BY MIKE LONDON
SALISBURY POST

CHARLOTTE — Shrine Bowl week is always an eye-opener.

For the athletes, the starry-eyed young patients they get to know in the Greenville Hospital serve as one heck of an eye-opener — a reminder of just how lucky they are to be healthy and physically gifted.

For the college recruiters, who have the opportunity to observe the athletes in practice all week, as they go up against equally talented people for the first time, eyes are opened as to exactly where each of the all-stars fits in the Division I, Division 1-AA, Division II pecking order.

For North Rowan center Jarrett Wishon, there was still another eye-opener. That one came when he and his North Carolina teammates visited Lowe’s Motor Speedway and piled into a vehicle for a test spin.

“Three of us hosses were in a Blazer that was going 115 miles per hour,” said Wishon, identifying his fellow hosses as A.L. Brown defensive lineman Lee Basinger and 6-foot-4, 330-pound Northern Vance lineman Jason Brown. “When we hit that first turn, our eyes popped right out of our heads.”

Suffice it to say, Wishon gained a healthy dose of respect for what Rusty, the Dales and those other good ol’ boys do for a living.

Unfortunately, there was still another eye-opener to come in Saturday’s 64th annual Shrine game. The South Carolina All-Stars demolished their North Carolina counterparts by a record-setting 66-14.

Most everyone predicted a South Carolina victory, since the Sandlappers have dominated the Tar Heels most of the last two decades. But no one was quite prepared for what transpired at a soggy, sparsely populated Memorial Stadium. South Carolina shattered the record for points scored in the series. The prior record was 47. South Carolina actually piled up more points Saturday at Memorial Stadium than it scored in the first 11 games in the historic series.

The 52-point margin of victory was also the largest ever, easily topping North Carolina’s 47-7 blowout 50 years ago.

“Man, Ican’t even talk about what happened out there,” said West Rowan linebacker James Francis, who started for the Tar Heels. “I knew we had a size advantage and I thought we were good. I guess I was wrong.

“But it was fun,” he added. “Well, at least it was fun for a while.”

It didn’t stay fun long, mostly because North Carolina’s secondary couldn’t cover South Carolina’s receivers. Tyrone Zimmerman and Roscoe Crosby reeled in a combined 14 passes for 357 yards and turned the game into a one-sided track meet. S.C. offensive MVP Trey Rodgers, a quarterback from state champ Spartanburg Dorman, tossed for 286 of those yards and his backup racked up another 100-plus aerial yards. South Carolina tacked on three late touchdowns in rapid succession on a fumble return, a blocked punt and an interception return.

“I really thought we were dominating the game at the beginning,” said Wishon, who battled two massive Sandlapper tackles most of the day. “But then turnovers killed us and turned all the momentum their way.”

Wishon had a point. The Tar Heels moved the ball on the ground just fine in their first two possessions, with 6—foot-2, 275-pound center Wishon knocking folks around. But then the Heel quarterbacks started coughing up the ball up.

There was no score after a quarter, but then came some big plays by the super-quick Sandlapper defense, and suddenly, Wishon and his teammates were staring at a 19-0 halftime deficit.

One of the people in North Carolina green, white and gold, who did his part to prevent a total collapse was the 6-1, 195-pound Francis, who was not named an MVP, but could have been, He had as strong a game as any of the Tar Heels. Francis had 10 tackles, including a couple of crushers that had fans and media members thumbing through their programs to see who No. 40 might be. On South Carolina’s first possession of the second half, Francis forced a rare punt with a punishing third-down hit. He sent bodies flying through the air on nearly every punt and kickoff.

“James, gosh, he had a great game,” said an admiring Wishon. “And I also found out this week what a great guy he is.”

“James did us all proud,” added West coach Scott Young, fully aware that Falcon representatives in the Shrine Bowl have been rarer than gold nuggets. “I thought he showed a lot of people. He showed some real speed.”

Basinger showed some good things too. The 245-pound Wonder was undersized for this sort of contest, but did record a sack when he chased down Rodgers on the sideline for a four-yard loss.

“It was a tough day for us,” understated Basinger. “But what we’ve gotta remember is that this game isn’t for the North or the South, it’s for those kids in the hospital.”

“The kids are what this is all about,” echoed Wishon. “I’d sure love to turn that final score around, but other than that it was great week. I’m so glad I got to do this. It was the biggest honor of my life.”

And an eye-opener.