Boulware and Lee County Rush Past New Hanover 34-9 – Earn State Title Game Next Saturday @ 7:00

AJ Boulware rushed for 247 yards on 28 carries and 4 touchdowns to lead Lee County to the Eastern Regional Title and a shot at Defending 3AA Champion Weddington next Saturday at 7:00 pm at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.    The Yellow Jackets beat New Hanover 34-9 to improve to 15-0 on the season and will set up a battle of the two #1 seeds for the championship game.   

Lee County led by 6-3 after a 44-yard field goal by New Hanover with 7:50 left in the half, but a 70-yard run by Boulware on Lee County’s next possession put the Jackets up 14-3.     The Wildcats added two more field goals in the final 2:06 of the half and left Lee County up 14-9 at the break.

It was all Lee County from there as the Yellow Jackets used a 52-yard run by Boulware on a 4th and 1 at the Lee County 48 to take a 20-9 lead.   Lee County scored twice more in the 4th to seal the game and will make their first championship game appearance for the first time as Lee County High School.   The last Yellow Jacket team to appear in a State Final was Sanford Central in 1975.

Lee County’s defense was remarkable with Dez Evans leading a defensive line that limited New Hanover to 38 yards rushing and only 24 yards of offense in the 2nd half.    TJ Johnson and Jayden Chalmers both had interceptions to lead the Yellow Jacket secondary.

Scoring

New Hanover      0     9     0     0     9

Lee County          6     8     6    14   34

Scoring Summary

LC – AJ Boulware 6 run (kick failed)

NH – Owen Daffer 44 FG

LC – Boulware 70 run (2-pt conv good)

NH – Deffer 20 FG

NH – Daffer 45 FG

LC – Boulware 52 run (kick failed)

LC – Boulware 5 run (Trey Underwood kick)

LC – Colin Johnson 16 pass to McKendall (Underwood kick)

Rushing

NH – Stanley 13-39, Chandler 3-4, Howard 4-9, Marshall 2-2, Nixon 5-(-16)  Totals 27-38

LC – Boulware – 28-247, McKendall 1-0, Gray 1-0, Patterson 1-2, Johnson 3-8   Totals 34-257

Passing

NH – Nixon 17-28-124

LC – Johnson 12-18-69

Receiving

NH – Marshall 10-94, Farris 1-(-1), Brady 4-29, Pelloom 1-(-5), Jones 1-7   Totals 17-124

LC – McKendall 6-35, Chalmers 1-6, Lett 1-5, Berdecia 2-13, Austin 1-0, Boulware 1-10 Totals 12-69

  • AJ Boulware was named the Normann Financial Group Player of the game and AJ’s 52-yarder on a 4th and 1 at the Lee County 48-yard line was the F&W Playhouse Play of the Game.
  • Boulware went over 2,000 yards on the season and now stands at 2,124 yards on 245 carries, 8.7 YPC, 151 YPG and 31 touchdowns.
  • Lee County has held their last 3 playoff opponents to 55, 84 and 38 yards rushing for an average of 59 yards per game.
  • All Lee County Season Stats are updated and on the WFJA Website under Football then Stats!

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