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MOUNT PLEASANT — The words on the back of Mount Pleasant coach Michael Johns’ shirt read, “Restore the Roar.”
After watching his team lose an offensive — and nothing but an offensive — show to East Rowan Friday night 40-32, the words need to be changed to “Restore the Defense.”
In fact, both teams will try and accomplish that feat after the offenses combined for 10 touchdowns and 635 yards rushing.
While Johns was fuming afterward over the loss, East coach Tommy Eanes was smiling. The engineer of the Hambone offense, he has been through these types of games time and time again.
“We call it the wild, wooly WAC,” Eanes laughed, referring to the college shootouts in the Western Athletic Conference. “I’ve played in so many of these games, I’m used to it.”
Mount Pleasant wasn’t used to performances like the one Cal Hayes served up, however.
The first time the junior speedster touched the ball, he went 35 yards for a touchdown. The second time he touched the ball he raced 60 yards for a score.
And when Mount Pleasant finally closed the gap to 33-32 with 3:43 left, it took Hayes just 49 seconds to respond.
Quarterback Drew Davis went into the line, was pummeled, but somehow got the pitch over a lunging defensive back and into Hayes’ hands. He cruised 44 yards to make the final score.
It left Johns shaking his head as his team fell to 0-3.
“Cal was the most superior athlete on the field,” said the second-year coach, who started his career as an assistant for Jeff Safrit and the Mustangs.
That’s an understatement. Hayes finished with an eye-popping 247 yards on just 11 carries. Eight of the 11 times he got the ball, he went for at least 10 yards.
So after suffering through the first two winless weeks, he was relieved.
“It’s about time,” he smiled, sweat pouring off his beaming face. “We’ve had a little trouble with our plays but we just keep running them in practice. Tonight, our offense was just incredible.”
After starting his career with two straight losses, Eanes finally got to showcase his Hambone to the fans, who were thoroughly entertained throughout.
But don’t take anything away from the Mount Pleasant offense. It actually outrushed East 354-281 and cranked out 25 first downs.
“We have to work on our defense,” admitted Eanes, holding the game ball that was presented to him by his players. “We did a lot of arm tackling out there.”
Despite having the ball just seven of the first half’s 24 minutes and allowing 15 first downs, East led at halftime 21-16.
“I got on them pretty good,” Johns said. “It was one of my most passionate talks. Last year, we were so far down at halftime but I told them, ‘We’re in this game. We’re only five points down.’”
Eanes didn’t put much stock in the lopsided halftime stats.
“That’s the nature of the beast,” he said of the Hambone offense. “We’re on the field for a couple of minutes and we’re either in the endzone or punting.”
Hayes didn’t have a hand in what turned out to be East’s most important touchdowns. Fullback Jacob Moore scored on a 10-yard run with 5:21 left in the second quarter to put the Mustangs ahead for good 21-16 and then Raymondo Brady was wide open for a 15-yard scoring toss from Davis to open the third for a 27-16 lead.
Try as they might, the Tigers could never catch up. David Talley, who had 185 yards rushing, narrowed the margin to 27-24 on one-yard run but Davis scored two minutes later. When Sean Blair took an end-around 41 yards for a one-point deficit, Hayes sealed it after taking Davis’ pitch.
“I’m very disappointed,” Johns said after watching Hayes and Davis do him in. “When you score 32 points and lose, that’s horrible.”
Ironically, the East defense may have saved the Mustangs. Matt Butler and Cody Merrifield had sacks in the last two minutes.
“I’m just glad for the kids,” Eanes said. “Everybody has been giving them a rough time so I was just glad to get the pressure off of them.”
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NOTES: Brady, who switched from quarterback to A-back, was East’s leading receiver. ... Adam Trexler had two fumble recoveries and Brady had another. ... Trey Ledbetter had an interception.... Mount Pleasant had possession of the ball for 10 of the first quarter’s 12 minutes. ... The Tigers were 3-of-4 on two-point conversions thanks to junior quarterback Brandon Hatley. He ran for three. ... East continues its trek through Cabarrus County next week facing Central Cabarrus.
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