ANGIER — With only five starters returning on offense or defense, Apex's roster was almost completely revamped since last year's 10-4 season. The inexperience showed on Friday, as the Cougars were dominated in a 42-7 loss to Harnett Central.

It was a far cry from where the program was last year at this time, but coach Bob Wolfe said hopes his young team will turn it around.

"I don't think we had typical Apex effort in the first half. Part of that may be youth, I don't know but we fought harder in the second half so that was good," coach Bob Wolfe said. "We've got the potential to be better."

The biggest areas for improvement were defense — where the Cougars allowed 311 yards on the ground and 463 yards of total offense — and the running game. While Trojan running backs Brian Baker (33 yards, three touchdowns) and Jarrod Spears (195 yards, one touchdown) ran wild, Apex mustered just two yards rushing on 16 attempts.

Wolfe said although running back Shawn Knox tried to get to the edge of the field where he could best utilize their speed, there was nowhere to go when trying to escape a swarming Trojan defense.

"Defensively we need to be more aggressive. We need to get off the blocks better and we need to, obviously, tackle better," Wolfe said. "Offensively, we just need to be able to come off the ball and keep our feet driving and move people. We obviously need to run the ball better."

The Trojans (1-0) didn't allow Apex to score until eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Harnett Central's Dalan Snow, a sophomore, picked off two Adam Nelson passes — each coming off a tipped pass that was thrown just behind the intended receiver — and took one of them 54 yards for a touchdown.

Nelson settled in after a shaky start, finishing 17-of-25 passing for 125 yards and a touchdown to Tremaine Woods.

"I think he was a little tentative earlier in the game," Wolfe said as watched film on Saturday. "So far, from what I'm seeing, he's done pretty well ... in the second half I thought he hung in there and threw the ball very well."

It was a tough pill for Apex (0-1), which is looking to extend its consecutive winning seasons streak to 12 this year.