LASKER – If Northeast Academy’s 68-34 rout of Word of God here last night had a statement it could be summed up in one word: physical!

Despite trailing by two scores in the second quarter, the Eagles poured on a barrage of offense n almost all of it on the ground n and came back to outscore the Rams 48-to-8 in the final two and a half quarters to win the season-opener for both teams. Brandon Futrell and Brodie Harrell ran roughshod over the Rams to the tune of an amazing 602 yards on 78 carries and seven touchdowns.

The Eagles drove 58 yards on their opening kickoff for the first score of the contest as Harrell barreled over from one yard out to make it 6-0, but that would be Northeast’s only lead for the next 17 minutes.

The Rams struck with cat-quickness on their first possession. It opened with a David Allen 63 yard return to the Northeast 15-yard line.

Tailback Robert Edwards was dropped for a two-yard loss, but one play later quarterback Jaylen Parker quieted the home crowd with a 16 yard strike thru the air to Jarvis Denning, and after a two-point conversion Word of God went ahead 8-6.

Word of God struck for three more quick scores and held a 26-14 lead in what seemed like a jinxed night for the Eagles as the ensuing kickoff was fumbled back to the Rams.

But on the drive Judd Smith made the play that turned the game: picking off

Parker for the Eagles’ only interception of the night.

Futrell and Harrell then went to work and Word of God never seemed to regain any balance in the contest.

A lot of that was thanks to the stingy Northeast defense that was in the backfield of the Rams from the second quarter on, and making their presence very much felt.

Arch Harrell led the attack with eight tackles, a pair of sacks, and broke up a pass.

Josh Jenkins was just as relentless in getting into the backfield with six tackles, two and a half sacks and forcing a fumble.

The Eagles put together a pair of great runs to take the lead 28-26 in capping off a nine-play drive with Futrell’s third score of the night and the extra-point game Northeast a 30-26 lead at the break.

Most of the Eagles’ offensive damage came thanks to the fleet feet of Harrell with 201 yards in the first half alone.

Word of God stumbled out of the break with a stalled drive and were forced to punt. Nine plays later, Northeast was back on the scoreboard to make it 36-26 with another Harrell touchdown.

Word of God had good field position n three third-quarter drives began on or inside the 50-yard line n but the defense of the Eagles never let up:

dropping the Rams for huge losses.

Arch Harrell then joined the touchdown brigade and rambled in for a trio of scores, often dragging tired Rams tacklers with him into the end zone.

With seven minutes to play and a 54-26 Northeast lead, Word of God broke the drought with a 32-yard pass play and their final score of the night, but the Eagles weren’t finished.

Futrell managed one more touchdown to give him four on the night, and Hall Edwards (three carries, 23 yards, and one touchdown) closed out the scoring to make for the 34-point margin.

The final tally for Northeast was nine touchdowns against a team that finished runner-up in the state championship game a year ago and came into Lasker ranked second in the state in the pre-season by the Raleigh News & Observer.

While his squad scored the most points by a Northeast team in over 30 years,

Coach Collin Sneed was modest in his praise.

“I think we just wore them down with the heat,” said Sneed after the game. “Combined with our conditioning, we were the better team tonight.”