BY MIKE LONDON
SALISBURY POST

MOUNT ULLA — West Rowan’s Ben Hampton described the Falcons’ Friday night collision with Statesville as “mouth-to-mouth football.”

For certain, both teams made serious oral arguments.

But in the final analysis, it was West that showed its teeth in a 28-19 win, while the Greyhounds were mostly lip.

“Lots of physical play tonight,” sighed Hampton, who rambled for 200 yards — that gives him 838 in his last five games — and roared past the 1,000 plateau for the season. “The hitting never stopped and neither did the smack-talk. Finally we just wore them down.”

“We had to hit back and be physical right with them,” said West safety Matt Morgan, who had one of the primary games in secondary history with three interceptions and a humongous deflection of a Greyhound 2-point conversion pass. “I think we match up better with physical teams.”

While a handful of Hounds got in Hampton’s face every time they managed to bring him down, the vexed visitors reserved their most fluent conversation for Falcon QB Gary Scott, who sat the Statesville bench last season.

“They were up on the line, saying, ‘Hut, hut, hut’ at him every play,” said Hampton. “They did everything they could to bother Gary, but he didn’t get down.”

Scott answered the challenge of his former teammates in the best possible way — with his play. While he wasn’t great Scott as he was against A.L. Brown two weeks ago, he was able to scramble away Scott free from the Statesville line to make big plays on the run. He had scoring tosses to LaGrande Andrews and Horatio Everhart as the Falcons (5-3, 2-1) took a 14-13 halftime edge in the 3A North Piedmont Conference grudge match.

“We’re still in the race now,” said Scott, who said the Falcons used their recent off week to full advantage. “That loss to Kannapolis put our backs to the wall. But we decided not to pout. We showed people we could come right back off that wall.”

Scott suffered bruised ribs but kept on coming as West kindled its playoff hopes, while eliminating talented Statesville (4-5, 1-3) from the chase.

“We just knew we had to have this one and we came together,” said Hampton. “The seniors, especially, we wanted more than just four more games. We wanted playoffs.”

“We got an absolute must-win,” added relieved West coach Scott Young, whose been at the helm for a slick 13-1 run over their last 14 conference games by the Falcons. “We got back on track after we took a major step back two weeks ago in that Kannapolis debacle.”

While Hampton, Scott and Andrews got things done, it was West’s offensive line and hard-blocking wideouts who were equally responsible for the Falcons’ 276 rushing yards against a huge, hungry Greyhound defense.

“There were holes for me you could have driven a freight truck through,” said Hampton. “The offensive line stepped up big, I thought.”

Young was most elated with receivers Blake Scearce, Darrin Jones, Brandon Hiatt, Michael Johnson and Everhart, who provided downfield escorts for seven double-digit yardage runs by Hampton and Andrews in the second half.

“What we saw on film was that we could use four wide receivers, spread them out and then run the ball on them,” said Young. “It worked out because those little receivers blocked their tails off.”

West took control early, with its defense forcing a three-and-out. Then the Falcons’ offense overcame two penalties and crunched out 59 yards for a 7-0 lead.

Statesville got even when Cam Simpson broke out out of a pack for a 61-yard scoring dash late in the first quarter.

Then Hampton fumbled at the Statesville 43 for an unhappy conclusion to a 28-yard run and DeAngelo Savoy recovered for the Hounds. That spurred another score by Simpson and the Hounds led 13-7. But Luke Drechsler stormed into block a PAT that would prove critical.

Following that Statesville TD, West got a big kickoff return by Brandon Bailey out to its 45. Hampton’s 25-yard bust put the ball in Statesville territory and a drive-preserving, third-down scramble by Scott and his 10-yard scoring strike to Everhart tied the game. Steven Meseroll’s PAT put West on top 14-13.

West’s defense, much-maligned after yielding 47 points to A.L. Brown the last time it took the field, stood tall in a scoreless third quarter.

Finally, with the Falcon O-line blowing Cumberland-gap sized openings in the Statesville line, West pounded 59 yards for the TD and conversion for a 21-13 lead early in the fourth.

But coach Roger Bost’s Hounds didn’t lie down, traveling 70 yards for a score. The key plays were a 55-yard pass from Tyler Combs to Zach Tolbert and a Combs-to-Tolbert connection on a 6-yard slant for a TD that made it 21-19 with 6:01 left in the game.

Bost called time and the Hounds talked over an attempt for the two extra points that would even matters. Then they came out and tried the same play that had just netted a touchdown, with Combs looking to Tolbert on a slant.

“The guy who had just caught the touchdown came out on my side,” said Morgan, “so I though they’d go to him. I played inside leverage, stayed on him tight and then the pass hit my arm and I deflected it.

“Maybe I should have intercepted,” “but I guess three’s enough for one night. That’s more than I’ve had in my life up to now.”

Down two, Statesville got the ball back at the 4:22 mark with thoughts of a drive for a winning field goal. But West’s coverage in the secondary was good and eventually Falcon linemen Antuane Gray, Justin McIntyre and Drechsler burst threw for key sacks.

“They were sending four guys vertical every time,” said Morgan. “We had ’em covered and then the big guys got the sacks.”

After Combs went down underneath McIntyre and Drechsler on a fourth down play at the Statesville 29 with just 2:10 left, the Falcons quickly tacked on an insurance touchdown.

Andrews did the honors, bolting right up the middle on a 19-yard saunter to the end zone.

“It was our zero wedge play,” said Falcon lineman Mike Odden. “We loved it. We fired out of there and they never touched LaGrande.”

In the closing seconds, Morgan, who had halted two Statesville drives in the first half with leaping interceptions — one on a ball deflected by linebacker Stephen Ashby — came up with his third pick to send a happy home crowd to the exits.

“This was the best bad game of my life,” grinned Morgan. “I also broke the wrong way and got burned a few times.”

But Morgan, like his teammates, found ways to win a game that West just had to have.

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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com .