Week in Review: September 8-12, 2025

Each Saturday, I will take a look back at some of the biggest storylines from the previous five days in a new feature I’m calling Week in Review. 

Aggressive mindset for Laney football coach Steve Brooks pays off

Laney took over on its own 6-yard line with 1:01 left in the first half and a 10-0 lead against unbeaten South Central on Friday night. 

Nobody would have been upset if the Buccaneers went into victory formation, took a knee twice, and headed to the locker room. Being conservative just isn’t first-year coach Steve Brooks’ style.

Jeremiah Brown picked up 14 yards on back-to-back runs to push the ball to the 20. On the next play, Ryan Gallagher connected with Niko Warren on a short completion across the middle, but the sophomore wide receiver cut across the field for a 40-yard gain.

With the clock stopped because of a first down, the Buccaneers were able to get up to the line of scrimmage and spike the ball with less than 10 seconds remaining. 

Warren got a favorable one-on-one matchup in the slot against a linebacker and ran right past him down the seam. A well-thrown ball from Gallagher resulted in a 40-yard touchdown with just 1.7 seconds on the clock.

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— Michael Barnes (@BSzeusBS) September 13, 2025

“One thing about me is that I’m going to swing my sword, and I think the kids have bought into that too,” Brooks said. “They know that I’ll take shots and I’m not scared. It’s easy to call plays for kids who are hungry for the ball.”

Four-headed rushing attack has Pender football rolling again

There were some question marks about the Pender football team coming into the season. 

Fourteen seniors graduated from last year’s team that finished 10-4 and reached the fourth round of the 1A playoffs before falling to eventual state champion Tarboro. 

Most of those seniors were impact players, but none were as important as running back Jeremiah Johnson. He rushed for a school-record 2,636 yards and 43 TDs. 

Losing that kind of production would set most programs back, but the Patriots are off to a 3-0 start that includes a thrilling 32-26 double-overtime victory over Wallace-Rose Hill on Friday. It snapped an eight-game losing streak in the series that dated back to 2012.

“You don’t replace someone like Jeremiah,” veteran coach Tom Eanes said. “You need to have a group of players to do it.”

That’s exactly what has made Pender so successful early on this season. Four players – Austin Deal (41 carries for 317 yards and 3 TDs), Jaheim Lambe (24 carries for 354 yards and 4 TDs), Zyquan Murphy (28 carries for 198 yards and 1 TD) and Zeke Williams (29 carries for 289 yards and four TDs) – have been instrumental in helping the offense average 409 rushing yards per game and 9 yards per attempt.

All four surpassed 100 yards in a victory over Red Springs on August 29. Lambe led the way Friday night with nine carries for 148 yards and a touchdown. He also had a TD catch.

“This team reminds me of an old mutt dog that just keeps coming around,” Eanes said. “They are fighting their rears off. Nobody expected this out of us. It’s still early in the season, but we’ll take them any way we can get them.”

Coastal Christian volleyball beginning to find its form

After opening the season 2-5, the Coastal Christian volleyball team had won six of its past eight matches entering Saturday’s Battle at the Coast Tournament at Hoggard.

That includes a home sweep against conference foe Parrott Academy on Tuesday. It was a big turnaround from a three-set loss in Kinston when the teams met for the first time on August 26. 

The momentum carried over to Thursday, where Coastal Christian was able to pull out a thrilling five-set victory at Liberty Christian Academy. 

It’s not a surprise that it took some time for the Centurions to find some success after losing coach Georgia Davis as well as standout hitters Elsa Southerland (graduated) and Norah Davis (transferred to Hoggard) from last year’s team that won 18 matches.

Southerland and Davis combined for 616 of Coastal Christian’s 920 kills. 

John Lucas took over the helm, and he’s done a great job of instilling confidence into a pair of young hitters. Sophomore Paige Moyer has a team-high 85 kills, while freshman Leighton Grant isn’t far behind with 76. 

A pair of seniors – Chloe Carter (81) and Ryleigh Wood (37) – are the other two main offensive weapons. 

“We’ve got good buy-in and good culture,” said Lucas, who previously had coaching stops at Clemson, College of Charleston, William & Mary and Hoggard. “They are ready to take a piece of advice and run with it.”