NEL enjoys jamboree success
By By Ryan Satcher / staff writer
Aug. 21, 2004
The Northeast Lauderdale Trojans took wins over Morton and Raleigh to sweep through their jamboree on Friday night.
Each team played a half against each of the other two teams to get some preseason experience.
Northeast came back to beat Morton 13-7 in its first half of competition and jumped out to an early lead and held off Raleigh 13-6 in the second Trojan half. Morton used some late heroics to beat Raleigh 14-13 in the other half of football.
In the Northeast half against Morton, the Trojans fell behind 7-0.
"I think we came out flat," said Northeast coach Steve Nelson of the first scrimmage. "I was pleased with the effort after Morton jumped out on us 7-0, though. We seemed to play better on defense and played a lot better on the offensive side. We had a couple of big plays made by Maurice Langston. We threw and caught the ball and that's what I wanted to see in these conditions."
The Panthers jumped out to a 7-0 lead after picking off a pass and scoring on their first possession.
D.J. Gammage picked off a Northeast pass and Shay Hodge carried the ball in for the score three plays later to give Morton the early lead.
Northeast responded on its next possession. Langston broke free and rambled 79 yards for the touchdown. The Trojans missed the extra point, however, and trailed 7-6.
The Trojans also were able to drive down the field and score on their next possession.
Langston broke off a 28-yard run on a fourth-and-14 play to give Northeast a first down on the Morton two yard line.
Two plays later Langston carried the ball in on a quarterback sneak to give the Trojans a 13-7 lead with 8:42 left in the half.
Brian Truman picked off a Morton pass to stall the Panthers next drive and the Trojans were able to run out the clock on their final possession to pick up the 13-7 win.
Northeast 13
Raleigh 6
The Trojans scored on the third play from scrimmage to capitalize on a Raleigh turnover and held off the Tigers to take a 13-6 win in their second scrimmage.
"We got off to a better start," said Nelson of the second scrimmage. "We got a big huge break at the start of the game and cashed in on the turnover. We had a couple of other big plays. The offensive line was a lot better in that half of football. If they click, we can be a pretty good football team. We've still got to step up and find some guys on the defensive side of the football, but our effort was a lot better."
Raleigh fumbled the ball on the first play from scrimmage and Lendario Gowdy was able to fall on it to give Northeast great field position.
Marco Jefferson scored on the Trojans' second play as he broke free for a 19-yard touchdown run to give Northeast the lead. The extra point by Jason White made the score 7-0.
After Raleigh's drive stalled on a fourth down incompletion, Northeast took the ball and drove 67 yards down the field to reach the end zone once again.
Langston carried the ball on a 22-yard run to take the ball to the one-yard line and Orthez Payne took the ball in the end zone on the next play to give the Trojans a 13-0 lead.
Raleigh answered with a touchdown as Brian Carter scored on a one-yard run to make the score 13-6.
The Trojans will now have a week of practice before opening the season at Northwest Rankin on Friday.
Morton 14
Raleigh 13
Morton scored on the last play of the half to take a 14-13 win over Raleigh.
Raleigh took a 13-7 lead after a 40-yard fourth-down pass from Brit Warren to Jefferson Agee with 29 seconds left to play.
After the kickoff, Chase Patrick hit Hodge with a long pass and Hodge broke free for the 75-yard touchdown pass.
Beau Hannah's extra point was good and the Panthers took the 14-13 dramatic victory.
