East Bladen’s Jaden Lewis (21) is chased by West Bladen’s Sincere McKinley (7).
Kenneth Armstrong / kenarmphoto.com
West Bladen’s Hunter Hester (12) catches a pass as East Bladen’s Jaden Lewis (21) closes to make the tackle.
Kenneth Armstrong / kenarmphoto.com
East Bladen’s Riley Collins (23) is tackles by West Bladen’s John McDowell (8) and Tashawn Carter (25).
Kenneth Armstrong / kenarmphoto.com
West Bladen’s Shy’Ron Thompson (24) tries to escape the tackle of Braylon Cromartie (6) and Bradley Townsend (7).
Kenneth Armstrong / kenarmphoto.com
West Bladen quarterback Devan Haire (10) gets off a pass as East Bladen’s Kaden Johnson (30) closes.
Kenneth Armstrong / kenarmphoto.com
West Bladen’s Sincere McKinley (7) tries to turn the corner against a charging East Bladen defense led by Torean Cogdell (4).
Kenneth Armstrong / kenarmphoto.com
East Bladen’s Riley Collins (23) takes a handoff from quarterback Keyshaun Kemp (2) and follows the lead block of Xavier Potts (26) against West Bladen.
The “Battle for the Bell” hasn’t been much of a battle over the years. The symbolic trophy has remained with East Bladen since 2002.
Friday night, the Eagles made it 24 consecutive high school football wins against county rival West Bladen.
Keyshaun Kemp and Jaden Lewis each scored two touchdowns as East Bladen beat the Knights 26-0 at Lenon Fisher Stadium.
“Celebrate the win and fix the stuff we can,” East Bladen coach Robby Priest said. “It was just a boring game. There was no excitement, no flow, no rhythm.”
The teams combined for 19 accepted penalties totaling 175 yards and five lost fumbles. East Bladen recovered a short kickoff. West Bladen had a high snap on a punt attempt. Each team had a player disqualified for a personal foul.
West Bladen lost fumbles on its first two possessions and East Bladen turned both into short touchdown runs up the middle by Kemp, the quarterback, that gave the Eagles a 14-0 lead.
“It’s hard to win a game when you get out-positioned,” West Bladen coach Preston Worley said. “Turnovers killed us the whole game. We put them in great field position. Our defense was put in some bad spots.”
Lewis gained 139 yards on 14 carries to go along with his two scores for East Bladen.
Sincerely McKinley led the West Bladen offense with 53 yards rushing on six carries. The sophomore injured his leg midway through the third quarter and had to be taken off the field by stretcher, but he was back on the sideline walking around by the end of the game. Quarterback Devan Haire completed 3 of 6 passes for 38 yards, all to tight end Hunter Hester.
It was the eighth shutout and the third in the last four seasons by the Eagles in the series that began in 2001 with West Bladen winning 34-21. East Bladen has outscored the Knights 900-219 in the 25 meetings.
West Bladen fumbled on its second play from scrimmage, setting up the Eagles at the 39 yard line. East Bladen needed eight plays to cover the distance with Kemp powering up the middle on the sneak from 1 on fourth down for the score. Dashon Campbell ran the conversion for an 8-0 lead with 6:57 left in the first quarter.
Following the East Bladen kickoff, the Knights drove the ball to the Eagles’ 36 before losing their second fumble. A 46 yard run by Lewis set up East Bladen at the West Bladen 10. Kemp, again, scored on a fourth down run up the middle, this time from the 2.
After an exchange of fumbles to begin the second half, East Bladen took over at its own 30. Seven plays later Lewis scooted 51 yards for a touchdown that put the Eagles ahead 20-0 with 32 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
East Bladen recovered the ensuing kickoff at West Bladen’s 35. Lewis capped the nine play with a 4-yard run on fourth down with 7:04 remaining for a 26-0 lead. It was the third touchdown the Eagles scored on a fourth down play inside the 5 yard line.
East Bladen (2-0) is scheduled to play at Whiteville next Friday. West Bladen (0-2) is slated to host West Columbus at the Castle.
Scoring summary
1st Quarter
EB – Keyshaun Kemp 1 run (Dashon Campbell run), 6:57
EB – Kemp 2 run (run failed), 0:26
2nd Quarter
No scoring
3rd Quarter
EB – Jaden Lewis 51 run (run failed), 0:32
4th Quarter
EB – Lewis 4 run (pass failed), 7:04
Sonny Jones can be reached at [email protected].