The NCHSAA football season began with a grudge match, as Seventy-First hosted Terry Sanford to avenge last year’s heartbreaker in a 59-14 win.
Though the Bulldogs earned their only two scores in the first half, they began fast and explosive, delivering a punch in the mouth to the Falcons, scoring on the third play from scrimmage on a 86-yard pass from Will Lake to Sebastian O’Keefe to open the game.
But Seventy-First came back with a punch of its own after taking over on offense.
On the first play at the line of scrimmage, senior Division I recruit Shon Pone found a hole in the right side of the field and burst through for a 53-yard touchdown run.
As Terry Sanford began its second drive, the Bulldogs came right back with another O’Keefe score from six yards out. Then, it was all Seventy-First for the next three quarters.
The Falcons went into the second quarter trailing 14-12 until Watson got a dose of the touchdown bug with a short-yard score of his own, giving the Falcons their first lead of the night with three minutes left in the half.
Shortly after, Lake threw an interception to Pone, who returned it inside the Seventy-First redzone to set up a Watson to Javari Lynch connection just seconds before the half.
To begin the second half, Seventy-First marched down the field but gave up a costly fumble at its own 3-yard line, but got it back after a Bulldogs punt.
Watson then found Pone on the sideline for a 32-yard gain that put Watson in position for his second rushing touchdown of the night to make it a 36-14 game. The quarterback finished with four TDs — two passing and two rushing — as Pone posted 207 total yards.
As Terry Sanford began to see life with a few Falcons penalties pushing it downfield late in the third quarter, South Carolina commit John Archer picked off a pass for his first career interception to give the Falcons he ball as time expired in the third.
In the beginning of the final quarter, the Falcons never let up.
Seventy-First’s former quarterback Stephen Mikkelsen came across the left has on a slant and caught his first career touchdown reception from 15 yards out.
To put a pin on the Falcons scoring barrage, Pone scored his second touchdown of the night on a breakaway play from 45 yards out, then senior Taron Stewart got a taste of the scoring with a 23-yard rush to end the night.
In Week 2, Seventy-First (1-0) will travel to Cape Fear (1-0) next Friday, Aug. 28, while Terry Sanford (0-1) will travel to the northside to face Pine Forest.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Seventy-First muzzles Terry Sanford Bulldogs in Week 1 blowout victory
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