By David Shaw
dshaw@salisburypost.com
ALBEMARLE ó North Rowan’s three-game winning streak is history, but that wasn’t even the bad news for the Cavaliers Friday night.
Junior quarterback Jesse Rudisell was injured when he was clocked after throwing an interception with 4:24 remaining in a 21-6 YVC loss at Albemarle. He left the game and his status for next week remains uncertain.
“Any time you have a kid go down like that your heart kind of stops with him for a second,” coach Tasker Fleming said after North (3-5, 3-1) managed only 98 total yards against the state’s second- ranked 1A team. “Jesse got the wind knocked out of him. Hopefully (Saturday) morning when the doctors check him out, they’ll give him the OK for next week.”
It was an injury that initially looked worse than it was. Rudisell remained face-down and still for several minutes near midfield after Albemarle’s Chris Watson picked off his first-and-20 pass toward the end zone. Trainers from both teams rushed to his side and immediately signaled for an ambulance. Instead, he was helped off the field and spent the rest of the game on the sideline.
“When he’s face-down, you always think it could be a back injury,” said Fleming. “But he just threw the ball and got popped. It’s part of the game.”
Just as intriguing was how North hung around with conference-leading Albemarle (8-0, 4-0) until late in the fourth quarter. Popular thinking had the Cavs listed as four-touchdown underdogs.
“We knew we could give them a challenge. We even thought we could beat them,” defensive tackle Javon Hargrave said after recovering two fumbles and recording a couple of sacks. “We just have to fight a little harder.”
North’s most glaring problem was on the offensive line. It was a step slow throughout the game as Rudisell faced a steady diet of six-man rushes.
“We had way better athletes on our line,” said right tackle Keith Reid. “But their defense was just set up crazy. Their alignments ó how many people up, how many down ó and all the different angles they came from, that was just crazy.”
It was craziest in the first half, when North failed to complete a pass and ran for only 20 yards on 20 attempts. “Our blocking wasn’t good,” noted Malik Jones, the Cavs’ top rusher with 28 yards. “We couldn’t get it set up right.”
?By halftime, Albemarle constructed a 14-0 lead on TD runs by A.J. Little. More damaging were the bump-and-bruise offerings by teammate Rusty Parks (123 yards on 24 carries).
“They’ve got plenty of good athletes, not just him,” said Fleming. “I thought our defense slowed them down and gave us opportunities. Our offense just didn’t give us the game we needed to win a tough one like this,”
North used a fumble recovery by Kornel Cook late in the third period to set up its only score. Rudisell completed a 32-yard pass to Pierre Givens that gave the Cavs a first-and-goal from the Albemarle 2. On the first play of the final quarter, he handed off to Jones, who plowed into the end zone from a yard out and made it a 14-6 game.
A blocked punt with 6:51 remaining helped the?Dogs secure the win. Four snaps after taking possession at the North 10, Parks scored on a blast up the middle.
“Frustrating,” was how Fleming described the loss. “Nobody gave us a chance. But to beat this team you have to finish more than once,”
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NOTES: Givens also caught a 27-yard pass from Rudisell in the third quarter. … North’s defense held Albemarle to 34 yards and three first downs in the second half. … Hargrave leads the county with eight fumble recoveries. … North celebrates homecoming next Friday when Chatham Central visits.