North Caroline holds off Parkside to advance to regional final

RIDGELY, Md- The top-seeded North Caroline Bulldogs moved to 11-0 on the season and advanced to the MPSSAA 2A East regional final, defeating 4th-seed Parkside 41-27 on Friday night in Ridgely.

Parkside put themselves into a hole 13 seconds into the game, fumbling the first play from scrimmage. North Caroline’s Ryan Bauer hopped on it in the endzone to give the Bulldogs the super early 7-0 lead.

Bauer would score three more times on the offensive side of the ball before halftime and finished with a game-high 4 touchdowns. But Parkside would hang in, getting two first half scores from Marcus Yarns, and one from Devian White. The Bulldogs would lead 34-19 at the half.

After a scoreless third period, Parkside would cut into NC’s lead when Makai Smiley hit Malachi Mazzetti on a 23-yard TD off play action on 4th down. With a 34-27 lead, North Caroline grind the clock and convert several crucial fourth downs on the way to a 4-yard Joey Bildstein touchdown with 2:33 left to play.

The Bulldogs will host #3-seed Elkton on Friday, November 16th at 7pm in Ridgely.