For those near Durham, the New Bern Bears are coming in to play Hillside. This is a rematch of the 2010 4A east championship. Many say the game last year was the true state 4A championship since Hillside smashed everybody in the playoffs except New Bern.
New Bern may get thumped this time though......sorry Dex, Oleschool and Gator.
Bears avenged last year’s 12-7 loss to the Hornets
Watkins goes for 137 yards, 3 TDs
varsity.newbernsj.com/articles/bears-2533-durham-hornets.htmlAugust 19, 2011 11:21 PM
Adam Thompson
Sun Journal staff
DURHAM – Jachin Watkins didn’t play in last season’s 4-A Eastern Regional Final against Durham Hillside.
The junior helped lead the junior varsity team to an undefeated record.
Watkins, a 6-foot, 225-pound running back, ran with a purpose in his first varsity game on Friday.
Watkins rumbled for 137 yards and three touchdowns to lead the visiting New Bern Bears over the defending 4-A state championship Durham Hillside Hornets, 27-19, in the season opener on Friday.
The Bears avenged last year’s 12-7 loss to the Hornets in the Eastern Regional Finals.
It was Hillside’s first loss since November 2009.“Sitting on the sidelines, it was hard for me to take that loss (last year),” Watkins said. “I worked hard in the summer and over the offseason to get ready for this. I worked my butt off.”
Watkins scored on touchdown runs of 10, 5 and 16 yards. His final score, with 1:26 remaining in the third quarter, gave the Bears their margin of victory.
Watkins took over where last year’s Sun Journal Player of the Year, Karon Simmons, left off.
“I felt good. I had to fill the role for my man Karon Simmons. I followed him (in the offseason) and did everything that he did. He helped me learn.”
Watkins credited his offensive line – of Christian Matau, Josh Simmons, Canden Thompson, Robert Musselwhite and Cameron Curlings – for paving the way.
The defense did the rest, sacking Hillside quarterback Collyn Anderson eight times and intercepting him twice.
Freshman Cypress Borden recorded three sacks, while Carter Roberts had two.
“We’ve got some hard workers up front,” said defensive back Zahair Cherry. “We work hard in practice so that when it comes to the game, it made it easy.”
New Bern junior Bra’Lon Cherry returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. Hillside scored on a 77-yard touchdown pass to Trevion Thompson and two touchdown runs from running back Khris Francis, including a 69-yard run.
Junior defensive back Zahair Cherry made up for a blown coverage with two interceptions.
“I just had to use my technique. That’s what coach told me when I came to the sidelines,” Cherry said. “I couldn’t sleep last night. I stayed up until three (in the morning) watching film.”
Bears’ quarterback Josh Taylor was 10-of-15 passing for 166 yards and an interception. Senior wide receiver Luke Holton had five catches for 64 yards.
New Bern’s offense gained 366 yards. As a team, the Bears committed only two penalties.
Francis led the Hornets’ offense with 160 rushing yards on 28 carries.
New Bern head coach Bobby Curlings was pleased with the effort, citing that it started during the offseason workouts.
“It takes a little bit of the pain away from last year,” Curlings said. “It wasn’t really about revenge, it was about playing the next game and getting back on the field and winning again. To see our hard work pay off in this environment, against a very good team, I am very proud of the guys.”
The Bears, who scheduled Hillside as part of a home-and-home series, wanted to play the Hornets early in the season to judge where they stand among the top teams in the state.
“As far as effort, and want-to and heart, we have got that covered,” Curlings said. “Efficiency, mental mistakes, we’ve still got a little ways to go.”
New Bern (1-0) hosts Havelock on Friday.
Adam Thompson can be reached at 252-635-5670 or at athompson@freedomenc.com.
New Bern 27, Hillside 19
New Bern 13 0 14 0 — 27
Hillside 6 7 6 0 — 19
First quarter
NB — Jachin Watkins 10 run (kick blocked), 7:22
H — Trevion Thompson 77 pass from Collyn Anderson (conversion failed), 1:31
NB — Bra’Lon Cherry 93 kickoff return (O’Connor kick), 1:19
Second quarter
H — Khris Francis 4 run (Emanual Adjua kick), 11:00
Third quarter
NB — Watkins 5 run (O’Connor kick), 4:31
H — Francis 69 run (kick failed), 2:39
NB — Watkins 16 run (O’Connor kick), 1:26
Team stats NB HILL
First downs 18 13
Total yards 366 287
Rushes-yards 40-200 45-161
Comp-Att-Int. 10-15-1 6-15-2
Punts-Avg. 3-30.7 4-27.3
Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 2-20 6-40
Individual stats
Passing — New Bern: Josh Taylor 10-15-1 166. Hillside: Collyn Anderson 6-15-2 126.
Rushing — New Bern: Jacquin Watkins 16-137, Taylor 16-42, Cody Purdie 3-10, Bra’Lon Cherry 2-7, Terence Blount 1-4. Hillside: Khris Francis 28-160, Dontae Williams 2-32, Julian Beltran 2-11, Anderson 13-(-42).
Receiving — New Bern: Luke Holton 5-64, Chandler Powell 1-37, Cherry 2-24, Taurence Williams 1-17, Cherry 2-24. Hillside: Trevion Thompson 2-81, Francis 1-21, Dylan Davis 2-15, Javien Knight 1-9.
. It seemed to me that the Backs would not cut back off the blocks or read the OL's Blocks 
so they put D.J. in to run inside and to lead block 
. I just let her know to have a talk with the coach about that because it is not a good thing to do from my point of view 
. . I have used Lineman in the back field and at TE but only on short yardage and goal line but not the way that he is using D.J. 
