KING— He sat on the bench, inconsolable, as the final seconds ticked off the clock and West Stokes’ players began to celebrate.
As bad a night as Matt Russ had last Friday, with two roughing-the-kicker fouls smashing him to the ground against former squad West Rowan, last night clearly felt worse.
Russ booted two field goals, then missed wide right on an extra-point try with 4:23 left to play as the visiting Hornets fell 13-12 in their 2ACentral Carolina Conference opener.
Russ exited last week’s game with an injured leg and his availability for the West Stokes game was up in the air, Salisbury head coach Mike Peavey said. But Russ sent most of his kickoffs toward the goal-line, getting one touchback, and hit field goals of 32 and 33 yards to first give the Hornets a 3-0 lead, then pull them within 6-3 at halftime.
“That missed extra point …” began Peavey before a short pause. “Matt kept us in this ballgame. We weren’t even sure he’d be able to kick tonight and he did a great job. He toughed this one out, and I really thought that if we got the ball back, he’d win the game for us.”
The Wildcats (3-2 overall, 1-0 CCC) played a great game of keep-away at the end, though, denying that chance.
A Hornet offense that managed just 2.6 yards per carry against West Stokes finally got moving in the fourth quarter after falling behind 13-6. Salisbury, which had just 1 yard of net rushing in the third quarter, went to the air and found great success with BrianRoten throwing to Andre Bruce.
Salisbury’s final drive began on its own 23-yard line with 5:44 remaining. On first down, Roten threw long to PatrickDoleman and picked up a pass interference call. Following a penalty and a sack, he hit Bruce in the flat for a 19-yard gain to midfield.
The play was designed to pick up some yards, yes, but it also was meant to dupe the West Stokes cornerbacks into playing the short pattern. Two plays later, Bruce took off deep and was wide open for a 50-yard TD.
“They jumped on the out (pattern). We ran it like three times in a row,”said Bruce, who totaled five grabs for 112 yards. “I faked my man out and ran as hard as I could and it worked out fine.”
Thanks to his timely advice.
“They were playing off and we felt like we could get something there. Dre told us, ‘Coach, I could get him, so I told him we’d set it up on first down,”Peavey explained. “He did a helluva job.”
As Russ trotted onto the field for the PAT, everyone in the stadium thought about getting another cup of hot chocolate for the impending overtime on the cool, crisp night.
“I figured it was in and we’re going to overtime,”West head coach Ed Pekar said. “I was shocked when it went wide.”
The snap came quickly, almost as though the play was rushed, but it was on target. But instead of his usual booming kick, this try stayed high and right.
Russ took his frustration out on the ensuing kickoff, sending the ball to the 1-yard line. The Hornets stopped the return at the 19, but a painful third-and-3 play — it gained 36 feet and not an inch more, so close was the measurement — sealed Salisbury’s fate.
Frankie Fant, who led all rushers with 79 yards on nine carries, tacked on another third-down conversion a minute later on what was a trademark play for him: starting one way, then cutting the other through a wide open line.
“We tried to set him up, keep pounding the middle,”Pekar said. “He’s real good on those cut-back runs.”
Luckily for West, the ground game worked to the tune of 181 yards. The Wildcats threw two interceptions in the first half, including Fred Cuthbertson’s pick on West’s opening drive that led to Russ’ first kick.
Following a pair of Salisbury punts, West marched 63 yards in eight plays for a Justin Akers 1-yard TDrun, but four Hornets stormed through the line and blocked the PAT.
The score remained 6-3 at halftime despite West’s interception return back to the 2-yard line with less than 2 minutes to play. But Antwon Blakeney dragged Fant down to prevent the Wildcats from scoring on the return, and West fumbled the snap on the very next play.
“They make a goal-line stand, get two picks — the defense has played good enough for us to be in every game,”Peavey said.“We’ve got to put points on the board to help ’em.”
Instead, the struggling Hornet offense helped West Stokes get its first win ever in the CCC.
“It’s very important to get those conference wins,”Pekar said. “I don’t know if everybody here understands that those first four games were just to prepare for this one.”
It’s a sure bet the Hornets know, though. It’s why they reacted so passionately at game’s end at their missed chance for a victory.
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Contact Steve Hanf at 704-797-4287 or shanf@salisburypost.com
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