Owen shuts out East Henderson at home, 47-0

BLACK MOUNTAIN - Owen’s sideline was jumping in the final minute against East Henderson. Nathan Arvey repeated one line to his defense as the clock ticked down, and each player around him joined in: Keep East Henderson at zero.

In a 47-0 win over East Henderson High School, Owen High School earned its first shutout victory since 2018. Caleb Scott finished with a game-high 75 rushing yards on five carries with one rushing touchdown.

A win over West Henderson the previous week helped prepare Owen for a similar offense in East Henderson, head coach Nathan Padgett said.

“I’ll take a win over a shutout any day of the week,” Padgett said. “But a shutout is a good feeling. I’m proud of our kids on defense and they battled all night long, and to be able to have that shutout for them is a special feeling.”

Owen forced four total turnovers, including three fumbles and one interception. The Eagles were held to zero passing yards and an average 2.9 rushing yards through 40 attempts.

In contrast, the Warhorses finished with an 8.3 yards-per-carry average through 24 attempts for 201 total yards.

Focusing on a similarly ran offense in East Henderson compared to West Henderson was a focus in practice.

“I think that really helped us, from what we saw last week versus West coming into this game with East,” Padgett said. “Very similar offenses, very similar tendencies. We really didn’t change much of anything that we did. We just got better and better at what we do.”

Scott added 227 passing yards after completing nine of 21 pass attempts with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Dequan Boyce finished with one receiving touchdown and one rushing touchdown, with 54 rushing yards and 63 receiving yards.

Both Peyton Rickard and Sidney Stone led the defense with seven tackles apiece. 

Owen’s speed and athleticism showed against East Henderson’s size, Padgett says.

“They are a very huge football team, they have a lot of size,” Padgett said. “But our kids played with a lot of heart, a lot of physicality.”

Shavoy Harding finished with a game-high 75 receiving yards on three catches for two touchdowns.

With conference play beginning next week on the road against Mitchell High School, Padgett says his team is looking at a 0-0 record despite two-straight wins to open the season.

“Really, we go into this week being 0-0 because the conference starts next week and it starts at Mitchell, and that’s going to be a big game for us,” Padgett said. “Every week, you want to be 1-0 after that conference game.”