TARBORO — There is an old saying attributed to Albert Einstein that goes, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
With all due respect to Einstein, he never witnessed the juggernaut that is Tarboro High School football.
In what has become a familiar refrain over the past two decades, the Vikings put the game away early against Northampton County and rolled to a 48-0 victory over the Jaguars in the second round of the Class 1A state playoffs on Thursday night.
Tarboro (10-0), the Four Rivers Conference champion and No. 1 seed in the East, advances to the third round where it will play host to Southeast Halifax at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 17.
Northampton County finished its season 7-5 overall as the No. 17 seed (and third-place team from the Tar Roanoke 1A Conference).
The game lasted just 90 minutes.
As has been the case in almost every game this season, the Vikings jumped out to a big lead by halftime and had a continuous running clock in the second half.
Tarboro forced a NHC punt to open the game and then drove 70 yards in nine plays behind its three-headed monster running attack of Kamerin McDowell-Moore, Mason Satterfield and Caiden Everette. Everette capped the possession with a three-yard TD run and Oscar Perez-Gaspar kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead with 6:45 left in the first quarter.
The teams exchanged punts on their next possessions. The Vikings then upped their lead to 14-0 when Omar Lewis returned an interception 19 yards for a TD with 56.9 seconds remaining in the quarter and Perez-Gaspar booted the PAT.
The Jags drove to the Tarboro 49 to open the second quarter but were held on downs following an incomplete pass. On the first play after change of possession, Satterfield bolted 51 yards for the TD and Perez-Gaspar kicked the extra point to make it 21-0 with 10:13 remaining in the first half.
After another NHC punt, Tarboro drove 53 yards in just three plays: a 39-yard run by Josiah Dickens, a 12-yard run by Christian Gunter and a one-yard TD run by Gunter with 8:25 left in the half. The PAT made it 28-0.
After another Jaguars punt (this one a shank), Tarboro went 80 yards in four plays as Everette scored on a six-yard TD run. Perez-Gaspar’s extra point with 4:14 left made it 35-0.
NHC drove from its 30 to the Tarboro 40 on its next possession, but Gunter picked off a pass to end the drive. Tarboro responded in kind as the Jags intercepted Omar Lewis to end the half.
Tarboro took the second-half kickoff and marched 68 yards in eight plays behind the running of McDowell-Moore, Everette and Satterfield. Satterfield’s nine-yard run with 8:08 left in the third quarter, combined with the PAT by Perez-Gaspar, made it 42-0 and necessitated the continuous clock.
After holding the Jags on downs at the NHC 41, the Vikings scored their final points on a 41-yard run by McDowell-Moore with 2:18 left in the quarter.
NHC drove from its own 15 to the Tarboro 21 against the Viking reserves before being held on downs on what was the Jaguars’ final possession.
Tarboro finished with a 346-133 advantage in total yards (all 346 came on the ground). McDowell-Moore (8-104), Satterfield (8-91) and Everette (8-63) were the leaders in the run game.
Defensively, the Vikings were led by Keivious Bridgers (six tackles), Ny’Quayveon Davis (five tackles) and Isaiah Jones (four tackles). Lewis, Dickens, McDowell-Moore and Tyler Powell added three tackles each.
OTHER RESULTS
SouthWest Edgecombe 55, Farmville Central 12: In the 2A playoffs, the No. 3 East seed Cougars (10-2) remained red-hot and rolled past the Jaguars (9-3) for their eighth straight win in a rematch of Eastern Plains Conference rivals to reach the third round against Whiteville (10-2 overall).Nash Central 56, West Craven 28: The Bulldogs won their fourth straight game and improved to 10-2 overall by easing past the Eagles in the second round of the 2A playoffs. Nash Central will host Hertford County (10-2 overall) this week in the third round.
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