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WINSTON-SALEM — Despite losing multiple starters from last year’s state championship team, Dudley still has J.R. Peterson in the backfield to rely on in a tight game.

Peterson scored two second-half touchdowns and rushed for 141 yards to help the Panthers defeat Carver 28-20 in Winston-Salem.

“We’re working harder (than last year’s team),” Peterson said. “We’ve got a lot to prove. They say we lost a lot of starters, but we still have a lot of talent on this team, so we are just going to work as a team to get better.”

The Yellow Jackets cut the lead to 22-20 with 9:22 to play in the fourth quarter on a fumble recovery that Matthew Colon returned for a touchdown. But Dudley put the game out of reach with a long drive that Peterson punctuated with a 2-yard run to make it 28-20 with 1:53 to play.

“We knew going in that we had some young guys coming up,” Dudley coach Steven Davis said. “They worked hard during the summer and it showed in the third and fourth quarters tonight. They got it done when we needed a drive.”

The Panthers opened with a strong drive, going 98-yards entirely on the ground. Mycah Gaylord carried the final 45 yards, scoring from 24 yards. J.R. Peterson scored the two-point conversion to make it 8-0 with 1:51 to play in the first quarter.

Dudley would strike again in the second quarter by pounding the Carver defense with two different running backs and quarterback Alex Moore. Moore scored on a 5-yard touchdown run, but the running play for two points was stopped, giving the Panthers a 14-0 lead with 4:39 to play in the second quarter.

Carver found a hole in the Dudley defense by going to the air. Yellow Jackets quarterback Mike Lawrence made two quick completions to move Carver to its 40-yard line. Lawrence then hit the big play, finding Richard Daniels just behind the defense for a 60-yard touchdown pass, cutting the lead to 14-6.

On Dudley’s next possession, Moore fumbled in the backfield and Colon recovered and returned it to the 3-yard line.

“For the last four years we’ve played Carver, we seem to have them under control and then we fumble,” Davis said. “I thought we had them under control tonight, but we had some miscues and they took advantage of it. That’s what a good football teams does.”

After a 3-yard loss on the first play, Lawrence dropped back to pass again and found Denzel Rice just inside the end zone. He fought off a defender and scored the 6-yard touchdown. Lawrence tried to run it in for two points and the tie, but was stopped at the 1-yard line and the half ended with the Panthers leading 14-12.

Dudley – Mycah Gaylord 24 run (J.R. Peterson run)

Dudley – Alex Moore 5 run (run fails)

Carver – Richard Daniels 60 pass from Mike Lawrence (kick fails)

Carver – Denzel Rice 6 pass from Lawrence (run fails)

Dudley – Peterson 6 run (Peterson run)

Carver – Matthew Colon 35 fumble return (Lawrence run)

Dudley – Peterson 2 run (Peterson run)