the 7 yard line. With only 7 seconds left before the half, Whiteville elected to have Gerardo Maggioli kick a 24 yard field goal. Maggioli made good on the kick and the Wolfpack went into halftime leading 24-21.
No one would have guessed that the Maggioli field goal would be the last points Whiteville would put on the board.
The second half opened with both defenses coming up with the first stops of the night. For Whiteville it was limiting the Devils to take 9 plays to move only 28 yards, forcing Jordan Cody’s first punt of the night. One play into Whiteville’s drive the Devils forced the first turnover of the night stripping Manning of the ball, which Angel Bowers recovered on the Whiteville 37 yard line.
Following a run and incomlete pass which netted the Devils no yardage, Swain turned to some trickeration. On 3rd and 10, Trent Wright pitched the ball to Kobe Toineeta on what appeared to be a reverse. Toineeta pulled up and hit Jordan Cody, wide open, downfield for the Devils first lead of the night. The Toineeta to Cody pass covered 37 yards.
On their next possession the Wolfpack opted to go to the air, facing a 3rd and 9 from the 50 yard line. Ross Ensley stepped in front of the Whiteville receiver and intercepted the pass giving the Devils the ball back on the Swain 39 yard line.
Facing 2nd and 11 from their own 38 Trent Wright dropped back to pass. Wright threw to Kobe Toineeta on a slant pattern, but the pass was high and Toineeta managed to get a hand on it tipping it in the air behind him, where Christian Norton was running a seperate go pattern. Norton caught the ball, almost in stride, and carried it to the Whiteville 30 before being tackled. The pass went for a 32 yard gain and put the Devils in Whiteville territory. Derek Fortner carried it to the Wolfpack 17 yard line. Then from there it was three straight Chris Miller carries, with Miller finding the endzone from 11 yards out. Following Reinert’s extra point the Devils took a 35-24 lead.
The Maroon Devil defense stopped Whiteville on both 4th quarter possessions. The first possesion was stopped on downs as Jordan Cody tackled Nathan Powell for a 2 yard gain on 4th and 11. Jarrett Shuler picked off a Whiteville pass on the Wolfpack’s final possession to seal the win for the Devils.
Taylor Oros keyed the Maroon Devil defense with 12 tackles, while Jordan Cody added 9, and Johnny Woodard 7. Ross Ensley and Jarrett Shuler both had interceptions, while Angel Bowers had a fumble recovery.
Terrin Manning finished with 189 yards on 21 carries and 3 touchdowns for the Wolfpack.
Trent Wright passes down field to Christian Norton for the Devils (Fran & Christie Photo)
Chris Miller emerged as the Maroon Devils workhorse on the night. The sophomore finished with 118 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. But more importantly he responded with several big carries throughout the game. Derek Fortner added 61 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown.
Through the air Trent Wright was 3 of 4 for 118 yards and a touchdown. Jordan Cody had 2 catches for 116 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Christian Norton and Kobe Toineeta had a catch each.
With the win, the road warrior Devils advance to the Western Regional Finals for the 4th straight year. Swain will travel to Starmount on Friday with the winner advancing to the State 1AA Championship in Raleigh.