Yellow Jackets Dominate Northern Durham In Season Opener 56-12

The Lee County Yellow Jackets dominated Northern Durham from the start and rolled to a convincing 56-12 win on the road to open the 2024 season.   Lee County’s defense was near perfect, and the Yellow Jacket offense scored at will throughout the game to overwhelm the Northern Knights for the 2^nd consecutive year.

Lee’s defense allowed only 18 rushing yards during the game and both Northern touchdowns cam in the form of a kickoff return for 82 yards and a 67-yard scramble on a fake punt.  Lee’s offense meanwhile rolled up 187 yards rushing and 195 passing with the entire roster seeing action throughout the game.

It was running back by committee for Lee County with 6 different Yellow Jackets doing the job for Lee County.  Brandon Baldwin was the leader with 54 yards on 9 carries.   Jack Martin and Aiden Poole split the QB duties throughout the game as they combined for 14 of 16 passing for 195 yards and 3 scores.   Jayden Hill and Raymond Knotts led the Jacket receivers with Hill grabbing 7 catches for 144 yards and Knotts with 4 catches for 27 yards.

Lee County starts the season 1-0 and will face St. Paul’s this Friday night at Paul Gay Stadium on Senior Night.

Scoring

Lee County                  19   23   7   7    56

Northern Durham       6     6    0    0    12

Scoring Summary

LC – Terrance McKendall 5 run (kick failed)

ND – Bostic 82 kickoff return (2-pt conv failed)

LC – Jayden Hill 30 pass from Aiden Poole (kick failed)

LC – Hill 58 pass from Jack Martin (Alex Borrell kick)

ND – Smith 67 fake punt (kick Failed)

LC – Drake Brown 2 run (Borrell kick)

LC – Safety, punt snap recovered in end zone

LC – Aundre Gray 62-yard kickoff return (Borrell kick)

LC – Hill 27 pass from Martin (Borrell kick)

LC – Brandon Baldwin 4 run (Borrell kick)

LC – Kentrell White recovered fumble in end zone (Borrell kick)

Rushing

LC – Brandon Baldwin 9-54, Drake Brown 7-45, Jamar Alston 7-39, Terrance McKendall 2-17, Jack Martin 2-24, Lashawn Simmons 2-8  Totals 29-187

Passing

LC – Jack Martin 5-5-118, 2 TDs, Aiden Poole 9-11-77, 1 TD  Totals 14-16-195, 3 TDs

Receiving

Jayden Hill 7-144, 3 TDs, Raymond Knotts 4-27, Jamar Alston 2-23, Cedric Lett 1-3

• Jayden Hill was selected as the Norman Financial Group Offensive Player of the Game and Jesus Salvador was selected as the Defensive Player of the Game.
• The Wilkinson Coach’s pick of Player of the Game will be announced on the Steve Burdeau Coach’s Show Tuesday night at 7:00 pm.
• The Bubba’s Subs and Pizza Impact Play of the Game was Jayden Hill’s 58-yard reception for a score in the 2^nd quarter.
• Lee County had 8 penalties on the night and NO turnovers in the season opener.