HobbsDailyReport.com
MAIDEN – It has taken Maiden High’s Will Byrne, a former star wide receiver for the Blue Devils, only 14 games to reach double-digit wins as a head coach.
BYRNE
With quarterback Keygan Mayfield running for 127 yards and Lee Turner adding 77 and Josh Morgan 76, the Blue Devils cruised by East Burke 50-6 on Friday night in their home opener.
Maiden (2-0) had 418 yards of offense – 291 of it on the ground – and forced two turnovers to hand Byrne his 10th win in just his 14th game as head coach in The Biggest Little Football Town In The World.
MAIDEN 50
EAST BURKE 6
Mayfield is back at quarterback as a senior, a position he got some playing time at during his sophomore year before transferring to Davidson Day to play as a junior.
He hasn’t skipped a beat since going back under center for the Blue Devils, who went 8-4 last year in Byrne’s first year as head coach.
Maiden scored on three of its first four touches.
Mayfield opened the scoring Friday with a 12-yard scoring run, and rushing TDs by Christopher Morgan (1 yard) and Kentrell Williams (12 yards) had the Blue Devils (2-0) in front 22-0.
Turner and Caleb McDaniel had third-quarter TDs for a 36-0 lead, and Morgan and Anthony Sigmon had rushing TDs for Maiden after the Cavs (0-2) got their only score – a 12-yard pass from Jaylon Jefferson to Josh Moore.
East Burke, under new head coach Mark Buffamoyer (he took over when former Maiden head coach Tom Brown retired), is off to an 0-2 start and has been outscored 85-6.
Maiden has back-to-back non-conference games ahead. On Friday at 7:30 p.m., the Blue Devils face Bunker Hill on the road. A week later, they are at home against St. Stephens before a bye week to prepare for their South Fork 2A debut on Sept. 22 at home against Bandys.
East Burke’s next game, on Friday at 7:30 p.m., is the annual Fat Friday game with archrival Freedom in Morganton. The Cavs then have home games against Newton-Conover and West Lincoln before a bye week leading into their debut in the Northwestern Foothills 2A on Sept. 29 at home against West Iredell.