SHELBY - Down and all but out midway through the third quarter, North Rowan rallied for an improbable 34-24 win over Shelby in the second round of the state 2A football playoffs Friday night.
“This is a blessing from God,” said Marcus Hayes, a 6-foot-3, 280-pound Cavalier defensive lineman who nabbed a third-quarter interception that proved a turning point in North’s comeback.
Many of Hayes’ teammates were overcome with emotion at game’s end, several of them crying and hugging one another as the Golden Lions looked on in stunned silence.
“It was gut-check time,” Hayes said of the turnaround. “It was time for us to step it up and see if we wanted it bad enough.”
The Cavaliers trailed 24-6 after Shelby’s Joel Gregory returned an interception 44 yards for a touchdown with 9:45 remaining in the third period.
It followed a 64-yard, five-play march for score by the Lions to open the second half.
Things looked bleak and appeared to grow bleaker still for North when Shelby’s O’Bryan Wilson returned another interception moments later for yet another apparent score.
A clipping penalty nullified that touchdown, but even with that break, there appeared to be little hope for the Cavaliers.
The momentum swing began when North’s Jonathan Lomax pounced on a Shelby fumble at the Lions’ 48. In short order, the Cavaliers drove for a touchdown, scoring on a 4-yard pass from Alphonzo Miller to Graham Hosch.
A two-point conversion by Miller pulled the Cavaliers to within 24-14 and a breath of hope seemed to stir along the North sideline.
Two plays later, a pass by Shelby quarterback Michael Strickland was batted in the air by North defensive lineman Jaques Taylor.
The ball fluttered momentarily before Hayes snatched it out of the air with a grace that belied his size. And suddenly, the Cavaliers had the ball at the Lions’ 21 and were back in the game.
It took just a handful of plays for North to strike paydirt again, Marcus Lawing scoring from a yard out as the fourth quarter began. That touchdown cut Shelby’s lead to 24-20 and served as a sign of more to come.
With North’s Chris Phillips pressuring Shelby’s Strickland into an intentional grounding call and a Lion punt, the Cavaliers took over at midfield.
Miller put the Cavaliers on top on an 8-yard run for touchdown. A 3-yard score by Lawing served as icing on the cake as the No. 7 seeded Cavaliers closed the No. 2 seeded Lions’ offense down almost completely for the remainder of the second half.
An interception by North’s Ray Johnson Jr. capped the win.
“I never thought we were out of it,” insisted North coach Roger Secreast. “There was so much time on the clock, I figured we’d be all right. I told the boys we just had to quit making so many mental mistakes and we’d be OK.”
Both offenses provided plenty of fireworks on the night, each finishing with more than 400 yards though the teams battled to a stalemate in the first quarter.
North took the opening kickoff and used 14 plays to drive to Shelby’s 12 before a fourth-down pass attempt by Phillips on a fake field goal fell incomplete.
Also in the first period, Miller connected with Andre Byrd on an apparent 66-yard scoring strike that was called back when the Cavaliers were cited for having an illegal receiver downfield.
North finally took a 6-0 lead on a 16-yard pass from Miller to Graham Hosch, though East battled back to take a 10-6 halftime lead.
“They’re just too good a team not to put away when you’ve got the opportunity,” said Shelby coach Chris Norman. “We had our chances. I think the turning point might have been that interception for a touchdown that was called back. I think if that had stood, we’d have put ‘em away. As it was, we just shot ourselves in the foot from that point on.”
Miller had a solid night for the Cavaliers, finishing 17-of-28 for 217 yards. He was intercepted three times but was under a heavy rush most of the night. The interception that was returned for a touchdown was first bobbled by one of his own receivers.
Lawing paced North’s running attack, finishing with 102 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. Several of his runs were keyed by blocks by offensive lineman Jarrett Wishon.
Byrd made six receptions for 104 yards while Hosch followed with six receptions for 64 yards.
“Coach just told me to keep my head up and keep throwing the ball,” Miller said of the Secreast’s words of advice as things looked dismal for the Cavaliers in the third quarter. “We knew we could come back on these guys. We never felt it was hopeless.”
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