By Frank A. Davis

The Tidewater News

COURTLAND — Southampton Academy returned to eight-man football in style with a 34-0 win over Lawrence Academy at Pillow Field Thursday night.

The game had originally been scheduled for Friday, but was changed due to Hurricane Irene.

After stopping the Warriors on their opening drive, Southampton Academy started a drive on the Warriors’ 42-yard line and scored on a two-yard run by Raiders quarterback Wesley Barnes. The two-point conversion failed.

On the next Warrior possession, Raider Matt Rose picked off a pass. This set up a 60-yard touchdown pass from Barnes to Matt Nixon. The two-point conversion was good to give the Raiders a 14-0 led.

Early in the second quarter, the Barnes and Nixon duo connected for another 37-yard touchdown pass, but the two-point conversion failed. The Raiders were now up 20-0, which held to the end of the half.

Opening the third quarter, Barnes out ran the Warriors defense to score on a 68-yard run. Ethan Edwards added two points on a run to put the Raiders up 28-0.

The Raiders struck again quickly on a one-yard run by Ethan Edwards, but the two-point conversion failed.

Raider Head Coach Dale Marks felt his team was a little rusty in the first half, but overall he was pleased.

“We only got to practice eight-man for one week and one day, and did not have any scrimmages,” Marks said. “We have been practicing throwing the ball, and we did get a lot of good catches.”

The Raiders last week joined the Carolina Colonial League due to a low number of players and inexperience. They had played in the Virginia Commonwealth Conference since 2005.

Matt Nixon had three catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns.

Lawrence Academy opened the season under first-year skipper Beau Drake and will return to Merry Hill for their first home game Friday when they welcome St. Davids.