STATESVILLE — Even if new coach Ron Massey wins a thousand football games at A.L. Brown, there’s no way he’ll ever forget his first “W” as the leader of the green and white — a bizarre 20-6 road win in Statesville’s Greyhound Hollow.

The Iredell County weatherman had a sense of humor Friday night, predicting party cloudy skies. Well, he was partly right. It was sunny right up to 10 minutes before kickoff. That’s when all heck broke loose. There were more lightning bolts than in a San Diego Charger team picture and enough rain fell to float the Titanic.

The teams, which had been hyped to a fever pitch to get at one another, fled to their respective locker rooms for the next 90 minutes.

When things finally got under way, Massey found out he has a pretty fair football team, but one that still has a ways to go. The Wonders did control most of the action in the home den of a Roger Bost-coached team that beat 4A Davie County last week, but it was an uneven effort.

The bad news was that the Wonder offense sputtered like cheap fireworks. The good news was that the defense left “The Hollow” with every reason in the world to holler to the whole world.

That Wonder “D” forced six turnovers from a team that had played error-free football the week before. And that was the difference.

“I was extremely proud of our defense,” said Massey. “If I don’t give Statesville a short field in the second quarter our kids pitch a shutout. That’s my fault. On the other hand, we couldn’t do the things on offense we thought we could do. I was disappointed that we couldn’t execute in the red zone. It was kinda ugly.”

But, oh, that defense. Massey had challenged his defensive unit to contain Statesville’s two-legged lightning bolts, tailback Corbey Jones and slotback Myron Miller.

The defense responded. Linebacker Gerrell McCRae and the Wonder secondary shut down Lord Myron without even perspirin’. After scoring three TDs against Davie, Miller rushed for only 21 yards and didn’t make a catch against the Wonders. The visitors also pummeled Miller on each and every kickoff return.

“We’ve got a lot of new faces on the defense,” said Wonder senior end Lee Basinger, who was a destructive force all night. “But our new guys are good. They’re working their butts off.”

There was no question that the decisive moment in the game came late in the first half.

Statesville had the momentum after scoring on a 37-yard Jones run two plays after Massey had gambled and lost on a fake punt from his own 40.

Then the Hounds had pummeled Wonder back Chris Carter, forcing a fumble, and were barking back in Wonder territory ready to assume the lead.

But then Basinger roared through to smash Statesville QBJustin Poirier for a critical sack. Two plays later, linebacker Duran Lipscomb and safety Jason Brown smelled out a Statesville reverse and made a crushing hit. Brown scooped up the loose ball and dragged tacklers all the way back to the Statesville 25.

Then with just 27 seconds left in the half, Wonder quarterback Josh Lee made connections with Michael Anthony for a touchdown. It was one of only two completions for the Wonder passing game, but it was a huge one.

The second half was the exclusive property of the Wonder defense. Massey’s offensive charges didn’t manage a first down the entire third quarter, but it didn’t matter.

Veterans Basinger, Lipscomb and Brown were pounding people (once the 240-pound Basinger ran down Jones downfield) and McCrae was in Miller’s face at every turn. New kids like linebacker Clifford White showed they’re ready for prime time.

“I was just ready to play,” growled the 205-pound Brown, who is built like a small locomotive. “What was a little rain?”

Wonder kicker Rush Rollins banged through a couple of third-quarter field goals for a 20-6 cushion. Both were set up by the defense.

The first came after Brown forced a fumble and Deangelo Collins recovered. On the second one, Lipscomb nearly dismembered a Hound back and Basinger was there to pounce on the bouncing prize.

Charlie Fox and Chris Gibson added interceptions for good measure.

Statesville had 144 rushing yards, but most all of it was between the 30s. The Hounds completed just one aerial.

Still, Basinger had praise for his victims.

“They had really good backs who made great cuts,” he said. “We just knew what we were doing out there. We only had one misunderstanding all night. That’s when they got the touchdown.”

The Wonders’ offense functioned smoothly, ironically enough, only on its first possession. A.L. Brown took the opening kickoff and rolled 80 yards in just five plays. Eric Caldwell and Chris Carter did all the damage on the ground on that series, with Caldwell breaking multiple tackles to score the TD from 48 yards out.

“Overall, it was a good win,” assessed Massey. “We won on the road in a tough place to play and the kids kept our focus through that delay.

“Mostly, though, it was our defense. Statesville’s got great speed — speed that’s always one play from going 70 or 80 yards — but our guys contained them.”

“Our defense dominated the game,” agreed Brown, whose in-your-face confidence rubs off on the younger guys around him. “Statesville wasn’t going anywhere. Now, we’ve just gotta get the kinks worked out on offense.”

And the Wonders will have to do that quickly. Next on the schedule is a 2-0 South Rowan team that is brimming with confidence.