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SWAN QUARTER – Cole Taylor connected with Camden White on a pair of touchdown passes.

Jaden Medford pushed his season rushing mark above 1,500 yards.

Neither was enough, however, as Mattamuskeet High School topped Northeast Academy, 49-12, Friday night in Swan Quarter.

The Eagles started the game well, moving the football over 50 yards on their opening drive.

Medford and Aiden Buren each had long runs on the drive with the former going for 13 yards and the latter for 11. Northeast picked up first downs on runs by Buren, Medford and Taylor on the drive, but were stopped on downs just one yard shy of the first down marker.

Mattamuskeet scored on its second offensive play of the game on a 65-yard run to paydirt. The conversion failed, but the Lakers led 6-0.

Northeast put together another long drive on its second possession, counting on runs by Medford and Buren to move the football to the MHS 19-yard line. The Eagles again came up short on fourth down and turned the ball over.

Mattamuskeet again scored quickly, this time on a 26-yard run. The conversion this time was good and the Lakers led 14-0 with 7:11 to play in the second quarter.

After two long drives, things didn’t go well on the third drive as a fumble led to field position behind the chains and the Eagles were forced to punt the ball away.

The Lakers scored quickly on the short field, when Brayden Wayne tossed his first touchdown pass of the night. The extra point was blocked by Daeshawn Daye and MHS led 20-0. They continued to add to the lead, eventually going ahead 35-0.

Northeast answered on its first possession of the second half.

Judson Smith had grabs of 42 and 24 yards to help the Eagles move the football deep into Mattamuskeet territory. Eventually facing fourth-and-goal from the five, Taylor was flushed out of the pocket, but found White who made a move and scored with 22 ticks left on the third quarter clock.

The conversion pass failed, and the Eagles trailed 35-6.

Noah Luckadoo’s fumble recovery set up the final touchdown for the Eagles.

The drive began with Taylor connecting with White on a 24-yard gain followed by an 11-yard scamper from Medford.

After a couple of plays for loss and two more runs by Medford, the Eagles faced a third down on the MHS 18.

Taylor dropped back and hit White in stride and he scampered the rest of the way to paydirt to make it 42-12.

The Lakers added a late touchdown to establish the final score.

Medford again led the Eagles’ rushing attack with 141 yards on 22 carries. The output lifted his season tally to 1,537. Buren added 58 yards on seven carries before leaving the game with an injury. Smith added 19 yards on five rushes.

Taylor had 125 yards passing on a 7-of-9 night. White was the top receiver with three catches totaling 47 yards and a pair of scores. Smith snagged two catches and went for 66 yards while Medford had two receptions for 12 yards.

Luckadoo led the defensive performance with a trio of tackles and a fumble recovery. Medford added three tackles, White had two and Smith had one.

The Eagles will be off this week before closing out the 2024 season with a home date Oct. 18 against Pungo Christian Academy. The night will be Homecoming and Senior Night for the Eagles.