NEWPORT NEWS - After not playing since the loss at Bluefield State three weeks ago, The Apprentice School football team came out put up points early and often on the way to an 80-0 win over Central International Saturday afternoon.
There were multiple entries into the program's record book, including Jeremiah Morgan hitting all 11 extra point attempts, two more than the previous record. His 14 points scored is the second most by kicking in program history.
The 80 points scored is the second most all-time behind an 87-point game against George Mason in 2018. The 11 touchdowns scored is also second most behind the matchup against George Mason, while the five recovered fumbles is the most all-time.
The Builders scored on their first three offensive drives of the day, starting when Mason Tatum found Leland Girdy for a 13-yard pitch-and-catch to get on the board less than four minutes into the game. After forcing a Cardinal punt, Apprentice used a big pass from Tatum to Girdy to set up Curtis Green to punch it in from a yard out to push the score to 14-0. The Builders went up three scores on the next drive when Tatum and Girdy hooked up again for a 9-yard touchdown at the 1:48 mark of the first quarter.
The Apprentice School defense then got on the board as Riley Harrison forced a Cardinal fumble that he recovered in the endzone just seconds before Denzel Porter forced another CIC fumble that Kaytwan Shuler scooped up to give the Builders a 35-0 lead after one quarter.
The Builders kept it going in the second quarter as Tatum had his third passing touchdown of the day as he found Ta'Kevion Petty for a 9-yard passing score to push the score to 42-0. After CIC fumbled the ensuing kickoff, Lawrence Reed scored from nine yards away to go up seven scores. Christian Walker picked off the Cardinal quarterback on the first play of the next drive, setting the table for Green to sprint in from 10 yards away to go up 56-0.
With time winding down in the first half, the Builder offense got into field goal range, giving Morgan a chance from 38 yards as time expired to push the score to 59-0 at halftime.
Green, Reed and Willis Walton all had rushing touchdowns in the second half as the teams played two 10-minute running clock quarters to finish out the game.
While the offense put up over 400 yards of offense, the Builder defense forced seven total turnovers and held the Cardinals to -2 net offensive yards and just one first down.
The Apprentice School will be back in action next week against Louisburg at 1 p.m. at home. The game will serve as Homecoming and Senior Day.
