SPENCER— To say that the offensive philosophies of North Rowan and Pisgah contrast would be quite an understatement.
When Pisgah visits Spencer for Friday night’s first-round game of the Class 2AN.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs, the Bears will run, run, run all night.
Pisgah quarterback Hutch Reece has completed all of 45 passes this season in 108 attempts. That’s a good week or two’s work for Cavalier Shrine Bowler Alfonzo Miller.
“Their quarterback stands out. No doubt everything goes though him,”Pisgah head coach David Pressley said of Miller. “He’s tremendous running and throwing. We need to control the football, keep the ball out of the quarterback’s hands.”
Pisgah knows ball control. Four runners got substantial carries and gained 200 or more yards in a season that saw the Bears rebound from a 2-8 campaign to finish 8-3 overall and 6-2 in the Western Athletic Conference.
A solid offensive line has done the job for junior tailback D.J. Fretwell, who has 984 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns this season to lead the Bears. Jordan Baxley, a senior, has 344 yards and two touchdowns on 73 carries, and senior QB Reece has 87 carries for 221 yards and four TDs. Multi-dimensional back Tommy Reece (no relation to the QB) rushes, catches and returns kicks for Pisgah.
“We had a good year offensively, but not in the last three (games),”Pressley said. “Those were the three best defensive teams we faced. North is extremely big, great athletes, so we’re going to have to do some things a little differently than we’ve done.”
One thing is certain:Pisgah doesn’t expect to get in a shootout with North, which stands 9-2 overall after going 6-1 in the Central Carolina Conference. The Bears defense allowed a meager eight points per game this season and hopes to continue that trend Friday against Miller —who averages nearly three touchdowns per game rushing and throwing.
“The thing that scares us the most is his (Miller’s) running ability when he scrambles,”Pressley said.“They spread you out all over the field and then he buys himself time to run. They have so many athletes, we’ve got to take some things away.”
If Pisgah can contain Miller, senior tailback Thomas Mashore Jr. could be in for a big night. For the first time in several years, the Cavaliers have a running back in the lineup capable of making big plays just like the QB.
Mashore has 901 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns. Just like Pressley said, though, the offense will run through Miller.
“We’re not planning on trying to do anything differently,” North head coach Roger Secreast said. “We’re still a pass-first team.”
If the North offense gets rolling, it could bring back painful memories for Pressley. In 1992, the Cavaliers knocked off the visiting Bears — with Pressley manning the sidelines as an assistant coach — 34-7 in a second-round 3A contest. North played for the state title game that season under Secreast, who remembers a much slower, less athletic Pisgah team from the one he’s seen on film this week.
The last time North tangled with a foe from the WAC, Brevard romped to a 61-33 first-round playoff win in 1999. Brevard and Pisgah battle each other every season, and a 21-7 Brevard win last Friday handed the No. 2 WAC playoff seed to the Bears.
“We went through a long conference year. This was the first time we played eight in the conference,”explained Pressley, who faced a newly aligned conference in his first season on the job. “Our last three games were as tough as any we played: West Henderson, Black Mountain Owen and Brevard.”
West Henderson and Brevard were ranked in the state 2A polls at the time of each clash, while Owen held first place in the conference before a Pisgah victory.
Still, by finishing second, Pisgah has to hit the road. That’s one huge advantage for North Rowan, which lost the CCC to Ledford but not the home field.
“It was a big loss, but we still have home-field advantage,”Secreast said. “The advantage is that we don’t have to ride on an activity bus for three hours.”
When the Bears finally pull up in Spencer, one thing’s for sure:They’ll be ready to run.
Today's News