"2009 Wonder Football Scrapbook"
South Piedmont Conference Champions
2009 Season Results
Kannapolis 35 Statesville 13
Kannapolis 19 South Rowan 25 Kannapolis 34 Thomasville 28 Kannapolis 56 Kings Mountain 28 Kannapolis 34 J.M. Robinson 14 Kannapolis 45 Central Cabarrus 0 Kannapolis 61 Cox Mill 7 Kannapolis 28 Mount Pleasant 7 Kannapolis 38 Hickory Ridge 13 Kannapolis 35 Northwest Caba 21 Kannapolis 10 Concord 13 1st Kannapolis 30 J.M Robinson 14 2nd Kannapolis 45 Asheville Erwin 27 3rd Kannapolis 7 South Point 24 |
2009 Athletic Program
Positions
Kannapolis-35 Statesville-13
KANNAPOLIS — Tyler Gilmore started at receiver, and an injury forced a position switch two plays into A.L. Brown's first offensive series of the season.Travis Riley rushed for 150 yards and three touchdowns as the Wonders, who used four quarterbacks, earned a 35-13 victory against visiting Statesville in a lightning-interrupted opener Friday night. A.L. Brown (1-0) stopped a fake punt in the first two minutes and junior Martel Campbell, making his first start at QB following the graduation of star Jamill Lott, didn't return after taking a hard hit to the head on a 15-yard scramble to Statesville's 1.Gilmore moved from receiver to quarterback and handed off to Riley, who scored with 9:31 remaining in the first quarter. Gilmore's 13-yard pass to Tevin Jones accounted for the Wonders' next touchdown.
"I've been trying to catch them, not throw them," said Gilmore, a senior who was a backup quarterback
last season. "Since Martel got hurt, I knew I had to step up. I wasn't nervous at all."
Campbell, who was briefly unconscious after going down near the right pylon, sat on a training table with his helmet off for most of the first half. He eventually removed his shoulder pads.Campbell came out for the second half wearing just a jersey over his undershirt. Gilmore finished with three completions in eight attempts for 34 yards, and his one interception occurred in the closing seconds of the first half.
"I thought Tyler stepped in and did a good job of running the offense," head coach Ron Massey said.
A.L. Brown depended heavily on the running of Riley, Antwoine Jordan and Xavier Stanback, but Gilmore completed two passes on a 95-yard drive that pushed the Wonders ahead 14-0 with 1:45 left in the first half.Riley exited the lineup after gaining 2 yards on a fourth-and-1 carry from the Wonders' 40, and Gilmore threw a successful fade to Jones on third-and-goal. The 15-play march lasted more than seven minutes.A.L. Brown's Mike Robinson started the second half with a 53-yard kickoff return — teammate Andrew Leslie fell on Robinson's fumble — and the 205-pound Riley raced in for a 30-yard touchdown two plays later.
"There was real good blocking up front," said Riley, who had nine touchdowns last year as a sophomore. "We
were able to make adjustments at halftime, and holes were just opening up."
A 67-yard kickoff return by Statesville's Stephen Chambers set up a touchdown run for Keyon Harris, and the Wonders offered another quick response.Riley took the handoff from Gilmore on a third-down draw play and darted up the middle for a 65-yard touchdown.
"He's got a lot of potential, but the offensive line and fullbacks deserve a lot of credit," Massey said. "They got him to the second level."
Damien Washington, a sophomore, led the first series after A.L. Brown went ahead 28-7 and came up short on a fourth-down keeper. Gilmore was again at quarterback when the teams were pulled off the field because of lightning, which created a 40-minute delay. The Wonders used another quarterback, junior Michael Church, once play resumed. Clark threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jones on the first play of the fourth quarter. Mark Goodjohn, Dana Moss and Dominique Phifer recorded sacks for the Wonders, who limited Statesville (0-1) to 139 yards of offense. Goodjohn also recovered two fumbles.
"Just running down the field," Goodjohn said. "You go hard the whole play and something will end up good."
"I've been trying to catch them, not throw them," said Gilmore, a senior who was a backup quarterback
last season. "Since Martel got hurt, I knew I had to step up. I wasn't nervous at all."
Campbell, who was briefly unconscious after going down near the right pylon, sat on a training table with his helmet off for most of the first half. He eventually removed his shoulder pads.Campbell came out for the second half wearing just a jersey over his undershirt. Gilmore finished with three completions in eight attempts for 34 yards, and his one interception occurred in the closing seconds of the first half.
"I thought Tyler stepped in and did a good job of running the offense," head coach Ron Massey said.
