Brown enjoys Panther feast

BY RONNIE GALLAGHER
SALISBURY POST

KANNAPOLIS— Piedmont may be a much-improved football team this season. But against the second-ranked 3A team in the state, you can be much-improved and still get beaten handily.

The Panthers gained some respect Friday night in Memorial Stadium but little else in Kannapolis' 34-7 victory.

"It was David vs. Goliath and Goliath won," chuckled Piedmont coach Rusty Jester. "We were never physically in the ballgame."

Wonder coach Ron Massey kept his assembly line of runners hopping in an out of the lineup. Eight different backs took their turns running by the Panther defense and no back had more than Eric Caldwell's eight carries.

"Itold Coach Jester it was just speed," Massey said of the reason the score ballooned like it did.
"Fundamentally and technique-wise, they do a great job."

A.L. Brown (6-0, 3-0) scored so quickly in the second half that it's defense spent most of the second half on the field. 

The Wonders' three, second half touchdowns came after drives of two plays, covering 35 yards, three plays covering 66 yards and two plays covering 58 yards.

It left Jester, in his first season at Piedmont, shaking his head.

"Their speed is unbelievable," he marveled.

Piedmont (2-2, 2-4) trailed only 13-0 at halftime and Jester said he felt pretty good.

"We just needed to get some offense going," he said, "and we thought our defense would step up."

Instead, his defense was a few steps slow.

Terry Collins finally juiced up the Wonders after Piedmont was forced to punt on its initial third-quarter possession. He hauled in a Jason Baucom punt and scurried 45 yards to the Piedmont 35.

On second down, Jason Brown, usually known for his defensive heroics, broke three tackles and dazzled the crowd with a spin move on Panther Jason Allen at the seven before trotting into the end zone. Brown then caught a two-point conversion from quarterback Josh Lee for a 21-0 advantage midway through the quarter.

It was Brown's second score of the game.

"He's an athlete, a player," said Massey. "We've got a bunch of players who make plays."

Another of them is junior speedster Chris Carter, whose flashy feet remind some Wonder fans of a guy named Maddox.

Carter ran the ball just five times in the game but led everyone with 91 yards. Seventy-nine of them were on two fourth-quarter sprints.

The first came after Caldwell broke loose for a 47 yard run. He was pulled down from behind by Grant Helms on the Panther 21. On the next play, Carter went up the middle, cut it to the sidelines and was gone for a 27-0 Wonder lead.

By the eight-minute mark, Lee had been replaced at quarterback by Jeremy Wilson.

Wilson handed off twice, the second time to Carter who went poof in the night. His impressive speed put the last Wonder points on the board for a 34-0 advantage.

"Our counter went well," said Massey. "Carter ran well and Lee threw the ball well when we needed some first downs (in the first half)."

Jester had his quarterback, Courtney Furr, air it out after halftime. The strong-armed, 6-foot-4 transfer from Charlotte Providence was 10-for-21 in the second half, finally connecting with Chris Black with 2:33 for some points. He finished 13-of-26 and kept the secondary on their toes.

"They were running two-man routes and our underneath coverage wasn't very good," Massey said. "But it's good to see somebody who throws that well."

"Our kids played hard," sighed Jester, "and that's all we ask of them. I think they can hold their head high. I hope we gained some respect. They wanted a formidable opponent. We're not in their league yet but we gave them a game."

n

NOTES: Lee scored on a 10-yard run and Brown a 19-yarder in the first half. ... Piedmont had 10 of its 11 first downs after halftime. ... Furr finished with 149 yards passing. ... Defensively, Fernando Edwards, Gerald McCrae and Lee Basinger made several big plays. ... Brown ran four times for 72 yards and Caldwell had 65 on eight tries. ... Lee rushed for 46 yards and passed for 74 more. ... DeAngelo Collins picked off his fifth pass of the season. ... In the last three years, A.L. Brown has outscored Piedmont 179-6. ... The Wonders travel to West Rowan next week.