Southern Wayne head football coach Matt Hine talks with his team during a timeout in a recent game. The Saints fell at East Wake on Friday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
WENDELL — A bye-week injury depleted Southern Wayne’s depth chart and forced head coach Matt Hine to call upon another young player Friday evening.
Starting JV quarterback Jayden Moore handled the offensive reins during the Saints’ 48-6 loss to East Wake in the Quad County 3A opener for both teams.
Moore stepped in for sophomore Brandon Lark, who watched from the sidelines wearing a sling on his throwing shoulder.
Hine expects Lark to sit out at least two to four weeks.
“He’s a phenomenal athlete … has all the potential in the world,” Hine said of Moore. “You saw first-game jitters with him at times, but also saw him make plays we haven’t been able to make this year. He’s got the ability to throw some deep balls that we haven’t had success of getting this year.
“[He’s a] different style of runner than Brandon.”
East Wake seized a 14-0 lead before Southern Wayne notched its lone touchdown of the night.
A second-quarter fumble recovery put the Saints deep inside Warrior territory. Jaylen Bowden Gaines converted a short-yardage touchdown from inside the 3-yard line.
The two-point conversion failed.
The Warriors responded with 34 consecutive points – one rushing TD and four TD passes. East Wake has won all four QCC meetings since the league’s inception in 2021.
“We didn’t do a good enough job on the line of scrimmage, so any success we had running the ball was too inconsistent to keep drives going,” Hine said. “East Wake was able to chew up five, eight, 10 yards at a clip against us on the ground. They also took advantage of one-on-one matchups [outside] when we brought people into the box to stop the ball.”
Hine said the Saints’ performance was “eerily similar” to the season opener against Eastern Wayne. He didn’t see any fire, any enthusiasm.
“Didn’t have a lot of energy,” Hine added. “I did tell my team [in post-game] I was happy with how we played consistently and evenly in the second half. We had a lot of JV kids with us, so we used that opportunity late in the third quarter and the whole fourth quarter.
“We gave them a chance to get out there and learn.”
Southern Wayne (1-3 overall, 0-1 QCC) travels to West Johnston next Friday. Meanwhile, the Warriors (2-2, 1-0) venture into Wayne County for a contest at unbeaten Charles B. Aycock.
Both games kick off at 7 p.m.
Hine said the learning curve continues for his team, which gets younger by the week due to injuries.
“Player faster and more physical is the focus for practice this week,” Hine said. “I don’t think there is any way for us to be successful if we don’t increase the speed of play on the field and the physicality consistently against other teams.”
You may reach sports writer Rudy Coggins at prepswriter2@gmail.com or call/test 919-709-9257.
