Richlands shuts out East Duplin

Friday night’s battle featured a tough rivalry game where turnovers and penalties hurt the home team, East Duplin Panthers, and a great passing attack helped the visiting Richlands Wildcats.

Richlands opened up the game with a long first drive which included a six-yard touchdown run by Carson Littreal at the 11:04 mark in the first quarter. After the kickoff, both Shawn Davis and Keeshon Mckinnie had long runs for East Duplin that got them into the red zone before an interception by Richlands gave them the ball back. Neither team was able to score again, and Richlands led 6-0 going into halftime.

In the third quarter, quarterback Caleb Simco rushed for a one-yard touchdown (10:59), but failed the two-point conversion which gave them a 12-0 lead. Richlands then scored again in the fourth quarter on a touchdown pass from quarterback Caleb Simco to Nathaniel Elbinger which gave Richlands the 18-0 lead, and after the extra point, they took a 19-0 lead which would also be the game’s final score.

With the loss, East Duplin fell to 1-2, and Richlands improved to 3-0 with the win.

The Panthers will play at home on Friday when they take on the Croatan Cougars at 7 p.m.