Stallions upset in first round

 Southwest made crucial plays at key moments. North Brunswick just made one more big play.

Southwest quarterback Jonathan Leonard fumbled on the second play in overtime as the No. 10-seeded Scorpions upset No. 7 Southwest 21-14 in the first round of the NCHSAA 2-A state playoffs Friday night at Southwest.

"We lost the ballgame before the fumble," Southwest coach Phil Padgett said. "I felt like we should have never gone into overtime. That wasn't the quarterback's fault, it was our fault."

North Brunswick (7-5) will face the winner of the Northside/Whiteville game next Friday. The game was moved to Monday due to inclement weather.

The Scorpions were held to only 195 total yards, but all they needed was a couple of big plays.

Wide receiver Jesse Riley took the game's first punt and split defenders for 89 yards for a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

"We haven't had one of those all year and (Riley's) been hurt," North Brunswick coach Garry Bishop said. "We needed some big plays on special teams and we talked about that. We had to play field position with them."

But Southwest (9-3) battled back in the second quarter when running back James Jordan hit the middle untouched for 79 yards to tie it at 7-7.

It didn't take long for the Scorpions to break another score. On their third play in the second half, AJ Perkins rolled out for a pass, but with everybody covered, he took it 54 yards to the end zone for a 14-7 lead.

"It was supposed to be a pass and everybody was covered up so I just tucked it," Perkins said. "I just ran for what I could get and I made a nice cutback and it was straight to the end zone from there."

But Southwest responded with a four-play, 52-yard drive, which ended with a 3-yard touchdown run by Chris Hairston to tie up the ballgame.

With North Brunswick threatening late in the game, Perkins threw his second interception of the night when a pass bounced off Riley's shoulder pad and into linebacker Reagan Peedin's hands to send it into overtime.

The Scorpions only needed one play in overtime, which was a 10-yard touchdown toss from Perkins to DJ Graham for the lead.

"We ran a play action to the same side and slid our motion guy out in the flat," Bishop said. "

Southwest's season was ended on Leonard's fumbled snap. The Stallions will be competing in the Coastal Plains 1-A Conference next year in the new realignment and Padgett said he sees his team improving next season.

"I'm proud of them. Winning nine ball games and finishing second place in the East Central and I'm as pleased as I can be," Padgett said. "I didn't want to lose tonight, but I lost a few ballgames that I didn't want to lose.

"It's just part of the game. We had a great season. Hopefully, we'll build off of next season."

North Brunswick      7     0    7     0  7  -             21

Southwest             0     7    7     0  0  -             14

First Quarter

NB - Riley 89 punt return (Spaftord kick)

Second Quarter

SWO - Jordan 79 run (Matics kick)

Third Quarter

NB - Perkins 54 run (Spaftord kick)

SWO - Hairston 3 run (Matics kick)

Overtime

NB - Graham 10 pass from Perkins (Spaftord kick)

                               NB            SWO

First downs                     9               11

Rushes-yards             29-158          40-206

Passing                        37               26

Comp-Att-Int               4-12-2           4-10-0

Fumbles-Lost                 4-1              2-2

Penalties-Yards              6-45             5-40

Punts                      4-29.3           4-33.3

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-North Brunswick: Perkins 3-51, Graham 6-12, Riley 8-46, Gaines 12-49. Southwest: Brown 3-24, Williams 2-(-10), Leonard 2-10, Jordan 14-109, Hairston 19-73.

PASSING-North Brunswick: Perkins 4-12-1-37. Southwest: Leonard 3-9-0-18, Williams 1-1-0-8.

RECEIVING-North Brunswick: Riley 2-23, Gaines 1-4, Graham 1-10. Southwest: Williams 2-8, Mull 1-10, Brooks 1-8.