SILER CITY — Jordan-Matthews knew it would be a tough row to hoe on Friday night when the young Jets played host to a powerful Eastern Randolph squad.
And first-year coach Sam Spencer was proven right, as the Wildcats exploded and built a 45-0 lead at the intermission before cruising past the Jets 66-6 in 2A PAC 7 Conference action at Phil E. Senter Stadium in Siler City.
Jordan-Matthews dropped to 0-2 in league play with the loss and to 1-6 overall.
The Wildcats moved to 6-1 on the season and 2-0 in PAC play as ER simply overpowered the Jets, amassing over 454 yards in total offense while holding the Jets to one touchdown and 39 total offensive yards on the night.
“I thought our kids competed hard and gave it all they had but we were just outmatched,” Spencer said. “Coach Burton Cates and his staff do a great job in preparation and Eastern has a lot of talent with experience. We lack experience and age and in the end that was the main difference.”
Cates was pleased with the way his team played.
“We wanted to start fast and to come out focused from the outset,” said Cates. “I thought we did a good job getting the ball to our playmakers and in space. Defensively we were aggressive and tackled well. We didn’t have many missed assignments.”
The veteran coach was also impressed with the effort given by Jordan-Matthews.
“Coach Spencer is doing a good job in setting a foundation for the future,” he said. “I know they are young right now. But they played hard the entire four quarters and are doing things the right way.”
Eastern Randolph seized the early lead with 15 first-quarter points before adding 30 in the second for the 45-0 advantage at the break.
Tavis McAdoo pounded in from five yards out on the Wildcats opening possession before J.B. Farrish rushed in the two-point conversion for a quick 8-0 Eastern Randolph advantage.
Kaeman Marley darted in from eight yards out late in the first quarter and Carter Moore booted through the PAT to move the lead to 15-0.
Early in the second period Marley would scored again from four yards out to increase the lead to 22-0 before Wildcats defense got into the action with a safety which eventually set up another Mcadoo touchdown run of six yards to advance the lead to 30-1 with 8:21 in the half.
“I thought we had played pretty well up to that point, but the safety right after a score led to a short field and another quick score by Eastern Randolph, and things started to get away from us some then,” Spencer said. “They’ve just got a lot of weapons with Marley, Mcadoo, and (Cade) Snotherly.”
Snotherly would hook up with Farrish on a 35 yard scoring pass on the Wildcats next possession before Mcadoo broke free on a 55 yard run for a score just before the break to account for the 45-0 halftime bulge.
With a running clock in the second half, Eastern Randolph would score on a five yard run from Demetrius Thomas to up the lead to 52-0 before the Jordan-Matthews finally got on the board when Jacquez Thompson returned a Wildcats fumble 17 yards to close the gap to 52-6.
Eastern Randolph closed out the 66-6 win when Stratton Barwick pounded in from 10 yards out and Elijah Patterson broke loose on a 30 yard scoring run.
“We will continue working hard and trying to improve each day,” Spencer said. “That’s been our goal all season and that’s what we hope to continue down the close of the season.”