West downs Northwest Cabarrus 32-15

BY ED DUPREE
SALISBURY POST

KANNAPOLIS— The West Rowan offense had a new look, but the Falcons didn't skip a beat while downing Northwest Cabarrus 32-15 in South Piedmont Conference high school football here Friday night.

Versatile Ben Hampton filled in for injured starting quarterback Jared Barnette as the Falcons amassed 318 total yards and stayed unbeaten (3-0) in the SPC and improved to 5-1 overall.

Hampton, a junior fullbackwide receiver-tight end prior to last night, moved into the starting quarterback position after Barnette sustained a leg injury late Tuesday afternoon during practice. Hampton had been the back-up QB last season and the first five games this season.

"Ben's a quality athlete," said head coach Scott Young. "Ben can do some things better than Jared as far as running the football, being physical and things like that. And Jared passes better than Ben. So, we lost some of the passing ability, but we also gained some running threat with Ben."

Hampton wound up with 110 yards total offense, running 11 times for 62 yards and completing six of 11 passes for 48 yards. He completed his last five passes, one of them to himself for an 8-yard loss and a safety, after it was deflected by a Northwest lineman to Hampton in the end zone.

"WhenI found out I had to play quarterback, I was so used to coming in in the scout offense in practice and everything that I wasn't nervous. But I got on the bus today and the butterflies started churning.I didn't know if I was going to make it or not. But we got out here on the field in pregame, and everything was going so smooth,I knew I was going to be able to turn it up tonight," said Hampton.

Barnette had passed for 247 yards and five touchdowns before spraining his leg on Tuesday. It appeared the Falcons would miss his leadership and passing against a Northwest defense that had shut out South Rowan last Saturday.

"These guys sucked it up," said Hampton.  "Everybody gave it an extra 10 percent. Coach said, 'If you give it an extra 10 percent, there's no way we can lose this game,' and everybody did. Our starting right tackle, Matt Moore, we thought we had lost him from an enlarged spleen. He went back to get a second opinion, and they said it was only an infection. So, luckily we had him back and we were only missing one key component. Everybody stepped it up, and I'm really proud of them."

West's aggressive defensive unit, which held four of its first five opponents to one touchdown, got the Falcons off to a quick start with an interception and fumble recovery.

Falcon defensive back Eric Weimer intercepted a pass thrown by Northwest quarterback Ryan Woodham on the first scrimmage play, setting up a 31-yard field goal by Steven Meseroll for a 3-0 lead at the 7:34 mark of the first quarter.

Northwest's Shelton Roseboro fumbled on the ensuing kickoff, and Brant Marlin recovered for the visitors at the Trojans' 32. West was penalized back to its 43, then freshman halfback Joe Jackson broke loose for a 40-yard run. Hampton scored the game's first TD from 2 yards out, then passed to wide receiver David Terry for two extra points and an 11-0 lead with 6:05 to play.

The Trojans got on the scoreboard in the opening seconds of the second period when Woodham's 1-yard run capped off a 58-yard drive. It was 11-6 after Northwest's passing attempt for the 2-point conversion failed.

West took advantage of a bad center snap by Northwest in a punting situation and got the ball at the Trojans' 42 several minutes later. Jackson got the TD from 1 yard out and Meseroll's conversion made it 18-6, the halftime score.

West's defense stopped a Trojan scoring bid and turned the ball over to the offense at the Falcons' 9 late in the third quarter. Three plays later, however, Hampton was tackled in the end zone by Marco Reid for a safety after the quarterback caught his own deflected pass. That made it 18-8.

West, following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, kicked off from its own 10, and the Trojans took over at the West 38. Five plays later, Woodham dived across the goal line from 1 yard out for a TD. Matt Crutchfield converted to pull the Trojans within 18-15 with 11:57 left. Suddenly, the home team had momentum.

The Falcons' offense changed that in a hurt. A 33-yard touchdown pass from Hampton to a wide-open wide receiver Horatio Everhart and Meseroll's conversion made it 25-15.

Marlin's sack of Woodham for a 10-yard loss quickly forced a Northwest punt, and the Falcons added another score on a 7-yard run by Jackson. Meseroll finished the scoring with the conversion.

Northwest (4-2, 2-1) was tied for second place with West and Kannapolis A.L. Brown entering the game. Concord leads at 4-0, while West and next week's opponent, A.L. Brown, are each 3-0.

"Northwest is a good football team," said Young. "This same football team beat South 12-0 the other night. We happen to have a pretty good football team, too."