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October 2007
North Edgecombe Observations
The final score of Monday night’s North Edgecombe football game was slightly deceiving. Sure, the Warriors came away with a 26-22 victory, but North Edgecombe fumbled the ball four times ending key drives in the game. The score could have been much worse.
Sixteen seniors were honored for Senior Night, and it was those players who led the charge for North Edgecombe. Seniors Daryl Daniels and Donee Bradley both rushed for more than 100 yards, and linebacker Jonathan Carnegie led the team defensively. Quincy Dickens even found the end zone on a 30-yard fumble recovery. This year’s North Edgecombe squad is finding ways to win.
-Trevor Seibert
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SouthWest Edgecombe-Southern Nash observations
- The Firebirds hung in just as long as they could. When you have that many guys playing both ways, and on special teams, it’s going to be difficult to stand up against a SouthWest Edgecombe team that has a two-platoon system.
- Monday night football = yawn. The fields were bad Friday, but the crowds are always lackluster on Mondays.
- Jesse Mercer left Monday’s game early with an ankle injury, and coach Brian Foster expressed doubt that he would be back next week. A hard, tough thing for a good kid who means a lot as a player and leader.
- The Cougars needed this win. A loss Monday would have put SouthWest Edgecombe in a tie for fourth place in the NEW 6, with Southern Nash holding the tie-breaker. Suddenly a team that did not lose in non-conference is potentially needing a win to get in.
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Northern Nash-Nash Central observations
Nash Central wrapped up second place in the NEW 6 Conference with a 41-18 home win Monday night over Northern Nash. Because the Bulldogs lost earlier this month at Rocky Mount High, they cannot win the conference. But, because they beat both SouthWest Edgecombe and Wilson Fike, they cannot finish in third. Not bad.
Nash Central quarterback Cameron Holloway is, without any doubts, one of the more explosive players in the Twin Counties. Holloway rushed 11 times Monday night for 161 yards (14.64 yards per carry) and a career-best four touchdowns. (Holloway is at 929 yards rushing this season and will likely eclipse 1,000 yards on Friday at Southern Nash.) If he is able to connect with the Nash Central receivers more often during the playoffs, the Bulldogs might be able to mount a run deep into the postseason.
Northern Nash has sustained long drives at stretches during each of its last two games and, proverbially speaking, appears poised to put everything together on at least one side of the football next season. The Knights strung together a 15-play, 91-yard drive during the second quarter that resulted in their first touchdown of the night. That drive consumed 7 minutes, 31 seconds of the second quarter, and proved the Knights are able to play ball-control offense.
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Northern Nash-SouthWest Edgecombe observations
After a back-and-forth first half, SouthWest Edgecombe gained control of this game during the third quarter. The Cougars outgained the Knights, 152-12, and stretched their lead to 14 points. Nothing fancy, just a bunch of runs up the middle. SouthWest Edgecombe appeared to grow stronger as the game wore on, and Northern Nash tired exponentially during the last 24 minutes.
After close losses at Rocky Mount High and Nash Central last week, SouthWest Edgecombe appears to be back on the right track. Even if they are forced to play without top running James Jenkins, who injured his right ankle during the first half Friday, bet on the Cougars to win each of their last two games and finish no lower than third in the NEW 6 Conference.
Northern Nash coach Chad Smith plotted the perfect game plan against SouthWest Edgecombe - and his players executed it during the first half. For a while, the Knights rushed the ball up the middle for four-, five- and six-yard gains, and beat the Cougars at their own game. Then they wore down. By next season, this team could be on its way to bigger and better things.
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Rocky Mount High-Nash Central observations
It seems that some of the Gryphons were not happy with the stories I wrote about Friday’s game in that day’s edition of the Telegram. Namely, the inference that the Bulldogs were a faster team. Well, Nash Central probably is. Rocky Mount is a stronger team, however, and in football I’ll take that over who can win a track meet.
This was not a one-shot deal for Nash Central. Coach Kenneth Grantham has been building this program slowly, establishing the bricks of success. Cameron Holloway and a host of others will graduate come May, but do not be surprised to see this team in this game a year from now.
Three fumbles ruin what was an amazing first-quarter from Eric Moore. He had 71 yards on 12 carries in the first 12 minutes, running the ball on the Gryphons like no one else has.
What will it take for Rocky Mount to lose the NEW 6? Wilson Fike has to win Monday against Southern Nash (they postponed based on the forecast, which proved wrong), then beat Rocky Mount next Friday. If that happens, Rocky Mount and Wilson Fike are tied with one game left — the Gryphons at Northern Nash, SouthWest Edgecombe at the Golden Demons. That’s a lot of things that are not likely to happen. Expect the Gryphons to finish this one out at 11-0 and come back home for the first round of the state playoffs.
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The weather out there
As of 4 p.m., the only Friday night football game that has been postponed is the Southern Nash at Wilson Fike contest. The Firebirds will take on the Golden Demons at 7 p.m. Monday.
We’ll post updates as they come in.
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Tarboro - North Lenoir Observations
-Tarboro performed extremely well in front of a packed, homecoming crowd Friday. The team was excited, energized and appeared well prepared for the game.
