KANNAPOLIS — Something is not quite right in K-Town.
Here is the 10th-ranked A.L. Brown football team, 0-2 in your morning paper after failing to connect all the dots in Friday night’s 35-14 loss to visiting Eastern Randolph.
“It’s not a fun feeling,” coach Ron Massey said after the Wonders committed five turnovers and watched the guests collect their 41st consecutive regular-season victory. “I know these fans aren’t used to it. I know our kids aren’t used to it. And the coaching staff’s not used to it. Now it’s a question of how well we can handle it mentally, because everyone’s going to tell us how bad we are.”
Kannapolis was its own worst enemy, allowing 17 first downs and 10 plays that gained at least 10 yards. Every time the drowning Wonders screamed for help, it seemed someone threw them an anchor.
“Oh-and-two looks pretty bad,” said quarterback Drew Maher, who passed for 182 yards but tossed four interceptions. “We just made too many mistakes against a good team. They were tough, but we’re better than we’ve shown so far.”
Eastern Randolph (3-0), ranked fourth in this week’s 3A state poll, looked so good it could have posed for pictures. The Wildcats drove 58 yards in five plays for a touchdown on the game’s opening drive, sending a hush through the disbelieving crowd.
Then for an encore, ER quarterback Foster Castes navigated the ‘Cats downfield on a 13-play, 75-yard TD drive on their next possession.Key plays were his back-to-back completions to running backs Michael Wicker (11 yards) and Doug Long (9).
“We knew we couldn’t come in here and run the ball against them,” said Cates. “We had to loosen it up. We tried some different things. What happened was they realized they’d have to respect the pass. They couldn’t just come charging in on every play.”
Kannapolis made the game’s longest play late in the opening quarter. Maher hit action-hero tailback Chris Carter with a screen in the left flat, and the senior turned it into an 83-yard touchdown run, pulling the Wonders within 14-7.
“Chris is an amazing player,” Maher said afterward. “But if people expect him to win the game alone, they’re wrong. He can’t carry us on his back. If people are looking for that, they’re in for a surprise.”
Good point. So while Carter did everything except tap his heart and point to Sammy Sosa’s mother — he caught four passes for 150 yards and rushed for another 51 — he needed assistance. Unfortunately for the Wonders, the supporting cast — most notably speedy wideout Shannon Blackmon— was MIA.
“We’ve got to find a way to get the ball in Shannon’s hands,” said Massey. “He’s a good receiver, but he missed some balls today, too. As a senior guy, he’s got to step up and lead by example.”
Carter, another senior guy, helped Kannapolis pull within 21-14 in the third period. Midway through a 13-play touchdown drive, he literally stole a pass that was all-but-intercepted by ER defender Tony Braswell. Instead, his Houdini-like 36-yard pickup gave the Wonders a first down on the enemy 21. Moments later he scored on a 6-yard sweep to the right side.
“At that point we were right back in it,” said defensive end Chad Keller. “We just had to play smart. But the miscues on offense and defense hurt us. We went right back to getting beat on both sides of the ball.”
East Randolph must have smelled blood in the water. The Wildcats responded with a bizarre, dagger-in-the-heart scoring play and took a 28-14 lead with seven seconds remaining in the third quarter. It began when fullback Justin Walker broke a series of tackles and lumbered 43 yards to the Kannapolis three. But before going down he fumbled the ball into the end zone, where teammate Jason Elkins recovered for a TD.
“At that point I didn’t know if we could bounce back,” said the Wonders’ Aundrae Allison. “It caught us off guard.”
ER’s final score came 1:14 later, following a Maher fumble deep in Kannapolis territory.
“You don’t win 40 games in a row, or whatever they’ve won, and not be a good team,” said Massey. “I think what hurt us were the turnovers and their overall team speed. They’re as quick as anybody we’ve seen since I started coaching here.”
Maher tried to put a positive spin on the dismal outcome. “If it were easy, everybody would be doing it,” he said. “But don’t expect us to lay down. We’ll come out fighting next week.”
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NOTES: The Wonders host South Point next Friday. ... Kannapolis played without injured running backs Rock Johnson, Maurice Edwards and Durand Stanback. That’s like taking Lars, James and Kirk out of Metallica. “We’re not the same,” said Maher. “We missed them tonight.”
Contact David Shaw at 704-797-4259 or sports@salisburypost.com
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