ROSE HILL – East Bladen closed its football season Friday with a convincing 38-0 win against Union and now likely will wait two weeks before beginning the N.C. High School Athletic Association 2A playoffs.
Dashon Campbell scored twice and Julius Battle returned a fumble 62 yards for a touchdown to highlight the Eagles’ (7-3, 4-2 Carolina Conference) rout over the Spartans (2-7, 0-5 Carolina).
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Battle’s return gave East Bladen a 38 point lead with 7:51 remaining in the third quarter and resulted in a running clock the rest of the way. Rules require a running clock to begin any time a team is ahead by at least 35 points in the second half.
East Bladen has its bye in the final week of the regular season and is expected to receive a bye in the first round of the playoffs as a top eight seed in the East when pairings are released Nov. 3. If the Eagles are not a top eight seed, then they would host a first-round game Nov. 7.
The East Bladen defense limited Union to 107 yards rushing and had pass interceptions by Jaden Lewis and Keyshawn Kemp.
Offensively, the Eagles had eight different players carry the ball and ran for 299 yards on 52 carriers. Lewis led with 73 yards and a touchdown. Campbell had 63 yards and two touchdowns. Kemp had 51 yards and a score. East Bladen converted four of five 2-point conversion attempts.
East Bladen drove 99 yards for its first score with Campbell busting in from the 1 with 14.6 seconds left in the first quarter. The conversion attempt failed.
The Eagles scored twice and were successful on both 2-point conversion attempts in the second and third quarters. Lewis had a 3-yard run and Kemp added an 11-yard run in the second quarter. The third quarter scores came on Campbell’s 6-yard run and Battle’s fumble return.