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Eastern Alamance High School's junior wide receiver Devin Clark makes a catch for a touchdown against Southern Alamance during the Friday night game in Graham Sept. 17, 2021.
Eastern Alamance High School's sophomore running, back Joshua Murray breaks away from Southern Alamance defenders during a drive in Graham, NC on September 17, 2021.
Led by the play of the defensive line and a veteran group of linebackers, the Eagles (2-1) did that, holding Southern Alamance to a season-low 165 rushing yards en route to earning a 28-14 non-conference victory.
Eastern Alamance High School's junior wide receiver Devin Clark makes a catch for a touchdown against Southern Alamance during the Friday night game in Graham Sept. 17, 2021.
Times-News
Luke Johnson for The Times-News
“I just think that our mentality going into the game was to stop their trap, stop their sweep — their bread and butter,” Eastern Alamance linebacker Will Burnette said. “We came out and we were physical. We knew it would be a physical game, they’re physical athletes, they're great athletes. We just had to be more physical, win in the trenches. I think that’s what we did. I think that’s why we shut them down.”
The Patriots previous season-low in rushing yards was 315 in a 22-9 victory at Williams High School on Sept. 3. The other two outings, Southern Alamance (3-1) rushed for over 400 yards in each.
“I thought our defensive front did a good job of keeping those guys off them and letting those (linebackers) run,” Eastern Alamance coach John Kirby said. “We felt like going into (this game), if we could force them to throw the ball, we had a good chance. You know, they end up scoring off throwing the ball.”
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At the center of it all were senior linebackers Will Burnette and Joey Teixeira, who when these teams last met in 2019, played an important role on that Eagles defense as sophomores. They finished their sophomore seasons as the team’s top two tacklers with 157 and 205 stops, respectively.
“We started watching film, you try to uncover every rock,” Kirby said. “We were watching film from two years ago, and both of those cats are inside then. It's like, ‘Man, I feel better already.’ (Teixeira), he flies to the ball. (Burnette), we didn't think we were gonna have him for the year because when he got hurt during camp, we thought he was out (the entire season). The good Lord above made it happen. I can't say enough.”
Burnette and Teixeira, alongside fellow senior linebacker Jake Libbey, were often in the middle of piles to bring down Patriot ball carriers.
“I think having the three-year experience gives us an edge, for sure,” Burnette said. “Being back on the field with my brother Joey, it doesn't get much better than that. I love playing with him. He's probably one of the best linebackers I've ever played with. I think that gave us the skill and knowledge, and we could beat them with the knowledge more than we could physically.”
Eastern Alamance sophomore running back Josh Murray carried the ball 19 times for 217 yards, often breaking tackles and using his speed to gain additional yardage. He scored the game’s first touchdown to give the Eagles an 8-0 first-quarter lead, after a successful two-point conversion run by Kasen McCawley on a broken down PAT attempt.
Eastern Alamance High School's sophomore running, back Joshua Murray breaks away from Southern Alamance defenders during a drive in Graham, NC on September 17, 2021.
Times-News
Luke Johnson for The Times-News
Murray fumbled twice, as turnover woes continued to plague the Eagles as they had in each of their first two games.
“I thought he had a good game,” Kirby said of Murray. “I thought Hunter Douglas had a good game, too. He spot threw some balls and got us out of trouble a few times.”
Eastern Alamance quarterback Hunter Douglas finished 8-for-11 passing for 155 yards and three touchdowns. Junior receiver Devin Clark hauled in each of those three touchdown receptions, including one he brought down while jumping above a Southern Alamance defensive back, and totaled 108 receiving yards.
“He’s a big receiver, a big target for us,” Douglas said of Clark. “And we have multiple receivers coming back (from injury) too, like Hunter (Westbrooks).”
Southern Alamance quarterback Mitch McClendon was 8-for-14 passing for 130 yards, a touchdown pass to Nevaeh Gattis and one interception. Running back Jackson Parrish provided Southern Alamance’s other score via a short-yardage run.
Eastern Alamance senior Carter Stallings recorded an interception for the Eagles defense in the closing seconds.
David Kehrli is a sports reporter at the Burlington Times-News and USA Today Network. You can reach him at david.kehrli@thetimesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidKehrliTN. Subscribe to the Burlington Times-News here.
