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MCLEANSVILLE - Northeast Guilford cruised down the field like it had a police escort on its opening possession Friday night. Nine plays. 88 yards. Touchdown.

After that, it was 90 minutes of rush hour.

Page handcuffed the Rams to the line of scrimmage, holding them to 59 yards the rest of the way and romping to a 36-7 victory at Bill Bookout Stadium.

"We just settled down and played ball," Page head coach Kevin Gillespie said. "That's it. There were no big adjustments."

Will Newman ran for 119 yards and threw a pair of touchdowns for the Pirates, who amassed 352 yards of offense and scored on five of their last six possessions.

It looked like it would be closer than that after Reyshawn Trader capped the Rams' opening drive, which started when Page fumbled inside the red zone on its first possession, with an 8-yard touchdown sweep.

But the Pirates were an immovable object after that. They tied the game on their next drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Newman to Jeremy Collie, then turned a Tony Rustin fumble recovery into a 3-yard touchdown plunge by Lenny Gordon.

They made it 21-7 when Perry Fryer, who transferred from Northeast this offseason, scored from 9 yards out with 2:25 left in the half. Newman, who threw for 133 yards on 10-of-16 passing, hit Brad Workinger for a 9-yard touchdown in the second half, and the Pirates added a safety and a pair of 39-yard field goals by Matt Millisor.

"The times we were able to throw, it opened things up and we were able to pound it a little bit," Gillespie said.

Northeast is feeling the effects of a rough offseason. Nine projected starters moved to different schools, leaving the Rams with 34 players on the varsity roster.

Most of the remaining starters were members of the Rams' undefeated JV team last season, but they're still navigating the learning curve of the varsity game. Quarterback Demetrius Phillips, a junior making his first start after transferring from Eastern Guilford, was incomplete on all six of his passes and didn't really have anyone to turn to for help. Trader had 42 yards on 14 carries.

"We've got some problems," Northeast head coach Tommy Pursley said. "But I saw enough (tonight) to know that we can be pretty good."

For Page, Harris had nine carries for 44 yards, Fryer had 14 for 42, and Workinger caught three passes for 34 yards.

It was the Pirates' first game since the tragic death of Matt Gfeller, the 15-year-old linebacker from R.J. Reynolds who suffered a fatal spinal injury during a game with Page last week.

"I thought our kids did a great job rallying around the team," Gillespie said. "Our main focus all week has been business as usual. Obviously, you want to think of the kid and his family, and our prayers are with them. But you also don't want to take our focus off what you've got to do. That's tough for young kids, but I'm proud of them. They did a great job."

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com

N - Reyshawn Trader 8 run (Matt Johnson kick)

P - Jeremy Collie 3 pass from Will Newman (Matt Millisor kick)

P - Lenny Gordon 3 run (Millisor kick)

P - Perry Fryer 7 run (Millisor kick)

P - Millisor 39 FG

P - Safety

P - Brad Workinger 9 pass from Newman (Millisor kick)

P - Millisor 39 FG