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 4^th and 1 at the Lee County 48 to take a 20-9 lead.   Lee County scored twice more in the 4^th 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 2^nd 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 4^th 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!