LEJEUNE – The late-game rally wasn’t enough this time.

A week after coming from behind to knock Jamesville out of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 1-AA playoffs, Northampton-West came up short in their bid to do the same to Lejeune High School here last night.

The Devilpups scored twice in the first quarter and added a second-period touchdown to grab a 22-0 lead enroute to a 28-16 win that advanced Lejeune to the third round of the playoffs.

Trailing 22-0 in the third quarter, West began one of their patented rallies.

Vontae Hughes intercepted a Scott Mahaffey pass and allowed West to set up shop at their own 42-yardline.

On the next play from scrimmage, senior tailback Andre Williams raced 58 yards for the score with 9:24 to play in the third quarter. Desmond Moody added the conversion run to trim the Lejeune lead to 22-8.

Less than four minutes later, Quentin Turner blocked a Devilpup punt to give West good field position again.

The Hurricanes capitalized as Williams, Moody and Todd Squire combined to move the ball to the Lejeune three-yardline. From there, Williams punched it in at the 5:50 mark. Moody added another conversion and West was within one score at 22-16.

The teams battled turnovers and field position until the fourth frame when Mahaffee broke free from the West rush and scored from 20 yards out on a broken play to seal the victory for Lejeune. His score gave the Devilpups a 28-16 lead.

On the next possession, West drove to the 17-yardline of Lejeune, but surrendered the pigskin on downs.

&uot;We’ve come back in games all year,&uot; third-year Hurricanes’ skipper Diego Hasty said. &uot;If we played the first half like the second, maybe this game turns out differently.

&uot;I’m not taking anything away from the other team, they did a great job,&uot; he continued. &uot;They made sure they blocked and tackled. But, when you look at the stats, its clear – we had too many turnovers and we did this to ourselves.&uot;

Lejeune opened the scoring on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Mahaffee to Joseph Harris. Brandon Herd added the conversion run to give the Devilpups an 8-0 advantage.

On the next possession, the Devilpups scored again, this time on a Mahaffee two-yard plunge. The conversion failed, leaving Lejeune with a 14-0 lead.

IN the second quarter, Herd got the Devilpups on the board again with a one-yard plunge. Mahaffee and Harris connected again on the conversion to give Lejeune a 22-0 lead.

West finished the 2004 campaign at 5-7.