COURTLAND—Following a 46-6 win against Arendell Parrott Academy, Southampton will travel to Rocky Mount, N.C., to face Rocky Mount Academy in the NCISAA Colonial Carolina 8-Man Championship Game.

Due to rain, the Arendell Parrot Academy Patriots were coming off of a short week, having just played Monday.

“This team, they were a little banged up, and I think it showed,” said Raiders Head Coach Dale Marks. “But it was a great game tonight, and we played well.”

On the second play of the game, Matt Rose took the ball up the middle and scored from 48-yards out with 11:12 to go in the first quarter. Cam Hines would run in the extra point.

On the Patriot’s first play on offense, Jack Huddle’s pass was intercepted by Tonee Hill, who returned the ball 38 yards to the Patriots 26-yard line. On Hill’s second carry of the drive, he pushed it in from 4 yards out. Rose’s two point conversion attempt failed, making the score 14-0 Southampton Academy.

On the next Patriot possession, they got something going on third and 11 when Huddle completed a 38-yard pass that was fumbled on the ensuing hit, which Cam Hines picked up and returned 13 yards.

Following a five yard false start penalty on the Raiders, Hill got more than the 15 yards needed for the first down when he took it 36 yards to the Patriot 21-yard line.

After a Rose keeper and a personal foul penalty on the Patriots, the ball was on the 8-yard line. Hines would take it into pay dirt from there, and Parker ran in the two-point conversion, making the score 22-0 Raiders with 6:41 left in the first quarter.

On the next defensive series, Paul Parker would catch the Patriots in two plays for losses, including a sack, while Colin Swenson would sack Huddle for the second time in the series, forcing the punt team to come out on 4th and 28.

The snap on the punt was high, and Alex Hasty would hit punter Oscar Avila for a loss on the Patriot 25-yard line. After a short pass from Rose to Triston Holland, Paul Parker would take the football in from the 23-yard line with 3:26 to go in the first quarter. Rose would complete a pass to Swinson for the two point conversion, putting the Raiders up 30-0.

The Raider defense would force a 3-and-out on the Patriots’ next possession. On the ensuing drive, Rose completed a couple of passes to Ethan Edwards, one for 13 yards and the second a short gainer of 4. After an incomplete pass, and a short Hines run, the Raiders would face a 4th and 2 on the 50-yard line.

In the second quarter, Hines would get the first down on a 12 yard rush to the Patriot 38-yard line. From there, Rose would complete a 38-yard touchdown pass to Harrison Pope with 11:10 in the second quarter. Edwards ran in the conversion, putting Southampton Academy up 38-0.

After getting some positive offensive yardage, a missed snap gave Hasty enough time to get in and sack Huddle deep. After a failed attempt throwing it downfield, the punt team came out again on 4th and 31. A block in the back brought back Hill’s touchdown run on the punt, putting the Raiders on their 28-yard line. On the first play, Nate Williams busted a 46-yard run. After two more carries by Williams, the Raiders were first and goal from the 8-yard line, and Williams would bring it in for the score with 7:50 in the half. Hines ran in the two-point conversion, making the score 46-0.

At this point, the clock was running and the Raider’s second team came in.

When the half ended, the Raiders had held the Patriots to 12 total yards on offense.

Highlights for the second team include Tanner Knecht with a couple of tackles for losses, and Pope getting an interception on a deep pass by Huddle.

The Patriots would also get on the board with 1:49 left in the fourth quarter, as Zack Hill ran it in from 14-yards out. The game would end 46-6 after a failed conversion.

“It was a good win for us,” Marks said. “We got to play our second team the entire second half, and we got to do what we wanted to do in the first half.

“There were some hard hits out there tonight. We showed how we have played defense all year. We had a good push up front, and we have some quick kids on defensive end. That translated into sacks and negative plays. We’ve had a good push all year.”

The offense took advantage of the short field several times and also went the length of the field when it needed to.

“We don’t usually see what we see on film defensively from people,” Marks said. “People tend to play us a little differently than they play other teams.

“We’ve got lots of ways to attack people, though, so that makes it hard to defend. You can’t pick one thing and say you are going to stop that. You can’t say, I’m going to stop the run, or we’ll throw it. You can’t say I’m going to stop the outside run, or we’ll go inside. If you try to stop us on the inside, we’ll run it outside. It makes it easier as a coach because it’s almost like anything we call works sometimes.”

The Raiders (11-0) will play the Rocky Mount Eagles (9-2) in the championship game. The Raiders defeated the Eagles 34-8 on Oct. 18.

“I feel very confident, as long as we’re OK with the little nagging injuries we had tonight,” Marks said. “I think we’ll be OK.”