A.L. Brown depended heavily on the running of Riley, Antwoine Jordan and Xavier Stanback, but Gilmore completed two passes on a 95-yard drive that pushed the Wonders ahead 14-0 with 1:45 left in the first half.Riley exited the lineup after gaining 2 yards on a fourth-and-1 carry from the Wonders' 40, and Gilmore threw a successful fade to Jones on third-and-goal. The 15-play march lasted more than seven minutes.A.L. Brown's Mike Robinson started the second half with a 53-yard kickoff return — teammate Andrew Leslie fell on Robinson's fumble — and the 205-pound Riley raced in for a 30-yard touchdown two plays later.
"There was real good blocking up front," said Riley, who had nine touchdowns last year as a sophomore. "We
were able to make adjustments at halftime, and holes were just opening up."
A 67-yard kickoff return by Statesville's Stephen Chambers set up a touchdown run for Keyon Harris, and the Wonders offered another quick response.Riley took the handoff from Gilmore on a third-down draw play and darted up the middle for a 65-yard touchdown.
"He's got a lot of potential, but the offensive line and fullbacks deserve a lot of credit," Massey said. "They got him to the second level."
Damien Washington, a sophomore, led the first series after A.L. Brown went ahead 28-7 and came up short on a fourth-down keeper. Gilmore was again at quarterback when the teams were pulled off the field because of lightning, which created a 40-minute delay. The Wonders used another quarterback, junior Michael Church, once play resumed. Clark threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jones on the first play of the fourth quarter. Mark Goodjohn, Dana Moss and Dominique Phifer recorded sacks for the Wonders, who limited Statesville (0-1) to 139 yards of offense. Goodjohn also recovered two fumbles.
"Just running down the field," Goodjohn said. "You go hard the whole play and something will end up good."
Kannapolis-19 South Rowan-21
LANDIS — South Rowan Raiders wore red from head to toe Friday night. That included the hearts on their sleeves.In an emotional game, a senior-laden South team held off A.L. Brown 21-19 for the biggest win of coach Jason Rollins' four-year tenure.It wasn't decided until the Wonders' Brenden Brown was short on a 38-yard field goal attempt with 48 seconds left.
"We knew we were right at the limit of his range," Wonders coach Ron Massey said. "But on fourth-and-11 there aren't a lot of solid plays left in your playbook."
Rollins, a Belmont native, admitted he'd never figured out the heat generated by this rivalry until South quarterback Blake Houston took a knee on the final snap and set off a celebration that rocked the foundation of houses in Landis and China Grove.
"I didn't grow up here, and I spent years trying to convince our kids this was just another game," Rollins said. "But now I know. Now I get it. Now I can see what this game means to them. This team just had a weight lifted off its shoulders. This school just got a monkey off its back."
Houston was fantastic in the first half, using his left arm and both legs to bewilder the Wonders (1-1). He had 106 passing yards and 73 rushing yards by halftime A.L. Brown's Travis Riley, a bruiser who can fly, dominated the second half and finished with 203 rushing yards.
"At halftime we felt good, but they made the right adjustments and got Riley rolling in the second half," Rollins said. "He is a beast."
Brown scored first on a TD catch by tight end Spencer Falls barely three minutes in, but Houston answered with TD passes to B.J. Grant and Quan Glaspy.The 50-yard connection with Grant will be talked about 40 years from now. Houston scrambled nearly from sideline to sideline, pulled up at the line of scrimmage and somehow spotted Grant.
"B.J. has played with me long enough that he followed me across the field," Houston said. "This was a game we've waited for for four years."
Grant reversed his field 10 yards, then dashed to the end zone to complete one of the plays of the century.South (2-0) appeared to have control late in the second quarter, but it fumbled away a chance to score again before halftime. The Wonders, as they always do, stormed back in the second half.
"We got pumped up at halftime, but yards were still hard to get," Riley said. "South is good on defense and offense, and Houston's an athlete. He made the plays for
them."
South's Cody Simpson returned the second-half kickoff to the Brown 18 to set up a 7-yard scoring run by D'Andre Harris for a 21-7 lead.
"We had so many penalties," Harris said after the Raiders were flagged for 150 yards in infractions. "But we kept our minds right. We kept going. We wouldn't give
up."
Riley kept the heat on. His 42-yard breakout midway through the third quarter made it 21-13, but the Wonders missed a vital PAT it hit the crossbar that dictated all the events that followed.Riley's 1-yard burst with 8:41 remaining cut South's lead to 21-19, but the Wonders had to go for two and a pass attempt was well-defended.Brown looked as if it would have prime field position for its final push, but South's Jacob Jester boomed a 51-yard punt and the Wonders took over on their 24 with 2:49 left.Racing the clock, Brown advanced to second-and-7 at South's 17, but a critical penalty pushed the Wonders back to the 25. South was able to hold and force a field-goal attempt.
