BAILEY – Southern Nash won the opening toss.

Then it recovered its onside kick on the opening kickoff. Then it scored on its first play from scrimmage.

Ten seconds into the game, Southern Nash held a 7-0 lead.

Such was the night for the Firebirds.

Southern Nash romped in its home opener, scoring 42 straight points in the first half on the way to a 42-14 victory against Roanoke Rapids.

“It’s nice to be able to put everybody in,” Southern Nash coach Brian Foster said. “We played 60-something JV kids last week (in a 40-13 win against Wilson Beddingfield.) That’s hard to do. Anytime everybody can get it, I’m really happy because they put a lot into it, and they mean a lot to me.”

The Firebirds (4-0) gained nearly 500 yards of total offense against the Yellowjackets (2-2) on a night in which almost everything went to plan.

Southern Nash planned to throw off Roanoke Rapids’ spread scheme with linebacker blitzes, and it worked. So did the Firebirds’ run game. And their passing game.

And the special teams looked pretty good, too.

“We knew what we had to do and we did it,” Southern Nash linebacker Devin Denton said. “We kept the work up this whole season. When you do that, good things happen.”

Rashid Campbell (nine carries, 129 yards and two touchdowns) recorded another big game for the Firebirds, though it was the Southern Nash offensive line that made life easy for the backfield. The Firebirds manhandled the Yellowjackets’ front seven all night, helping the squad rush for nearly 400 yards on the ground.

“We’re a big, strong line, and we want to use that to our advantage,” Southern Nash lineman Cameron Gardner said. “That’s what’s going to win us games is run, run, run.”

Southern Nash led, 28-0, 12:10 into the game, and from there it was clock management from the Firebirds. They scored twice more before half to take a 42-0 lead into the break.

Roanoke Rapids scored late in each of the last two quarters, but the game had long since been decided.

Southern Nash quarterback Deon Lavender was efficient again, completing three of his four passes for 89 yards and a touchdown.

“(Other teams) really aren’t expecting us to throw it much,” Gardner said. “When we do, it makes it a lot easier to keep running.”

Southern Nash 42
Roanoke Rapids 14
RR               0    0   7  7     –    14
SN             21 21  0  0      –    42
First Quarter
SN – Sebastian Oneal 47 run (Sergio Penaloza kick), 11:50
SN – Chi-Ali Bunn 68 pass from Deon Lavender (Penaloza kick), 9:22
SN – Clinton Whitaker 3 run (Penaloza kick), 4:20
Second Quarter
SN – Rashid Campbell 46 run (Penaloza kick), 11:50
SN – Rashid Campbell 38 run (Penaloza kick), 7:00
SN – Taylor Finch 15 run (Penaloza kick), 1:55
Third Quarter
RR – Josh Lewis 8 pass from Jackie Caudle (Taylor Archer kick), 1:17
Fourth Quarter
RR – Jerry Verrill 57 run (Archer kick), 3:58
RRSN
7    First downs...............24
19–209    Rushes-yards....54–389
58    Passing yards...........89
8–15–0    Passes....................3–4–0
267    Total offense............478
1–0    Fumbles-Lost..........4–2
7–57    Penalties-Yards....11–65
Individual Statistics
Rushing – SN: Campbell 9-129; Oneal 5-79; Finch 8-78; Whitaker 10-57; Roderick Dunston 3-14; Frank Hampton 2-8; Kendall Parker 1-5;  Marques Taylor 1-2; Jacory Benjamin 1-1; Lavender 5-(-2); Team 2-(-2); Shayquan Murphy 1-(-4). RR: Verrill 3-77; Caudle 10-39; Du’Juan Walker 2-11; Bryce Pearson 1-10; Devonte Edwards 2-(-12)
Passing – SN: Lavender 3-4-1, 89. RR: Caudle 8-15-1, 58.
Receiving – SN: Bunn 2-73; Richard Campbell 2-25. RR: De’Andre Soloman 4-35; Josh Lewis 2-13; Edwards 1-12; Cameron Lassiter 1-(-2).