CARY - The No. 4-ranked Cary Imps dominated Holly Springs with a pair of 100-yard rushers and a stingy defense en route to a 29-7 win over Holly Springs in a Tri-Nine Conference at Cooper Field.

The only change Vince Lombardi would have made on the night would have been to dress the Imps in the green and gold of his Green Bay Packers rather than their traditional green and white.

Cary's Deandre Henry ran for 101 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries, but the new threat in the backfield was Cardavion Payne. The former defensive back, given his first start at running back, finished with 20 carries for 164 yards.

“We pride ourselves on not caring who our running back is,” said Cary coach Ben Kolstad. “We want to create holes up front and our big guys did a good job. Cardavion ran hard. He's been our third string running back, but he practiced hard and earned the start. Anybody that works hard is going to be a starter.”

The Imps improved to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the Tri-Nine, while Holly Springs dropped to 0-3 and 0-1.

The Imps held Holly Springs to a second-quarter touchdown and 176 total yards, but 68 of those yards came in the fourth quarter against Cary's second-string defense.

The Golden Hawks drove from their 30 to the Imps' 2-yard line in the final minute, but the Imps prevented a touchdown. On a fourth-and-2 pass with 9 seconds to play, safety Caleb Glass intercepted a tipped pass at the goal line. Glass was the only defensive starter in the game during the drive, and he said the Imps weren't going to relax.

“Our focus was a shutout,” Glass said. “You never take your foot off your opponent's throat.”

Despite the one-sided score, Holly Springs only trailed 13-7 at halftime. Fullback Markez Davis finished a nine-play, 61-yard drive with a 1-yard TD run for a 7-6 lead with 5:51 left in the second quarter.

The turning point in the game was when Cary punted while still trailing 7-6 and Landon Walton's hit on the punt return forced a fumble recovered by Aaron Plynaar at the Hawks' 26-yard line.

Two plays later Henry scored on a 9-yard run through a big hole up the middle.

“It really helps when you have two versatile backs that can run, catch and block,” Cary quarterback Connor Chase said. “They both have speed and power and can block.”