-Coach Jeff Craddock avoided a water cooler dousing as the last second ticked off the clock. Craddock then gave a postgame speech to get his team ready for the next game. He said that it can celebrate Friday’s victory, but starting Sunday the team needs to focus on beating Greene Central. He added that this should be the year Tarboro wins the conference.
-Nick Cannon played his first game at fullback and impressed coaches and former players. Craddock after the game said he was impressed with Cannon’s two touchdowns, but when corrected that Cannon had scored all four, Craddock said that Cannon had made him look like a smart man. This new offensive weapon adds power to a fast offense.
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SouthWest Edgecombe-Nash Central observations
What a finish. Again.
A fumbled snap. A long drive. An interception. A celebration.
Nash Central rallied late for a 35-32 home win Friday night over SouthWest Edgecombe, the first in school history. Here’s what didn’t make it into the game story or the box score.
The Bulldogs strung together one effective play after another during a fourth quarter they will not soon forget. They gained 110 yards and limited the Cougars to only 40 yards. They scored two touchdowns. They rallied from 11 points down with less than eight minutes remaining. And they won.
SouthWest Edgecombe played perhaps its most effective game this season. They rolled to 362 offensive yards, including 341 rushing yards. More impressive, though, was the manner in which the Cougars picked up all those yards. They drove 90 yards down the field for a touchdown on their first possession. Then they drove 81 yards for another TD on their second possession. Across the third and fourth quarters, they drove 93 yards for a touchdown.
Neither SouthWest Edgecombe coach Raymond Cobb nor Nash Central coach Kenneth Grantham is able to pinpoint one reason why their teams have played each other so closely throughout the last three seasons. They just know they have been part of three great games. In 2005, the Cougars won by two points. Last season, the Cougars drove nearly 70 yards down the field, tied the game with no time remaining in regulation, then won in overtime by six points. And this season, Nash Central rallies late for a three-point win. Might as well expect another wild, close game in 2008.
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Rocky Mount High-Southern Nash observations
Rocky Mount High running back Marquavis Alston continues to impress. He gained 121 yards Friday and had a monster of a 70-yard run. This was really the only highlight of the second half.
Looking for answer as to why Southern Nash struggled so badly? Ten penalties hurt. Two interceptions were not good. But the Firebirds were dominated on the line. It’s hard to rush the ball when the Gryphons defensive line is in the backfield all night. Ezra Hudgins alone had four tackles for loss.
Really, really bad officiating. And by bad I mean awful. And by awful I mean disastrous. They weren’t one-sided - they were just inept.
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Northern Nash-Wilson Fike observations
- Northern Nash believed it was going to win Friday night against Wilson Fike. For a while, it gave itself and fans a reason to believe the first victory on-field victory since 2005 was going to happen.
- An incredible third quarter that included a safety, kick return and a 64-yard drive that was capped by a touchdown, gave Northern Nash a 27-23 lead with 5:39 remaining in the third quarter. The crowd was suddenly in attendance to see a win, not just the new homecoming queen.
- Wilson Fike’s Dajuan Lucas was too much for the Knights and scored on a 69-yard touchdown run, which proved to be the final score of the game. Northern Nash still had chances to tie or take the lead in the fourth quarter, but could not do so.
- Results aside, the Knights looked like a team that spent its bye week improving. Their special teams was extraordinary. Antonio Carraway booted a 72-yard punt. Derenike Lynch blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown. Rashawn Williams set up another score with a 68-yard kick return.
- So when will a win come? That answer is up to the Knights, but one thing is for sure. This team does not quit. They fell behind 14-0 before forcing a turnover. Suddenly, the offense gained confidence, the special teams worked magic and Northern Nash looked like a team that had won before.
- Maybe that will change soon enough.
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Rocky Mount High-SouthWest Edgecombe observations
One hell of a game Monday. Both teams gave themselves chances to win this one. For SouthWest Edgecombe, it was not breaking on three Rocky Mount scoring drives in the red zone. For Rocky Mount, it was forcing (and recovering) three fumbles, two of which led to touchdowns.
Both teams are going to have a difficult go of it Friday. This was a physical, tough game for both sides where no one who played went home completely healthy. To turn around four days later against teams like Southern Nash and Nash Central is a tough task.
The words state championship are being thrown out more and more on the Gryphons sideline. Of course, never around coach B.W. Holt.
Some teams would be happy to have been in this game, to have given Rocky Mount its toughest game this season. But last year taught the Cougars to expect much, much more. This was a team that was hurting to have let this one slipped away.
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Nash Central observations
With NEW 6 Conference play under way, the Nash Central football team appears to be peaking at the right time. The Bulldogs won their second straight game Friday night, a through 40-7 win over the Wilson Fike Golden Demons. The Bulldogs scored five touchdowns, converted two field goals and rushed for a season-high 399 yards. And they’ve scored 78 points during their last two games.
These Bulldogs might be better than their 4-3 record would indicate. Coming into Friday night, their opponents were a combined 25-10.
Coach Kenneth Grantham never had any doubts about whether the Bulldogs would play Friday night. Grantham spoke Friday afternoon with Nash Central principal LeRoy Hartsfield, who asked Grantham about the weather forecast. “Listen,” Grantham told him. “If we don’t play, it won’t be me who canceled the game.” Hartsfield listened to his coach and the Bulldogs won.
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