New Bern, Jacksonville coaches looking ahead after 45-0 Bears win
NEW BERN – Jacksonville got a front row view of just how good New Bern is this football season.
The Bears are physical and fast, and they displayed that Friday night in a 45-0 Big Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference win over the Cardinals.
“They are just really good,” Jacksonville coach Beau Williams said.
Just how good?
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New Bern (6-0, 2-0) has held high-scoring teams − Jacksonville, Havelock and New Hanover − to three points combined, including shutouts in consecutive weeks over the Rams and Cardinals. The Bears’ defense, which held Jacksonville to 97 yards of total offense, is led by defensive tackle KJ Sampson, a 6-foot-4, 285-pound senior committed to Florida State.
But the Bears aren’t too shabby on offense either, led by senior Aronne Herring, who ran for 144 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown run.
They aren’t fancy, but with a mix of speed and physicality, they have big-play capability and have the ability to control clock.
Put everything together and no wonder New Bern is this good.
“This is my fourth year in the program and we have a lot of upper classmen who have been working really hard,” New Bern coach Torrey Nowell said. “A lot of those guys have been playing varsity since they were freshmen.”
That means a lot of the seniors have experienced a lot, including a 4-A East Regional final trip in the 2021 spring season, a last-second 29-28 loss at Jacksonville and a 69-49 second-round playoff loss to Rolesville last year.
Those stumbles last year motivate the Bears.
“Around here, they don’t really care about conference championships. Winning state championships is the big thing they talk about,” Nowell said. “Last year, we got a little big-headed and we fell short of our goals. Our guys understand that we can’t do that this year.”
New Bern has a favorable schedule for the next two games. The Bears visit South Central (1-5, 0-2) before visiting Northside (1-4, 1-1). Then on Oct. 14, the Bears host reigning state 3-A runner-up J.H. Rose (5-1, 2-0).
“Now we want our second group to take the next level so that we can give the other guys a blow,” Nowell said. “They all work hard together in practice and they are competing to make sure we stay on top of each other.”
While New Bern looks ahead toward a potential conference title and deep postseason run, Jacksonville (3-2, 0-2) hopes to get back on track after defeats to Big Carolina Conference heavyweights. The Cardinals were coming off a 34-26 home loss to J.H. Rose.
After an open date next week, Jacksonville hosts Havelock.
“We play in a tough conference and we have more tough games to come,” Williams said. “We just have to get better each week.”
Special teams mistakes again hurt the Cardinals as a blocked punt was returned for a touchdown that put them behind 14-0 in the first quarter. It didn’t take long for the mistakes to escalate. All of a sudden, Jacksonville trailed 38-0 at halftime.
“All we could do at that point is keep playing,” Williams said.
Chris Miller can be contacted via email at chris.miller@jdnews.com. Follow him on twitter @jdnsports.
This article originally appeared on The Daily News: NC high school football: New Bern beats Jacksonville 45-0
