Dexter’s 129 rushing yards, disruptive defense lift Gators past Union

Demetrius Dexter ran for 129 yards and East Columbus’s defense held Union to six points in a 14–6 road win on Sept. 25, snapping the Gators’ three-game losing streak.

Dexter averaged 8.6 yards on 15 carries and completed three of six passes for 46 yards. He accounted for 175 of East Columbus’s 220 recorded yards of offense—79.5%—and increased his rushing output by 69 yards from the previous game against Hobbton.

Inside the numbers

Christan Norton added 44 yards on eight carries. JT Hudson caught all three of the Gators’ recorded completions for 46 yards, including a 25-yard reception. East Columbus ran for 174 yards on 25 attempts, averaging seven yards per carry.

Dawson Crosby made 13 tackles, including 11 solo stops, and four tackles for loss. Patron Dixon added eight solo tackles and six tackles for loss. Jacob Stukes had five tackles, three for loss, and a sack; Anthony Brewington made six tackles, two for loss.

Union’s Tobias Cromartie finished with 88 yards on 22 carries, an average of four yards per attempt. The Gators recorded 18 tackles for loss, Hudson recovered a fumble, and Handsford forced one. Quarter-by-quarter scoring and touchdown attribution are unavailable, so the statistics support the performance breakdown without establishing the scoring sequence.

The defensive turnaround drove the result: East Columbus allowed 81 points against Whiteville and Hobbton in the preceding two games, then six at Union. Crosby recorded at least 13 tackles in each of those three games, totaling 40.

Season and matchup context

East Columbus returned to .500 at 3–3 and improved to 1–1 in conference. The win made it two straight against Union after a 24–12 victory in 2025. The Spartans fell to 3–2.

The Gators next hosted West Columbus on Oct. 2. The Vikings entered 1–4 after a 44–30 loss to Lakewood, but had beaten East Columbus in each of the previous three seasons.

Game played Sept. 25, 2026. Retrospective recap reviewed and expanded Oct. 5, 2026.

Dexter leads offensive response, but Hobbton hands Gators third straight loss

East Columbus ended a two-game scoring drought, but Hobbton’s early lead and 278-yard rushing performance were too much in a 32–13 conference-opening loss on Sept. 18.

Hobbton led 16–0 after the first quarter and 23–7 at halftime. East Columbus outscored the Wildcats 6–2 in the third to make it 25–13 entering the fourth, but Hobbton added the final seven points.

Inside the numbers

Demetrius Dexter completed six of 11 passes for 44 yards and a touchdown and ran nine times for 60 yards. Terry Shipman added 46 rushing yards on three carries, including a 40-yard run. Steve Handsford ran for 33 yards and a touchdown on seven attempts.

Dawson Crosby caught two passes for 41 yards, led the defense with 13 tackles and made two tackles for loss. Anthony Brewington also recorded 13 tackles, including 11 solo stops, and recovered a fumble. Jacob Stukes added eight tackles, three for loss, and a sack.

Hobbton’s J. Johnson ran 24 times for 176 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 7.3 yards per carry. A. Tate added 80 rushing yards, and quarterback B. McLamb completed five of nine passes for 73 yards and two scores. The Wildcats recorded 351 yards of offense, compared with East Columbus’s 183 yards from its reported rushing and passing totals.

Season and matchup context

The 13 points were a step forward after consecutive shutouts, but the loss dropped East Columbus to 2–3 and 0–1 in the Carolina 1A/2A Conference. Over the three-game losing streak, the Gators were outscored 87–13.

Hobbton earned its first win after an 0–4 start and won the teams’ fourth straight recorded meeting since 2023. The 19-point margin was smaller than the Wildcats’ 35–6 win in 2025. East Columbus next traveled to Union on Sept. 25; the Spartans entered 3–1 after beating West Bladen 42–13.

Game played Sept. 18, 2026. Retrospective recap reviewed and expanded Oct. 5, 2026.

Whiteville’s 21-point second quarter sends Gators to second shutout loss

Whiteville scored 21 second-quarter points to break open a scoreless game and defeat East Columbus 41–0 on Sept. 11.

The teams were tied after the first quarter. Whiteville led 21–0 at halftime, added 13 points in the third and seven in the fourth, improving to 4–0. East Columbus fell to 2–2 with its second consecutive shutout loss.

Inside the numbers

Dawson Crosby led the Gators with 14 tackles, including 12 solo stops, and one tackle for loss. Steve Handsford and Dakarai Porter each made seven tackles, Patron Dixon had six, and Jacob Stukes and Ryan Cobb each added five.

Demetrius Dexter intercepted a pass and made five tackles. Porter recovered a fumble, while Crosby forced one. The recorded defensive statistics show individual production, but East Columbus’s offensive yardage and Whiteville’s player lines are unavailable for this game.

The week-to-week change was substantial. East Columbus allowed 14 points against Chatham Central, then 41 against Whiteville. The Gators were outscored 55–0 across those two losses after outscoring their first two opponents 24–14.

Season and matchup context

Whiteville remained a difficult county matchup. East Columbus had also been shut out 64–0 in 2023, 58–0 in 2024 and 44–0 in 2025. Across those four meetings through 2026, Whiteville outscored the Gators 207–0.

East Columbus’s next game was its conference opener at home against Hobbton on Sept. 18. Hobbton entered 0–4 after a 38–30 loss to Rosewood; the Gators needed to end both a two-game losing streak and a two-game scoring drought.

Game played Sept. 11, 2026. Retrospective recap reviewed and expanded Oct. 5, 2026.

Stukes records four sacks, but Gators shut out by Chatham Central

Jacob Stukes recorded four sacks and 11 tackles, but East Columbus could not produce a score in a 14–0 home loss to Chatham Central on Sept. 4.

The Gators trailed 6–0 after the first quarter, and that score held through the next two periods. Chatham Central added eight points in the fourth to finish the shutout. East Columbus fell to 2–1.

Inside the numbers

Stukes made nine solo tackles and four tackles for loss. Dawson Crosby added seven tackles and a sack; Patron Dixon had five tackles, two for loss, and a sack. Demetrius Dexter and Jonah Jacobs each recovered a fumble.

Chatham Central quarterback Brooks Albright completed seven of 15 passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, and ran for 68 yards on 14 attempts. Gavin Williams caught four passes for 77 yards and both touchdown receptions.

East Columbus’s defensive production kept this game closer than the final margin alone suggests: the Gators remained one score behind entering the fourth quarter despite failing to score. The first three opponents had totaled 28 points, an average of 9.3 per game.

Season and matchup context

The offensive reporting is incomplete. Recorded entries include Crosby’s 20 rushing yards on two attempts and Norton’s 16-yard catch, but there is no Gators passing line and only four recorded rushing attempts. Those partial entries should not be read as a complete offensive total.

Chatham Central’s win reversed the teams’ 2025 result, when East Columbus won 22–20. The Gators’ next game was a Sept. 11 trip to unbeaten Whiteville, which had just defeated East Bladen 48–36.

Game played Sept. 4, 2026. Retrospective recap reviewed and expanded Oct. 5, 2026.