BY HEATHER STONE
SPORTS WRITER

W.S. Neal suffered a hard-fought region loss on the road at Bayside Academy Friday night, falling 34-26 to the Admirals after leading for most of the game.
The Eagles racked up 382 yards of total offense against the Admirals. Bayside had 348 yards of total offense in the game, with 197 of those yards coming in the fourth quarter.
Malcolm Hawthorne led the Eagles on offense with 222 yards rushing on 16 carries and three of the four Eagle touchdowns. Quenton Samuels also had well over 100 yards rushing and one touchdown for Neal.
In the first half, the Eagles pushed for 176 yards on offense, while holding the Admirals to only 85 yards. Bayside took an early 7-0 lead about three minutes into the first quarter. The Eagles answered right back, ending a 74-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown run by Quenton Samuels and a two-point conversion run by Malcolm Hawthorne, giving the Eagles an 8-7 lead. The Eagles would remain in the lead until the fourth quarter. Neal added a touchdown in the second quarter with a six-yard run by Hawthorne sending them into halftime up 14-7.
Neal scored again in the third quarter on a 71-yard run by Hawthorne. The Eagle defense held Bayside most of the night, ending the 3rd quarter with a 20-7 lead.
The Admirals outscored the Eagles 27-6 in the fourth quarter, and despite a spectacular 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Hawthorne for the Eagles, Bayside won the game 34-26. This gave the Admirals an area win and dropped the Eagles to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in region play.
W.S. Neal plays at Opp next Friday night at 7 p.m. The game will be a big region contest for both teams with playoff hopes on the line.
For a full recap of W.S. Neal’s game, see Wednesday’s edition of The Brewton Standard.