GATESVILLE – For the 1st time since 1971, the Gates County Red Barons defeated the Edenton Aces.

In an exciting game, the Aces attempted to steal the victory for one more year, but did not succeed as the Barons held on for a 30-26 win.

The game ran close as Gates County fans cheered the team onto there victory over Edenton.

No poinsts

were scored in the 1st quarter. Edenton only ran 42 yards in the first half but had 52 yards passing.

Gates county finished the 1st with 52 yards on the ground. Junior

Derrick Eason led the Barons running more than half of Gates County’s

overall 58 yards.

The 1st touchdown was scored with in the first three minutes of the 2nd quarter with Edenton putting the Barons behind 6-0.

Just a few minutes later, the Aces’ offense was in tune when the scored their second touchdown, giving them a 12-0 advantage.

It wasn’t two minutes before Derrick Eason ran a five-yard touchdown, to put the Barons behind by six.

The second half got off to a quick start when Edonton fumbled the ball just a few yards away from the end zone.

Junior Chase Harmon made an essential retrieval to start the second half off with a bang.

Senior Travis Badgett completed a 20-yard pass to get the Barons 10 yards from paydirt.

The fourth quarter only got better with Gates County scoring two touchdowns in barely a minute.

Badgett scored the first one for GCHS as he reached the endzone on fourth and goal to tie the score. Eason added the conversion to make it 14-12 in favor of the Barons.

After a turnover, the Red Barons scored again to take a 22-12 lead.

Things started looking up for the Barons with a hard sack made by junior Eric Johnson.

Gates County was ready to stop the Aces, but came up short when Edenton scored their next touchdown putting the Barons up by only two.

With under four minutes left in the game, Gates County scored yet another touchdown putting the score at 30-20.

The crowd went wild as the Barons realized that this would not be another year of defeat by Edenton.

With only barely 2 minutes left in the game, Edenton scored their final touchdown, making the final score 30-26.

Edenton had another chance, but with only five seconds left, the Aces could not pull through missing a pass in the enzone that could have won the game.

At the end of the game, Barons coach Clark Harell was asked his take on the game.

&uot;The football game was great,&uot; he said. &uot;It is so great for the school and the community to know it’s been 35 years since we beat this team!&uot; Coach Harell was also excited to see that the first person to shake his hand and celebrate a long awaited victory was none other than a former player of the 1971 victory over Edenton, kenny Umphlett.

Coach Harell ended the night by adding, &uot;It’s great for the team, because we have such a young team with only four seniors to play.&uot;

The win boosted Gates County to 1-2 on the season as they prepare for next week’s contest with Southside.