Burns rallies past East Gaston in Deer Park Gaston County game of the week

Yielding the first 14 points of the game to an unbeaten team and trailing late in the third quarter was hardly the recipe for success for Burns quarterback Ben Mauney on senior night.

But Mauney, a senior who has committed to at nearby Gardner-Webb, rallied his team for 21 consecutive first-half points on three touchdown passes and added a strong second-half burst to lead the Bulldogs to a 56-42 victory against East Gaston. This was the Deer Park Water Gaston County game of the week.

It stopped East Gaston’s (7-1, 3-1) best start to a season in the school’s 52-year history while Burns improved to 6-2 overall and 4-0 in the Southern Piedmont 1A/2A conference.

The game was called with 21.3 seconds left after a hard tackle at the end of a 25-yard scramble by East Gaston quarterback Trenton Sherrill that set off pushing and shoving by both teams in the East Gaston bench area.

After the teams were separated, game officials met with Burns head coach David Devine and East Gaston head coach J.T. Postell and the game was called. The teams were kept apart as they headed to their respective locker rooms. Players and coaches were not available to talk after the game.

Early on, East Gaston raced ahead 14-0 in the first seven minutes before Mauney and the Bulldogs mounted their comeback, scoring 21 straight to take a 21-14 lead.

East Gaston tied it with with 10:04 left in the first half and the Warriors’ defense stopped the Bulldogs at the East Gaston 13 with 31.2 seconds left in the first half.

In the second half, Burns rallied again.

The Bulldogs fell behind 35-34 with 2:18 left in the third quarter before scoring 22 straight points in the next 7 minutes, 25 seconds to put the game away.

Mauney ran for two touchdowns and passed for another to lead the second half Bulldogs’ surge.

Three who made a difference

Burns QB Ben Mauney: He completed 12 of 22 passes for 330 yards and four touchdowns and rushed 10 times for 49 yards and two touchdowns.

Burns RB Jeremiah Norris: He rushed 18 times for 123 yards and one touchdown.

East Gaston RB Isaac Brown: He rushed 14 times for 178 yards and three touchdowns.

Worth mentioning

▪ Burns’ victory means the Bulldogs are two wins away from their ninth conference title in school history and third in four years.

▪ Meanwhile, East Gaston has to beat Shelby at home next week — and hope Shelby beats Burns in the 2023 regular season finale — in order have a chance at a share of its fourth conference title — and first since 2006.

What’s next?

East Gaston hosts Shelby next Friday; Burns visits Cherryville next Friday.

SCORING SUMMARY

East Gaston 14 7 14 7 - 42

Burns 13 8 13 22 - 56

EG - Trenton Sherrill 2 run (Tripp Abernathy kick)

EG - Omarion McDowell 36 run (Abernathy kick)

B - Kenyon Surratt 64 pass from Ben Mauney (Drew Dixon kick)

B - Jeremiah Norris 24 pass from Mauney (Bad snap on kick)

B - Landy Goolsby 41 pass from Mauney (Jonny Johnson pass from Mauney)

EG - Isaac Brown 6 run (Abernathy kick)B - Mauney 12 run (Dixon kick)

EG - Brown 79 run (Abernathy kick)

B - Kamari Surratt 56 pass from Mauney (Kick failed)

EG - Omarion Pryor 25 pass from Sherrill (Abernathy kick)

B - Mauney 1 run (Mauney run)

B - Jeremiah Norris 44 run (Dixon kick)

B - Johnson 30 interception return (Dixon kick)

EG - Brown 67 run (Abernathy kick)

This story was originally published October 12, 2023 at 7:15 AM.