PITTSBORO - Northwood High School's football team, which looked like a juggernaut after winning its first nine game this year, failed to advance past the third round of the NCHSAA playoffs for the fourth straight year.

Kinston proved to be the unstoppable force Friday night in Pittsboro. The Vikings rolled to 488 yards of total offense in the their 34-21 win over the Chargers.

Kinston running backs Chris Brown and Josh Benoit each had over 100 yards rushing and a TD each.

Ninth-seeded Kinston (12-2), the lowest seed still alive in the state quarterfinals, will play an undefeated team in next Friday's East Region 2-AA final -- either at Reidsville or at Southwest Edgecombe, both which entered the quarterfinals at 13-0.

Northwood (12-2) was its own worst enemy in Friday's game with three turnovers - starting with a fumble on its first play from scrimmage, an omen of things to come. With Northwood trailing 21-14 at the half, a holding penalty negated a 57-yard touchdown pass for the Chargers at the start if the third quarter that could have tied the game.

Kinston quarterback Dory Hines capitalized on Northwood's first turnover with a 2-yard TD run. Northwood responded on its next possession with a 14-yard scramble by quarterback Sam Griffin to tie the game. But Kinston went up 13-7 on Hines' second 2-yard TD run late in the first quarter, and the Chargers never got even.

On the Vikes' next possession, Hines hit Brown for a 56-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-7. The closest Northwood came after that was 21-14 on Griffin's 42-yard TD pass to Tra Chandler with less than a minute left in the first half.

The Chargers were back within 28-21 after a 7-yard TD run by Griffin late in the third. Kinston answered with a 31-yard run for a touchdown by Jerome Vaughan to cap the scoring in the fourth quarter.

Griffin, Northwood's all-time leading passer, was intercepted on the ensuing possession, and the Vikings killed most of the remaining 2 minutes.

Eastern Alamance 28,

Cardinals Gibbons 0

RALEIGH Eastern Alamance ended Cardinal Gibbons' dream season with a 28-0 defeat Friday night in the third round of the NCHSAA 3-A football playoffs.

Coach Mike Sheehan's team began the season wanting to be competitive in conference play and qualify for the state playoffs. The Crusaders delivered much more.

They won the school's first conference football title, became the first Gibbons team to win 10 games and finished the year 12-2.

"This has been a team of firsts," Sheehan said. "I told my team that when we're just one of four teams left playing in the East, at that point there aren't any pretenders left. We were one of four very good teams, and we lost to a very good team with good athletes, lots of speed."

The Crusaders (13-1) were the last Carolina-Six team left in the playoffs.

-- David Justice

New Hanover 21,

Southern Durham 10

DURHAM Southern Durham's quest for a 4-A state championship came to a screeching halt Friday night, thanks to Tevin Mishoe. Wilmington New Hanover's 6-foot running back carried the load, toting the ball 39 times for 149 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Wildcats to a 21-10 win over the Spartans.

The win sent New Hanover to next week's 4-A Eastern regional final to face Harnett Central.

Southern Durham was the last PAC-6 team alive in the playoffs.

The Spartans, who lost leading wide receiver Tony Creecy to an ankle injury on the second play of the game, had their share of chances in the first half. They penetrated the Wildcats' 20-yard line three times, but were able to muster only a 35-yard field goal from Adleman Martinez.

"I didn't coach the game I should've coached tonight," Southern coach Adrian Jones said. "... They kind of wore us down."

New Hanover's defense forced three fumbles on a cold, damp field, much to their coach's delight.

"I didn't think we could stop them unless we hit pause on the DVR player," New Hanover coach Kevin Motsinger said. "But our defense just played lights-out tonight."

-- Terry Hill