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GREENSBORO — Dudley has so many talented running backs to hand off to, why not cut out the middle man?

Giving their offense a new wrinkle by lining up J.R. Peterson and Mycah Gaylord at quarterback in a Wildcat formation for much of the second half, the Panthers scored 33 unanswered points to hold off rival Smith 47-20 Saturday in the first round of the NCHSAA playoffs. (Photo gallery)

“We’re going to run it until somebody stops us,” said Peterson, who carried 15 times for 157 yards and three touchdowns and had a 13-yard touchdown reception. Gaylord had 56 yards and a score for the Panthers, who doubled up the Golden Eagles in total yardage and plays from scrimmage.

It was still a lot closer than the final score, at least as close as Dudley’s 22-0 win over Smith on the same field earlier this season.

Dudley jumped ahead 14-0 Friday before Smith, which had managed only a pair of three-and-outs in the first quarter, used a 38-yard pass from Jeff Sims to Codie Davis to set up 2-yard score from Sims to Eric Ebron early in the second quarter. The Golden Eagles failed to recover an onside kick, but they defused a Dudley red zone trip by recovering a fumble by Gaylord.

Smith’s Mike Milner intercepted a Devarris Martin pass near the goal line with just over a minute left in the half and brought it back to the Smith 42. The Golden Eagles promptly marched 58 yards in five plays, scoring with nine seconds left on a 23-yard strike from Sims to Anthony Johnson, who had four catches for 75 yards.

“I thought we would be in a for a dogfight,” Peterson said. “But I knew we would come back and do what we had to do.”

He didn’t even have to wait until after halftime. The Golden Eagles squibbed the ensuing kickoff, but David Amerson found a seam and raced 78 yards for a momentum-stealing touchdown as the clock struck zeroes.

“We had them right where we needed them,” Smith head coach Rodney Brewington said. “They’re not the two-time defending champions on accident.”

Brewington said his team’s spirits were still high in the halftime huddle, but the crushing blow came early in the third when Sims was intercepted by Travores Jenkins and tried to make the tackle himself on the return. He stood Jenkins up and saved a touchdown, but he injured his shoulder in the process and spent the rest of the game on the sideline.

“He wanted to come back out, but I told him we’ll live to play another year,” Brewington said of the junior, who finished 8-of-12 for 127 yards.

Smith’s offense came to a screeching halt without Sims, managing minus-15 yards the rest of the way until Davis snuck through a sleeping second-string defense for a 60-yard keeper late in the fourth. The Eagles’ star running back, Elijah Jordan, finished with three yards on eight carries.

“We knew running on them would not be an option tonight,” Brewington said. “They’re built for it.”

Meanwhile, the Panthers kept finding bigger and bigger holes to run through. Peterson converted Jenkins’ interception into a 1-yard touchdown, then added scoring runs of 6 and 55 yards as quarterback Alex Moore, who carried for 63 yards and threw for 91 and a score in the first half, watched from the sideline.

“(Moore) is a good runner, don’t get me wrong,” Panthers head coach Steve Davis said. “We just want the ball in our running backs’ hands.”

D - J.R. Peterson 13 pass from Alex Moore (Brandon Burkes kick)
D - Mycah Gaylord 1 run (Burkes kick)
S - Eric Ebron 2 pass from Jeff Sims (Orlando Lopez kick)
S - Anthony Johnson 23 pass from Sims (Lopez kick)
D - David Amerson 78 kickoff return (Burkes kick)
D - Peterson 1 run (kick failed)
D - Peterson 6 run (kick failed)
D - Peterson 55 run (Burkes kick)
D - Demetrius McCorkle 21 run (Burkes kick)
S - Codie Davis 60 run (pass failed