Coach Daniel Finn was coming back to the school from his Johnston county home about four hours before game time when, he said, a teenage driver T-boned his 2002 Toyota Tacoma at 55 mph, turning the vehicle into a worthless pile of scrap metal.

Fortunately for all involved, it hit the passenger side and Finn had no passengers.

"I'm just glad my family wasn't with me," Finn, who was released from the hospital 45 minutes before the 7:30 game, said after the Bulldogs' hard-fought 10-3 win over East Wake at Baker Stadium. "I take them everywhere. And if he had hit the driver's side, I don't think I'd be here."

The Bulldogs responded by playing inspired football, well enough to beat an inspired Warrior club and improve to 8-0, 4-0 in Greater Neuse River 4-A play heading into their open date. East Wake, which has lost five straight in the series, is 3-5 and 2-2.

Gabe Henderson, who has committed to play at Kent State, completed 13 of 26 passes for 139 yards to lead the Bulldogs' offense, including a five-yard scoring toss to Keith Tucker on the opening drive that proved to be enough points to win.

"We just had to get everybody on the same page after what happened to coach," Henderson said. "The whole thing was hard and it was great to see he was OK. I knew I had to be a leader because everybody was looking to me to see how I would react."

Khari Jenkins led East's offense with 102 yards on 22 carries.

Southeast scored on its opening series, with Henderson connecting with Tucker just at the left pylon from five yards out to complete a 12-play, 70-yard march. Sumner Tate's kick made it 7-0 with 7:56 left in the period.

The Bulldogs stretched it to 10-0 with 5:38 on a 29-yard Tate field goal that completed a 16-play, 63-yard drive.

East threatened early in the fourth period, but ran out of downs at the Southeast 26. The Warriors penetrated as far as the Southeast 48 on their final possession, but ran out of downs on a bad punt snap at their own 33. Southeast then ran out the final three minutes on the ground to keep its record perfect.

"I thought we played great," East coach Jimmy Williams said. "The only thing missing was a win. They have an outstanding football team and we play in a great conference. With the schedule we've played, we should be ready to win some more games and make the playoffs."

Southeast played without starting outside linebacker Kendall Moore, who has committed to Notre Dame. Moore was in Louisiana because of a death in his family.