ZEBULON - In its second year with a football team, Wendell Middle School met the Zebulon Cougars in a battle of the unbeaten Wednesday afternoon and shocked the resident powerhouse, 14-8.

Not much but turnovers took place through the first half of play. Wendell picked up a fumble recovery before Marquavious Johnson threw a 40-yard pass to his brother, Marcell Johnson, with 1:30 left in the half. But the relentless Zebulon defense had other plans. The Cougar line rushed Marquavious Johnson, who chucked up a desperation pass - again to his brother - and was intercepted by Zebulon's Thomas Jones to end the half.

As the second half began, the Johnson name came up again, and it would until the end of the third quarter.

Marcell Johnson returned the second-half opening kick 70 yards for the first score of the game. Job Hernandez's point after kick sailed wide left.

On the ensuing play, Zebulon's Trenton Evans returned the kickoff to the 45, but the Wolves forced a fumble on the Cougars' second down with 6:15 left in the third. But the tables turned again when a swarm of Cougars scratched and pawed the ball out of Marcell Johnson's grasp on the very next play.

The Zebulon offense couldn't convert the turnover into points, however, going four-and-out as the Wendell defense made a big stop on an Evans reverse.

When the Wolves took over on offense, Marquavious Johnson's 50-yard run down the right sideline for 6 and Marcell Johnson's two-point conversion pass to Jonathan High marked an end to all scoring for the visitors.

Trailing 14-0, Zebulon needed to go to work on offense, and it rode the rushing and receiving of Evans to the 4-yard line to do so. With six minutes left to play, Zebulon scored on a quarterback sneak by Evan Finch, and Jarius Barnes took the conversion to put the Cougars in position to tie - even win - the game.

The comeback gained steam when Zebulon stopped Wendell on its own 44 with 2:38 on the clock, but Hernandez's punt made up for his previous extra-point shortcoming. His 40-plus-yarder buried the Cougars on their own 20-yard line, where they had 2:30 to go 80 yards for a chance at redemption.

Khalil Spears hit Evans for a 35-yard reception that ended at the Wendell 45, where Zebulon picked up a first down, but with a minute left to play, hope ended for the home team. Spears tossed a lateral back to Evans, whose pass down field ended up in the hands of none other than Marquavious Johnson at the Wendell 25.

The Wolves kneed their way to victory to remain undefeated with a 6-0 record.

"We're very pleased with the effort," Wendell coach Mike Howes said after the win, and before catching a cooler full of ice water over the head. "Deciding to punt was key at the end of the game. Marcell made a big tackle on that punt, and Zebulon made some nice plays on that last drive, but throwing the ball into the wind is tough."

Howes said Conner Earp did a great job behind center in the first half, and defensive grit from Kasey Royster, DaMarcus Davis and Nate Harvey helped protect the lead.

Zebulon coach Mike Murray said his group played hard, giving up just the two big plays.

"We turned the ball over ourselves, and the plays we usually connect on were there, we just didn't connect," Murray said.

The Cougar coach, whose team sports a 26-4 record over the past four years, said Wendell is a good team that comes to play, and it showed Wednesday.