news-record.com

GREENSBORO­ ­— When in doubt, be aggressive.

That was the motto that Smith used against the Northwest Guilford Wing-T offense and the Eagles forced three fumbles on their way to a 35-7 rout of the Vikings.

Smith is now 3-0 on the season, while Northwest Guilford, No. 7 in the News & Record top 10, falls to 2-1.

“We had a terrible week of practice. We were pulling our hair out over that offense,” said Smith coach Rodney Brewington. “I just told them to be aggressive. Stay deep, hit the gaps and find the ball.”

Brewington turned to running back Elijah Jordan, who may be small, but found holes everywhere in the Northwest defense and finished with 187 yards on 27 rushes.

“He’s our little, big man,” Brewington said. “We’ve got a pretty good offensive line and he knows how to look for holes and get through them. And you never get a solid hit on him.”

Jordan said he had practiced hard all week and was motivated to perform against a team that everybody thought would dominate the Eagles.

“If it’s not there, you’ve got to make something of it,” Jordan said. “The win was the most important thing.”

After taking a 7-0 first half lead, the Eagles kept up the pressure in the third quarter.

After recovering a Northwest fumble, Smith went to the air and quarterback Jeff Sims found Codie Davis for 24 yards and connected with Keith Coleman for a 20-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

“They were more aggressive than we expected and they forced us to make mistakes,” said Northwest Guilford coach Joe Woodruff. “It seemed like our defense was on the field the whole game. Smith might just be a phenomenal team. They certainly looked that way tonight.”

Two possessions later, Smith went back to Jordan. He ripped off a run of 24 yards and a 15-yard touchdown to give the Eagles a 21-0 lead.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Smith put the game out of reach. A 65-yard pass completion to Codie Davis set up another Jordan touchdown run and the Eagles had a 28-0 lead.

The Eagles capitalized on a Vikings fumble to get on the board first.

After recovering the fumble at the 29, Smith worked quickly down the field behind the running of Jordan. Jordan ran the ball six out of the eight plays on the drive, the last one for 39 yards and a touchdown on a 4th-and-1 play.

Jordan finished the first half with 19 attempts and 106 yards. Despite that performance, the Eagles could only manage the lone score in the first half because of their own turnovers, most notably two interceptions thrown by quarterback Jeff Sims.

S—Elijah Jordan 39 run (Fernando Martinez kick)

S—Keith Coleman 20 pass from Jeff Sims (Martinez kick)

S—Jordan 15 run (Martinez kick)

S—Jordan 1 run (Martinez kick)

S—Dushonte McCoy 40 run (kick good)

NWG—Reid Baxter 13 run (Garrett Stuart kicks)