Sean Moylan Sports Writer
On Friday night at “The Farm”, the Northern Burlington County Regional High football team scored three touchdowns and Cinnaminson scored three touchdowns.
But the Pirates made all of their attempts at PAT’s and 2-point conversions and were able to escape Northern with a 22-18 win over the Greyhounds.
It was a close game all the way. But in the end it wasn’t missed extra-points that did in the Greyhounds. It was their inconsistent defense, especially in the second stanza.
“Their offense was able to convert on some long third down plays,” said NBC head coach Jon Reising, whose team would go on to lose a lead in the second half. “Our defense did not make the plays when we should have made them.”
NBC even had some luck when Cinnaminson elected to start the game on defense which, eventually, led to a Blake Campbell eight-yard touchdown run.
“We had a good opening drive and mixed it up with the pass and the run. Then Campbell scored on an off tackle play,” Reising said.
The Greyhounds held onto that modest 6-0 lead until the second quarter, when the Pirates took advantage of a short field and scored on a 15-yard touchdown run. Then they converted on a two-point attempt to go ahead by one.
But a short while later, using his blinding speed and athletic ability, Jarrett East-Brown exploded for a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown which gave NBC a 12-7 lead going into the half.
“He (East-Brown) made a great effort on the play. He had great vision and broke a couple of tackles,” Reising said.
At the start of the second half East-Brown was at it again taking the opening kickoff 90 yards for a beautiful touchdown which temporarily put the Greyhounds in the driver’s seat. When they had the ball, the Greyhounds moved the ball well in the second stanza. It was getting the ball that was the problem.
“They had three drives in the second half and we had the ball twice,” said Reising, whose team put together two lengthy drives that stalled in the red zone. “Kirk (Hamilton) and Blake (Campbell) both had good yardage on the ground the entire game.”
In fact NBC compiled roughly 250 yards of offense as both the offensive line and quarterback Joe Washington had strong games. However the Pirates were able to make enough big plays in the second half to set up a pair of Kyle Hess touchdowns, which ended up being the difference in the game. They even had a long, time-consuming drive to close out the contest.
The good news is Reising and his staff know where to make corrections and they’ll make them. Furthermore, the offense, which was a big question mark going into the season, looks good.
NBC (0-1) is scheduled to host New Egypt this Friday night.
