Down 12-6 in the fourth quarter, East Chapel drove 59 yards to get a first down at the Tigers’ six-yard line. Chapel Hill stopped East on four straight runs, the last a dive by Jeremy Hubbard from the one-yard line that got zero.

“That goal line stand set the tone for the rest of the game,” Chapel Hill coach Issac Marsh said. “It took away their momentum and gave our offense a lift.”

Darius Allen’s second-half touchdown runs of 56 and 14 yards were enough to spark Chapel Hill’s offense and lead the Tigers to their ninth straight win over East Chapel Hill, 19-6.

“I think that’s the best East team since 1999,” Marsh said. “This was no easy game. This was a tough win.”

Alex Duncan, who had a 13-yard touchdown catch for Chapel Hill (2-0) in the first half, killed East Chapel Hill’s last drive by picking off a pass at the Tigers’ 30-yard line and returning it to the East 43 with 1:50 left to play. The Tigers were able to kill the clock after that.

Allen, held to 23yards in the first half, ran for 101 in the second to end up with 124yards on 21carries. His 56-yard dash around left end for a score with 3:28 remaining in the game gave Chapel Hill a 19-6 lead. It was set up by a muffed punt at midfield after Chapel Hill had been bottled up inside its own 10 by the Wildcats.

“Did we improve? Did we play hard? Yeah. But we just made too many mistakes,” East Chapel Hill coach Bill Renner said. “Just catching a couple of punts would have helped.”

Chapel Hill took a 12-6 lead with 1:22 left in the third quarter on Allen’s 14-yard dash off right tackle. Quarterback T.J. Johnson was stymied on his try for a conversion run.

Chapel Hill started three first-half possessions inside East territory, using one to tie the game at 6-6.

East Chapel Hill (1-1) got on the board first late in the second quarter with an 86-yard catch and run by Will Buckley on a Ben Jones pass. He caught the ball in a crowd at the Wildcats’ 20-yard line, shrugged off a defender and outran everyone to the end zone with 4:30 remaining in the quarter.

Buckley’s dive into the end zone cost East Chapel Hill 15 yards for excessive celebration. Allen’s 34-yard kickoff return let Chapel Hill start the ensuing possession at East’s 42-yard line.

Helped by a bobbled punt that kept the drive alive, Chapel Hill scored on a 13-yard pass from T.J. Johnson to a wide-open Duncan in the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown with 2:27 left before halftime. The Wildcats, who shanked their own first conversion kick, blocked Chapel Hill’s first PAT kick, leaving the score at 6-6.

Chapel Hill defeated East Chapel Hill for the ninth straight year, retaining possession of the Chapel Hill News’ Hodgin Cup.

Friday night’s margin was the closest between the two rivals in Culton-Peerman Stadium since 2002, when Chapel Hill edged East 37-28. East Chapel Hill won 24-21 at CHHS in 1998, the Wildcats’ only win in Culton-Peerman in the annual battle for the Chapel Hill News’ Hodgin Cup.

East Chapel Hill hasn’t beaten the Tigers since 2003. Chapel Hill leads the series 13-3.