Finally, the day came and went. After two weeks of Gryphons hitting Gryphons and Knights going shoulder pad to shoulder pad with other Knights, the Rocky Mount High and Northern Nash football teams took the field against other schools Friday night.

The event, the inaugural Rocky Mount Football Jamboree, gave each team three 40-minute sessions to take its practice routines to another level. Both squads gave its fan bases at the Rocky Mount Sports Complex football stadium something to cheer about.

ROCKY MOUNT HIGH

Rocky Mount High's offense ran for better than 4,000 yards last season. Though none of the Gryphons' three quarterbacks call any plays on offense, each provided cause to believe that Rocky Mount might throw the ball a bit more this season.

Gryphons senior Justin Barnes, who suited up for the first time in more than a year, threw three touchdown passes – two on back-to-back plays to Bradley Arrington – in Rocky Mount's session against Durham Riverside. Barnes tore an ACL and missed last season. Collins Cuthrell and Hiawatha Bunn each threw for scores as well, as Rocky Mount's offense continued its strong play against Oxford Webb.

"Just being in the team atmosphere, that's the best feeling," Barnes said. "Each of us (is) behind each other. We encourage each other, it's competitive, but we're friends at the same time. Whoever gets the starting (quarterback) job, it's going to be because they earned it."

NORTHERN NASH

The Knights want to show the NEW 6 Conference they have improved since 2007. Friday night, they showed they can lift their level of play in a matter of minutes. After a somewhat sloppy opening session against West Montgomery, one that included poor tackling and a few fumbles, Northern Nash dominated its 40 minutes against Winterville South Central.

Marc McCadden ran for three scores and Octavius Davis sprinted into the end zone on the last play of the session.

"I just told them to play hard," Northern Nash coach Chad Smith said.

One setback for the Knights occurred early in the first session when senior offensive lineman Keith Thomas dislocated his left shoulder. Smith said Thomas will miss between two and four weeks.

Jessie H. Nunery can be reached at 407-9951 or

jhnunery@coxnc.com