FOUR OAKS - So much for the days of wide open offense carrying South Johnston to big wins. Sure, the Trojans' offense has continued to play its part in what became another 10-win season with Friday's 21-14 win over Triton, but South's special teams and defense played the starring roles.

The victory, in a matchup of the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference's last two unbeaten teams, gave South Johnston the league title and, after the NCHSAA 3-AA playoff brackets were released, the top seed in the eastern half of the state playoffs.

The Trojans (10-1) will meet Eastern Guilford (4-7) this Friday at Ronald Avery Stadium. And as long as South continues its winning ways, the Trojans will stay there, playing on their home turf, through the eastern regional championship.

Against Triton, two big plays from South's punt return unit led directly to two touchdowns.

"The old swat team formation got us in it [the game] and got us through it," said South coach Joe Salas. "We knew it was going to be a battle on offense because Triton has the best front eight we've seen all season."

Triton (8-3, 4-1) took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and seemed to be in control early in the second when it set up to punt the ball away. That's when South's Jon Farmer came free around the edge and blocked Nick Glover's punt attempt. The Trojans' Brandon Bussiere scooped up the ball and raced in from 16 yards out for a touchdown.

"We were in good shape and didn't get to the man out the outside [Farmer], and they blocked the punt," said Triton coach Joe McCullen. "We worked on special teams all week and knew they'd be a big part of the game. This was a close game that was swung by two or three plays that South Johnston made and we didn't."

The 7-all tie held until South put together a ground-driven drive in the second half capped by a 8-yard TD run by Anthony Crumity for an 14-7 lead with 5:03 to play in the third.

The short drive, which started at the Hawks' 47-yard-line, was aided by South's advantage in the punting game in net yardage.

Trojan senior punter Matt Blackmon averaged a 39-yard net per punt backed Triton up inside of its own 5-yard line twice in the second half.

Early in the fourth quarter, South receiver and Shrine Bowl selection Dee Williams returned a Triton punt 38 yards to the Trojans' 4-yard-line. Two plays later, Crumity went in from a yard out for a 21-7 lead.

Williams finished the night with 107 kick return yards. He had a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown called back because of an illegal block in the first half as well.

The Trojans' defense limited their sixth opponent to two touchdowns or less in the victory. The Hawks had five drives that South's defensive unit limited to five plays or less on Friday night.

"We just have 11 guys that run to the ball and live to hit you if you're the other team," said senior linebacker Josh Barbour. "We've been concentrating on finishing this season, winning the conference championship all week. It's all we wanted as seniors. We wanted this one badly."

Offensively, the Trojans threw the ball just four times in the second half. But Crumity (45 yards on 12 carries) and Unek Lloyd (29 yards on seven carries) found enough running room behind the Trojans' offensive line to take control of the game.

"The biggest difference between our team this year and last year is the offensive line," Barbour said. "We were 3-8 with basically the same defense we have now, and this year we're 10-1. It's because of the offensive line."

Added Salas: "Triton had the best and biggest front eight we've seen all year. We wanted to get them moving sideline-to-sideline early and wear them out. We came back in the second half and were able to get a run game going inside a bit."

The Hawks, who rallied from 14 points down in the final five minutes to beat Pikeville Aycock 22-21 a week earlier, cut the lead to 21-14 on a 19-yard scramble by Thompson with 3:40 to play.

Triton's onside kick attempt was covered by South's RonJonek Gill but the Hawks forced a punt with 1:45 to play. The Trojan punt backed the Hawks up to their own 5-yard line. Thompson moved the ball to the South 35-yard line before being sacked by South's Dan Atkins and Stacy Thornton on fourth down with 47.5 seconds to play.

Thornton had a solo sack in the second half as well, while Farmer and Erasto Simmons had key tackles for losses.