If you didn’t look at the roster or dive deep into the numbers, you would believe that this year’s Northern Nash team is the same one that went 39-5 over the past three seasons. The Knights still post some of the top 3A athletes in North Carolina on both sides of the ball.

Gone are many of the household names, but the expectation stays the same. A 31-13 victory at Fike improved the Knights’ record to 2-0 this season.

Only 12% of the team’s yards from scrimmage from a year ago returned in 2024 and on Thursday night even more of that was missing without the services of leading returning rusher Barian Strickland. In his place, sophomore Myles Eatmon ran wild while Damante Adams both caught and ran for a touchdown.

Defensively Northern Nash forced five turnovers, and converted them into 17 points.

Fike picking off a pass began the night. Northern Nash was threatening on its opening drive before Josiah Artis grabbed an interception in the end zone.

The Golden Demons were immediately forced to punt, and the Knights capped off the ensuing drive with a direct snap to Eatmon who scampered 3-yards for the score.

Joshua Ricks opened the second quarter by recovering a Fike fumble at the Golden Demon 24-yard line. J.C. Lewis lofted a pass to Adams on the very next play to push the score to 14-0.

Cameron Pittman answered back with a rushing touchdown for Fike, and quickly tried to piece together a game-tying scoring drive late in the second.

Trailing 14-6, Pittman tried to connect with Artis inside of the 25 but Kaleb Staton jumped the route and ran the interception return back to the 30. Staton is a key defensive figure this fall as injuries limited what he was able to contribute a year ago.

In the closing seconds of the half, Tristan Murray nailed a 32-yard field goal to give Northern Nash a 17-6 lead at the break.

Adams got the Knights going on the right foot to start the third. A kick-off return to around midfield ignited an All-Eatmon drive that ended in six more on the board.

Leading 24-6 with all eyes on Eatmon, Northern Nash reversed a 10-yard hand-off to Adams late in the third to put the game on ice.

While Lewis started the game under center for the Knights, senior Triston Sigers entered for the final drive of the first half and remained in the game for the final 48 minutes.

Northern Nash stays on the road next week with a trip to J.H. Rose. Fike, who won its first game under head coach Rocky Lewis last week, heads to Southern Nash in week three.

Source: highschoolot.com