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North loses stumble in second half

BY RONNIE GALLAGHER
SALISBURY POST

You may not want to read the rest. You won’t be happy.

Six second-half turnovers led directly to 49 — count ‘em, 49 — High Point Central points and a 52-14 pounding at the hands of the Bison (8-0, 4-0).

Never mind that North quarterback Mario Sturdivant didn’t play due to a bad shoulder and other bumps and bruises. The Cavaliers (4-5, 2-3) were shocking the Bison 7-3 until they began giving the ball away.

“You’ve got to admire them,” said Central coach Gary Whitman. “Without Sturdivant, they played like the devil.”

That is, until a demonic second half.

North had the ball for nine possessions in the final 24 minutes.

In order:

• A 15-yard punt set up Central on the North 36. Eight plays later, Rashad Stevenson strutted in from a yard. 10-7 with 6:03 left in the third.
• A Cavalier fumble gives Central the ball at the North 40. On the next play, Chuckie Reed races in for a score. 17-7 with 4:00 left.
• Chris Phillips catches a low pass but fumbles on the 20. Two plays later, Ricky Haywood scores from 19 yards out.
• Three touchdowns in less than three minute and Central leads 24-7 with 3:13 left.
• An interception gives the ball to Central on the North 38. Two plays later, Haywood burst downfield for a 48-yard score. 31-7 with 29.3 seconds left.
• North opened the fourth period by throwing an interception that turned into a 40-yard return for a score. 37-7 with 11:43 left.
• An 11-yard punt gave Central the ball on the North 35. Three plays later, Haywood was bouncing off tacklers for a 26-yard score. A two-point conversion made it 45-7 with 9:26 remaining.
• North’s third interception was taken back 48 yards for a score. Three touchdowns in three minutes made it 52-7 with 8:30 left.
• North threw its fourth interception but avoided a Bison score when it blocked a field goal. But even that turned into disaster as defensive stalwart Brian Alford limped off the field with a sprained ankle.

And what happened on North’s ninth possession, when the Cavs didn’t turn it over? They marched 50 yards with quarterback Graham Hosch sprinting in from six yards out.

So, if the Cavaliers don’t turn the ball over, who knows?

“Against a good team, you can’t make many turnovers,” said North coach Roger Secreast. “When you make them where we did, they were just too much for us.”

Take away the turnovers and North Rowan played out Secreast’s game plan to perfection, dominating the first half.

With junior Hosch seeing his first action under center, Secreast lined up four wideouts to spread the field.

“That was something new just for High Point Central,” explained Secreast, “to allow us to run the football. And it worked.”

With Central playing the pass, Jamel Alexander weaved his way around and through the Bison defense. His first carry went for 14 yards. When he reversed his field for a 35-yard gain, it set up his own seven-yard gallop that gave the Cavs a 7-3 lead. Hosch’s 14-yard completion to Eric Davis was a key play in the 66-yard drive.

“We knew we could block them,” Secreast said. “As a result, things fell in place for us.”

“(Hosch) threw basically the same patterns,” Whitman said, adding that Sturdivant’s absence may have been a distraction. “The defense let up a little, I think, and that worried me.”

Even more of a worry was Chris Sifford’s defense in the first 24 minutes. Central’s much-heralded backfield was stymied.

For instance, on Central’s lone scoring drive of the first half, it got to the Cavalier 11. But on third down, Dre Byrd and Alford nailed Reed for a 4-yard loss, forcing the Bison to settle for a field goal.

Then, the disastrous second half began.

“We put the defense in too bad a position,” Secreast shrugged. “Against a great football team, you’ve got to make them work.”

Even worse than the turnovers was the wrist injury that forced Alexander out early in the third period.

“Itold the kids, ‘You played hard, you just got an old-fashioned butt-whipping,” Secreast said. “The only thing that will cure that is to give somebody else one next week.”

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NOTES: Next week, North Stanly visits the Cavs. ... Alexander had 87 yards rushing. ... Hosch was 11-of-26 for 84 yards. ... Haywood and Reed both went over 1,000 yards rushing. ... The Bison had 125 yards in penalties. North missed a golden opportunity to go up 14-3 late in the second period but fumbled inside the Bison 20.