"South's got four good weapons," Massey said. "They've got a senior quarterback, and he was the difference. A senior quarterback should be the difference."
"We knew we were right at the limit of his range," Wonders coach Ron Massey said. "But on fourth-and-11 there aren't a lot of solid plays left in your playbook."
Rollins, a Belmont native, admitted he'd never figured out the heat generated by this rivalry until South quarterback Blake Houston took a knee on the final snap and set off a celebration that rocked the foundation of houses in Landis and China Grove.
"I didn't grow up here, and I spent years trying to convince our kids this was just another game," Rollins said. "But now I know. Now I get it. Now I can see what this game means to them. This team just had a weight lifted off its shoulders. This school just got a monkey off its back."
Houston was fantastic in the first half, using his left arm and both legs to bewilder the Wonders (1-1). He had 106 passing yards and 73 rushing yards by halftime A.L. Brown's Travis Riley, a bruiser who can fly, dominated the second half and finished with 203 rushing yards.
"At halftime we felt good, but they made the right adjustments and got Riley rolling in the second half," Rollins said. "He is a beast."
Brown scored first on a TD catch by tight end Spencer Falls barely three minutes in, but Houston answered with TD passes to B.J. Grant and Quan Glaspy.The 50-yard connection with Grant will be talked about 40 years from now. Houston scrambled nearly from sideline to sideline, pulled up at the line of scrimmage and somehow spotted Grant.
"B.J. has played with me long enough that he followed me across the field," Houston said. "This was a game we've waited for for four years."
Grant reversed his field 10 yards, then dashed to the end zone to complete one of the plays of the century.South (2-0) appeared to have control late in the second quarter, but it fumbled away a chance to score again before halftime. The Wonders, as they always do, stormed back in the second half.
"We got pumped up at halftime, but yards were still hard to get," Riley said. "South is good on defense and offense, and Houston's an athlete. He made the plays for
them."
South's Cody Simpson returned the second-half kickoff to the Brown 18 to set up a 7-yard scoring run by D'Andre Harris for a 21-7 lead.
"We had so many penalties," Harris said after the Raiders were flagged for 150 yards in infractions. "But we kept our minds right. We kept going. We wouldn't give
up."
Riley kept the heat on. His 42-yard breakout midway through the third quarter made it 21-13, but the Wonders missed a vital PAT it hit the crossbar that dictated all the events that followed.Riley's 1-yard burst with 8:41 remaining cut South's lead to 21-19, but the Wonders had to go for two and a pass attempt was well-defended.Brown looked as if it would have prime field position for its final push, but South's Jacob Jester boomed a 51-yard punt and the Wonders took over on their 24 with 2:49 left.Racing the clock, Brown advanced to second-and-7 at South's 17, but a critical penalty pushed the Wonders back to the 25. South was able to hold and force a field-goal attempt.
"South's got four good weapons," Massey said. "They've got a senior quarterback, and he was the difference. A senior quarterback should be the difference."
Kannapolis-34 Thomasville-28
THOMASVILLE — From Martel Campbell's perspective, it was time for A.L. Brown's football team to stop barking and take a bite.The junior quarterback — who missed last week's narrow loss at South Rowan with a concussion — was possibly the most important player on the field in the closing moments of Friday's riveting 34-28 victory at Thomasville.
"We knew we couldn't lose two weeks in a row," Campbell said after the Wonders rallied from a two-touchdown halftime deficit. "That wasn't gonna happen."
It was that kind of steadfast determination that helped Kannapolis (2-1) win a game it easily could have lost. The Wonders were nearly roped and tied in the first half. Their defense yielded passing plays that went for 44- and 49-yard gains. Their offense was scorched for a 41-yard interception return for a touchdown. And their special teams unit had more holes than the president's tax plan. When Thomasville running back Quin Riley sprinted 57 yards for a score on the last play of the half, Kannapolis trudged to its dressing room trailing
28-14.
"You know, we just came out and weren't real focused," K-town running back Travis Riley said after rushing for 141 yards and scoring four TD's. "That may have been good for us. We were a different team in the second
half."
They were — on both sides of the ball. The Wonders took the second-half kickoff and navigated 69 yards in seven plays, drawing within seven points and setting a tone for the remaining 21 minutes.
"We could have rolled over very easily when they scored late in the half," said coach Ron Massey, who now has career 99 victories. "But getting back out in the second half and getting that first drive and doing something with it, that probably kept us in the ballgame."
The Wonders' defense was at its best in the final two quarters. Thomasville (1-2), which suffered its second consecutive loss at Cushwa Stadium, advanced to the Kannapolis 5-yard line on its first possession of the third period. But fullback Kesean Green was mugged by a cadre of tacklers in the backfield for a loss on fourth-and-2.
