Joe Johnson and Josh Robinson ran for first-half touchdowns, and North Davie’s defense took care of the rest as the Wildcats smothered visiting Oak Grove 16-0 on Sept. 30.

Johnson scored from the 1 and Anthony Deters’ kick was good to give North (2-1) an 8-0 lead.

Robinson rushed for 135 yards, and 80 of them came on a TD run in the second quarter. Deters converted the kick again to make it 16-0.

The North offense went stagnant in the second half, but it did not matter because defensive players like Grant Copeland, Logan Ballou-Tomel, Channing Glenn, Kristian Lyons and Matt Hill turned in a dominating effort as North recorded its first shutout since 20-0 at Forbush in 2014. Justice Redmon and Hill had interceptions that stopped Oak Grove drives.

“The second half saw an offensive drought on our part, but the defense kicked into another gear,” coach George Newman said. “We limited Oak Grove to just a run-oriented offense and took away the pass with a good line rush.”

North has defeated OG in all three meetings.

Ellis Wins

Samuel Hendrix scored on a 70-yard kickoff return, he added another touchdown and he also made nine tackles as Ellis toppled visiting Forbush 20-8.

The Jaguars improved to 2-2 after starting 0-2.

“We only have 150 kids in eighth grade,” assistant coach Mike Morgan said. “Every team we’ve coached, we’ve always told them: ‘Guys, let’s try to get better from week to week.’ And we’ve been able to improve weekly.”

Hendrix’s kickoff return opened the scoring, and Aidan Payne’s successful kick made it 8-0. A 65-yard pass from Anthony Azar to Hunter Meacham got Ellis in scoring position, and two straight Hendrix runs resulted in a 14-0 advantage.

In the second half, Julian Howard provided the icing on the cake, scoring on a 62-yard run. Howard had 118 yards on four carries.

It was 20-0 before Forbush scored near the end of the game.

Defensive players Hendrix, Jackson Wayne (five tackles), Ty Kelly (four), Payne (four) and Meacham (four) made life miserable for the Falcons, who had minus-18 yards of offense in the first half.

Meacham and Payne are linebackers. Of Isaiah Saunders and Wayne, Morgan said, “I line them up all over the place.”

Ellis has never lost to Forbush, winning all four meetings.

S. Davie Wins

South Davie is high as a kite after tearing through undefeated Starmount 28-0 at home to bump its record to 4-0.

“We couldn’t have played much better,” assistant coach Germain Mayfield said. “We had two really good days of practice and it showed.”

After squeaking out wins by one, six and two points, the Tigers could finally relax on the way to their largest margin of victory since a 49-21 decision at Lexington in 2013.

After M.J. Holleman returned a punt 60 yards to the Starmount 10, Alex Ratledge, who completed six of 10 passes for 84 yards, threw a bootleg pass to Evan Little for a touchdown. Holleman and Austin Shaver scored on runs. Ratledge’s second TD pass went to Brooks Johnson.

Ratledge and Jack Reynolds hooked up for 54 yards, but Reynolds fumbled at the one-yard line as he was caught from behind. The ball bounced into the end zone for a touchback.

“They called it a fumble. I didn’t think he fumbled,” Mayfield said.

Ratledge, Shaver, Holleman, Gage Recktenwald and Jordan Thompson helped South rush for 160 yards. They found room behind the blocking of Davy Marion, Bishop Norman, Ben Norman, Zy’mier Lewis and Avery Taylor.

Defensively, the Tigers did not permit the Rams to penetrate past the South 30. Shaver had an interception.

“The defense was lights out,” Mayfield said.

“Holleman played tough on defense,” coach Perry Long said. “Bryceson Cozart, Bishop Norman and Shaver played well off the edges.”

The defense was bolstered by the return of Thompson, a linebacker/running back who missed the first three games with an injury.

“He caused a fumble,” Mayfield said. “He got one carry and it went for 20 yards.”

Willy Moure, a seventh-grade kicker, was impressive again. Not only did he convert a pair of two-point kicks, he sent the opening kickoff into the end zone for a touchback. And a touchback is practically unheard of in middle school.

“It hit at the six and rolled into the end zone,” Mayfield said of the game-opening kick. “So the game started with a blast. That kid has a future if he continues to kick the ball.”

South is 4-0 against Starmount.