Southampton blanks New Kent on homecoming

Published 1:11 am Saturday, October 18, 2008

Southampton High and Andre Rawls went on a rampage against the New Kent Trojans here Friday, claiming a 26-0 homecoming win.

Holding the Trojan offense to just 68 yards and capitalizing on their strongest offensive demonstration of the season, including a three-touchdown, 226-yard rushing performance by Rawls, the Indians easily rolled to their second victory of the season.

Rawls and Bobby Ellsworth had fumble recoveries for the home team.

“Defense is working well,” said Southampton head coach Littleton Parker.

With 2:30 left in the first quarter, Rawls broke free and sprinted 64 yards to the end zone for the only touchdown of the first half. The two-point run was unscuccessful, leaving the score 6-0 in favor of the Indians.

That would remain the score until the final quarter, when the Indians exploded.

Rawls scored his second TD of the night with 9:53 left on a 3-yard dash. He also ran for the two-point conversion.

With 5:20 left, he added a 42-yard scoring run.

On the final set of downs for the Indians, with 1:13 remaining, Anthony Boone carried the ball in from the 6-yard line to stretch the lead to 26-0.

There was very little passing on a rainy night.

Southampton’s Kendal Carwile completed his only attempt, a 20-yarder to Ryan Whisenant.

The Indians racked up 339 yards on the ground, including Calvin Stringfield’s 73 yards.

“They are finally pulling it all together and playing well,” Parker said. “Defense and offense played about as well as they’ve played all year”.

The Indians, 2-5, travel to Smithfield next week.