By Tommy Bryant

Sports Writer

LASKER – Northeast Academy put up a fight early, but it wasn’t enough.

The Eagles dropped their home contest here Friday night with Southampton Academy by a final of 30-18.

Northeast led 12-8 at the intermission, but in this renewed rivalry with Raiders, the visiting team rallied hold the Eagles to six points in the second half and preserve the victory.

Neither team found paydirt in the opening stanza, but Northeast scored early in the second period to take the lead.

Ryan Williams led the drive, moving the football from their own four-yard line all the way to the endzone. Bo Daniel helped the running game as well.

In all, the Eagles marched 96 yards on 21 plays before finding paydirt. Daniel had the score on a five-yard run. The conversion failed, but Northeast led 6-0 with 8:59 remaining in the first half.

Southampton came back, however, as they took over on their own 47-yardline and drove 53 yards on six plays capped by an eight-yard touchdown pass from Wesley Barnes to Matt Nixon. Barnes connected with Tonee Hill on the conversion and Southampton moved ahead 8-6.

The Eagles came back on the next drive, however and took the lead again.

Daniel broke off a 27-yard run that moved the ball down to the 23-yardline. From there, it took six more plays before Northeast reached the endzone. Williams did the honor on a one-yard plunge. The two-point conversion failed, but Northeast had regained the lead 12-8.

The contest remained tied through the intermission.

Southampton, however, took control of the game when they scored on their first possession of the second half.

The Raiders drove 46 yards on just six plays to take the lead. Barnes connected with Nixon again on the scoring strike. The two-point conversion was once again a Barnes-Hill hook up and Southampton led 16-12.

A Northeast turnover on the next series set up another Southampton score. Hill picked off an Eagle aerial and, on the next play, Thomas Taylor went 10 yards to paydirt. Barnes and Hill combined yet again on the conversion and Southampton led 24-12 with 6:06 to play in the third quarter.

The score remained there until the fourth quarter when the Raiders capped a 10-play drive with a Hill eight-yard run to paydirt. The conversion failed, but Southampton led 30-12.

Northeast wasn’t done, however, as the Eagles came back on their next possession to find paydirt. The Eagles drove 66 yards on just six plays to find paydirt. Adam Creech provided the final 38 yards on a scamper to the endzone. The conversion failed, but Northeast had closed the gap to 30-18.

From there, the scoring ended and Southampton claimed victory in the eight-man North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association contest.

The Eagles (1-3) will travel to Lawrence Academy next week in another league matchup.