Aronne Herring's school record sends New Bern football to rout in 4A East regional semifinals

Last week, New Bern senior running back Aronne Herring moved into third all-time in rushing in program history.

On Friday night, he found his own place in the Bears' football record book.

Herring rushed for 251 yards and a record seven touchdowns on 20 carries at Caruso-Coates Stadium, leading New Bern to a 70-34 victory over Rolesville in the NCHSAA Class 4A East regional semifinals. While Herring had the big night, New Bern's run game cut through the Rams' defense for more than 400 rushing yards in the first half and a total of 625 rushing yards in the game.

With the second-seeded Bears' win, and No. 12 seed Millbrook's 19-14 upset against No. 1 Durham Hillside, New Bern will play at home in next Friday's regional final for a place in the state championship game.

New Bern (14-0) avenged a 69-49 loss to Rolesville in the second round of last year's playoffs.

REGIONAL FINALS BRACKETS:NC high school football playoff brackets for 2022: NCHSAA regional final pairings

NEW BERN HOPES:Can New Bern win another state football title this year? Why they will, what could stop them

OFFENSIVE LINE STRENGTH:Meet Dylan Wagner, the offensive lineman behind New Bern football's dominant run game

NEW BERN WINS IN ROUND 3:New Bern football finally gets defensive stops for regional semifinal playoff rematch

"I think our guys did a great job executing the game plan that we put in," said New Bern coach Torrey Nowell. "We knew defensively we didn't think they could keep up with us and we know we just have to stop people on defense. We have to make sure we are getting better each week and figure out all the things to get us to the next step."

After the Bears' third-round win against Jordan, in which the Bears survived a fourth-down deep in their own territory, Nowell had a composed stance going into an expected revenge game against the Rams (10-4).

From the opening kickoff, the Bears showed the same composure, jumping out to an early 7-0 lead in only two plays, capped by quarterback Damaree Tucker sprinting 39 yards for the score.

Herring got his first score of the game shortly after the Bears' offense regained possession, with a 17-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 14-0. Rolesville returned the ensuing kick for a touchdown, but a 44-yard touchdown from Herring and a 16-yard score from Tucker capped a dominant New Bern first quarter, giving the Bears a 28-7 lead.

The Bears scored two more times in the second quarter, a 23-yard run from Herring and a 19-yard run from Tucker before the Rams scored on either side of halftime to make it a 42-20 game early in the third quarter.

But the New Bern defense would get a stop and Herring capped a methodical drive with an 8-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 48-20.

Trying to force the issue, Rolesville went for it on fourth-and 7 to start the fourth quarter on their own 23-yard line. New Bern's defense stopped the Rams, and Herring scored on the very next play, from 15 yards out, to essentially seal it.

Herring would score two more times in the fourth quarter from 46 and 49 yards to end the Bears' scoring.

Defensively, Nowell praised defensive tackle and Florida State commit KJ Sampson, along with Taevion Cox and No'Tavien Green as the leaders of the Bears' defense on Friday.

"We thought we were a better team than them last year and we had two of our best players go down early," Nowell said. "We didn't take care of the run but this year we did. Last week, Cox was limited and didn't get to play a lot but this we he was able to get in there. "

The Bears finished with three 100-yard rushers in the game, Herring with 287, Tucker with 177 and 3 rushing touchdowns and Malachi Docket with 129, according to 252 ESPN statistician Scott Gaskins.

The last time New Bern and Millbrook faced each other in the playoffs, the Bears scored on a 2-yard touchdown run as time expired to beat the Wildcats 40-38 in 2007. New Bern would go on to win its first state championship.

This article originally appeared on Sun Journal: NCHSAA football playoffs: Aronne Herring, New Bern race by Rolesville