St. Pauls pulls away in fourth

RED SPRINGS — The Red Springs Red Devils defeated the West Bladen Knights 32-18 Friday night in a SAC 6 match-up.

West Bladen was locked-in a battle with the fourth-place Red Devils through three quarters before Red Springs pulled away in the fourth.

Sophomore quarterback Hunter Hester threw two touchdowns and he threw for 212 yards on 12-of-21 passing despite the Knights loss.

West Bladen junior wideout Hezekiah Adams had six receptions for 158 yards and he caught a touchdown pass for a 40-yard score.

Junior wideout Noah Hall also had four receptions for 50 yards and he scored a touchdown for the visitors as well. The Red Devils offense was clicking with senior quarterback Scottie Locklear and junior running-back Jakelsin Mack posting big yards in the victory. Locklear threw for 168 yards on 9-of-11 passing and was responsible for two touchdown passes; his longest pass touchdown went to sophomore wideout TJ Ellerbe for 71 yards.

Mack carried the ball 10 times for 158 yards on the ground and he scored two touchdowns; his longest run of the night was 41 yards after breaking free from defenders at the line-of-scrimmage. The Knights gave up 21 penalties for a total of 178 yards and the match-up was chippy throughout with ejections on both sides in the final five minutes of the game.

West Bladen were able to pull within six of their opponents with 2:14 remaining in the fourth quarter but failed to get a decisive stop on the defensive side of the ball. Locklear and the Red Devils were able to put the game away in a three play drive resulting in a 71-yard touchdown reception from Ellerbe. The Red Devils finished their regular-season with an even winning-percentage at an overall record of 5-5 and they solidified their spot as the fourth best team in the SAC 6 with a 2-3 record in conference play.

West Bladen finished their regular-season with an overall record of 2-8 and claimed sixth place in the SAC 6 with an 0-5 record in conference play.