South Rowan coach Rick Vanhoy tried to get the message out to his team early and often at practice last week: Watch out for Ben Hampton and Horatio Everhart.
Vanhoy tried to get his team to take heed of that starting Monday afternoon, but apparently the message was not completely comprehended.
“They’re two great kids, two great players,”Vanhoy said. “Until you’re on the field with them, it’s hard to convince our kids that those guys were that good.”
Hampton rushed for 206 yards and had three touchdowns. Everhart caught three passes for 51 yards and returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
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Senior leaders: Hampton said he helped lead a spirited pre-game talk in the Falcon locker room, telling the seniors they had to step up their level of play.
And from the onset, that’s exactly what happened.
Everhart, a senior, scampered 84 yards for a score on the opening kickoff.
Senior Matt Morgan then intercepted a pass in South territory on the Raiders’ first possession.
Hampton finished that drive with a TD, then broke loose for a 77-yard score on the Falcons’ next possession.
“We really hadn’t been stepping up,” Hampton said of the senior class. “A couple of seniors had to break it. We had to come out here and try to pound on them.
“We were going to try to do everything we could. Obviously that got the rest of the team pumped up, and we molded together. It gave us a quick start.”
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Settling In: Senior Gary Scott started his first game at quarterback for West Rowan and he continued to show that the Falcons are better off with Hampton as a tailback.
Scott completed 5-of-8 passes for 69 yards with one TD and one interception.
He also rushed three times for 15 yards.
Scott said he was disappointed with the interception, but he tried to keep his head up, be a good sportsman and not let South take West’s momentum away.
Falcon coach Scott Young was pleased with his quarterback’s play.
“It’s growing pains,”Young said. “I couldn’t be happier with Gary. Is he where he needs to be yet? No. We just have to continue to grow as a football team.”
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QB Change: Vanhoy tried a new hand at QB at the end of the third quarter, replacing starter Andrew Morgan with sophomore Hoke Shirley.
Morgan completed 3-of-11 passes for 39 yards, but he had two interceptions. Shirley was 2-of-5 passing for six yards and was sacked once for a loss of seven yards.
“We’re going to play both of them. That’s something we’re going to do,”Vanhoy said. “It wasn’t anything that Andrew did wrong or didn’t do right. We wanted to get Hoke some time.”
The switch at quarterback led to a switch in blocking schemes for the Raiders.
“Most teams are right-handed, and he’s a right-handed quarterback, and Andrew is left-handed,”Vanhoy said. “Our blocking schemes are a little different for a left-handed quarterback.”
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GOOD LUCK CHARM: A.L. Brown’s Drew Maher, 0-2 as a varsity quarterback entering Friday’s game with South Point, figured it was high time for a change.
So Maher went back to the old cleats he wore when he and the Wonder jayvees once ripped off 19 straight wins.
It worked, as the Wonders scored 26 unanswered points to wipe out a 16-point deficit and beat South Point 33-30.
“The cleats might have helped,” said Maher. “But so did Aundrae Allison, Chris Carter and our defense.”
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MAHER’S MIND: Maher is right-handed, but considers himself ambidextrous.
“My fantasy play would be to have someone grab my right arm and then me switch the ball to my left hand and still get the ball to Chris (Carter),” offered Maher.
“I’d either be on Football Friday Night the rest of the year or I’d be on the bench.”
Maher obviously has a sense of humor and has needed it so far.
Fans have been on him some because he’s had some turnovers, but he’s also thrown for 543 yards in three games against some very good opponents.
“People get on Drew,” said Wonder coach Massey, “but he’s made some real nice tosses for us.”
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PICKING UP THE PACE: Wonder receiver Aundrae Allison scored only two TDs all last season, but has six in three games this year.
Allison is averaging 12 ppg, still well below what he averaged as a guard for the Wonder basketball team.
Asked whether he’s a football player or a basketball player, Allison said, “I guess, right now, I’m both.”
And Allison’s duties on the gridiron are expanding. With both starting safeties out, Massey put Allison in the Wonder secondary Friday. He looked right at home. He broke up several passes and made tough tackles.
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GOOD ADVICE: Massey said he got some pretty good advice while dining at Lee’s Sandwich Shop in Kannapolis on Friday.
“One guy said all our kids had to do to win is play with confidence. In the second half (against South Point), that’s what they did.”
Not surprisingly, Massey plans to eat at Lee’s again this Friday.
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REVVED UP REEVES: A.L. Brown’s defense, which had created zero turnovers prior to Friday, has been looking for a playmaker all year.
It found one in junior linebacker Josh Reeves, whose second-half blitzes destroyed South Point’s offensive rhythm.
“I’m just a junior, but this team needs leaders and I can step into that role,” said Reeves.
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CRAPSHOOT: South Point lost its starting quarterback to a broken collarbone in its first game, then got inconsistent QB play in its second game.
So for Game 3, it turned to baseball star/kicker/punter B.J. Richmond, who was outstanding against the Wonders.
“When I saw Richmond warming up, I said ‘Crap!’” reported Massey. “I know what kind of athlete he is.”
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GOOD GAME:Massey estimated fans got roughly double their money’s worth on Friday night.
South Point coach John Devine lost, but also felt that there’s no way anyone could have possibly gone away disappointed.
“Ron and I usually put on a pretty good show when we get together.” he chuckled.
Last season, Devine’s team won 38-31 in double overtime.
The year before that South Point beat Massey’s Kings Mountain team 56-52.
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