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LASKER – Junior Jaden Medford rushed for over 200 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough.

Northeast Academy began the 2024 gridiron campaign with a 46-12 setback at the hands of Community Christian School at home Friday night.

Despite the loss, the Eagles rushed for 276 yards and passed for an additional 85 on the evening.

The young Eagles – who have just two seniors on the squad – went to the field with just 11 players and still competed for much of the first 24 minutes before falling behind.

The Eagles defense stopped Community on four downs on the opening drive of the game with Cole Taylor coming up with a big stop on fourth down.

Northeast started their opening drive well when Aiden Buren picked up a first down with a 10-yard run on the second play from scrimmage. Three plays later, Medford connected with Camden White on an eight-yard pass play to pick up another first down and take the ball deep into Community territory at the 32 yard line.

The Eagles continued a balanced attack with Medford, White, and Buren driving all the way to the four-yard line before an inopportune fumble ended the threat.

On their second drive of the night, the Cyclones were more prolific as they drove 96 yards on five plays capped by a 19-yard jaunt from junior Stephen Edwards. The conversion failed, but Community Christian led 6-0 with 1:04 to play in the first quarter.

Northeast wasted no time responding.

After a 15-yard return by Buren gave the Eagles decent field position, Medford ripped off a 76-yard run to even the score. The conversion failed, leaving the two teams even at 6-all.

The Cyclones again answered quickly as Edwards scored on a 24-yard run on the second play from scrimmage. This time, quarterback Jack Beamon was able to cash in the two-point conversion and CCS led 14-6 with 49 seconds left to play in the first quarter.

The Eagles put together another hard-nosed drive with White connecting with Medford on a nine-yard pass completion and the two combining for 16 yards on the ground to move the ball near midfield.

On fourth down, Medford connected with White, who completed a toe-tapper on the sideline, but came up short of the first down.

Northeast seemed to have things in hand on defense as Mason Vann and Greyson Bridgers combined for a couple of big stops.

Unfortunately for the home team, Beamon broke free and scampered 50 yards to paydirt with 6:02 to play in the second quarter. Edwards added the conversion to make it 22-6, Cyclones.

Northeast again set up a drive, moving 22 yards on 11 plays, but coming up short on fourth down.

With just seconds in the half, Beamon found Edwards who went 28 yards to paydirt. He then connected with Matthew Baker on the two-point conversion and Community led 30-6 at the intermission.

The Eagles opened the second half with a solid drive. White connected on a nine-yard completion to Bridgers and a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty added to the yardage, moving the Eagles to midfield.

A couple of bad plays cost the Eagles yardage and the drive stalled at the 14-yard line.

Community added a touchdown on a 71-yard run by Edwards at the 8:41 mark of the third quarter. The conversion succeeded and they led 38-6.

The Eagles got back to paydirt with 3:28 to play in the game.

Medford started the drive with a 20-yard run followed by a 15-yard gainer from White. Medford then capped the drive with a 22-yard sprint to paydirt.

The pass failed and Northeast trailed 38-12.

The Cyclones added another late touchdown to establish the final score.

Medford led the Eagles offensively, rushing for 223 yards on 24 carries and scoring a pair of touchdowns. He added a 3-for-8 night passing for 43 yards and had one reception for nine yards.

White also had over 100 all-purpose yards, rushing for 59 yards, passing for 43 and receiving for 43.

Buren rushed for 28 yards and had 61 return yards on the evening. Bridgers chipped in 27 yards on the group and had one reception for nine yards.

Defensively, it was Medford and Taylor leading the way with five and four tackles respectively. Bridgers had three tackles and a pair of assists while Noah Luckadoo had two tackles and two assists. Vann and Kyle Hernandez added a tackle and an assist each. Also getting in on the defensive effort with tackles were Deashawn Daye, Buren and White.

The Eagles (0-1) will be back in action Friday when they travel to Columbia High School in Tyrrell County.