"We started throwing some blitzes and started subbing more because guys were getting hurt,"
said defensive tackle Dana Moss. "The offense was scoring and controlling the clock and we were blitzing front fours and front sevens. Everybody started hitting their gaps. We figured if we kept winning the battles we'd win the war."
Kannapolis tied the score shortly after junior Dominique Phifer recovered a Thomasville fumble late in the third quarter. Campbell fired spirals to Riley and Tevin Jones (5 receptions, 58 yards), then handed off to Riley for
a 1-yard touchdown burst with 10:46 remaining.
"He's such a great athlete," said Campbell, who passed for 109 yards and scampered for another 76. "And great athletes have a way of coming up big."
Especially the ones without the ball. Only 8:35 remained when Kannapolis defenders Jaques Deese and Desmond Gray corralled Quin Riley for a 5-yard loss on fourth-and-short near midfield. Moments later, the Wonders' defense forced a punt from midfield. Then after Travis Riley scored his ninth TD of the young season — on a decisive, 2-yard sweep into the left corner with less than a minute to play — the Kannapolis defense turned into steel again.Thomasville's final charge up the hill began at its own 37 with 39.8 seconds on the clock. Quarterback Sam Nelson fired an incomplete pass on first down and another on second. The suddenly, he hit the dangerous Brandon Lucas on a slant across the middle, good for a 30-yard pickup. But DB Kaleel Hollis dislodged the ball and Moss pounced on it like it was a late-night snack.
"We're all taught to do that, to trail and pursue," Moss said. "When I saw it come out I was about five yards
away and I jumped right to it. No one wanted to go home with another loss."
"We knew we couldn't lose two weeks in a row," Campbell said after the Wonders rallied from a two-touchdown halftime deficit. "That wasn't gonna happen."
It was that kind of steadfast determination that helped Kannapolis (2-1) win a game it easily could have lost. The Wonders were nearly roped and tied in the first half. Their defense yielded passing plays that went for 44- and 49-yard gains. Their offense was scorched for a 41-yard interception return for a touchdown. And their special teams unit had more holes than the president's tax plan. When Thomasville running back Quin Riley sprinted 57 yards for a score on the last play of the half, Kannapolis trudged to its dressing room trailing
28-14.
"You know, we just came out and weren't real focused," K-town running back Travis Riley said after rushing for 141 yards and scoring four TD's. "That may have been good for us. We were a different team in the second
half."
They were — on both sides of the ball. The Wonders took the second-half kickoff and navigated 69 yards in seven plays, drawing within seven points and setting a tone for the remaining 21 minutes.
"We could have rolled over very easily when they scored late in the half," said coach Ron Massey, who now has career 99 victories. "But getting back out in the second half and getting that first drive and doing something with it, that probably kept us in the ballgame."
The Wonders' defense was at its best in the final two quarters. Thomasville (1-2), which suffered its second consecutive loss at Cushwa Stadium, advanced to the Kannapolis 5-yard line on its first possession of the third period. But fullback Kesean Green was mugged by a cadre of tacklers in the backfield for a loss on fourth-and-2.
"We started throwing some blitzes and started subbing more because guys were getting hurt,"
said defensive tackle Dana Moss. "The offense was scoring and controlling the clock and we were blitzing front fours and front sevens. Everybody started hitting their gaps. We figured if we kept winning the battles we'd win the war."
Kannapolis tied the score shortly after junior Dominique Phifer recovered a Thomasville fumble late in the third quarter. Campbell fired spirals to Riley and Tevin Jones (5 receptions, 58 yards), then handed off to Riley for
a 1-yard touchdown burst with 10:46 remaining.
"He's such a great athlete," said Campbell, who passed for 109 yards and scampered for another 76. "And great athletes have a way of coming up big."
Especially the ones without the ball. Only 8:35 remained when Kannapolis defenders Jaques Deese and Desmond Gray corralled Quin Riley for a 5-yard loss on fourth-and-short near midfield. Moments later, the Wonders' defense forced a punt from midfield. Then after Travis Riley scored his ninth TD of the young season — on a decisive, 2-yard sweep into the left corner with less than a minute to play — the Kannapolis defense turned into steel again.Thomasville's final charge up the hill began at its own 37 with 39.8 seconds on the clock. Quarterback Sam Nelson fired an incomplete pass on first down and another on second. The suddenly, he hit the dangerous Brandon Lucas on a slant across the middle, good for a 30-yard pickup. But DB Kaleel Hollis dislodged the ball and Moss pounced on it like it was a late-night snack.
"We're all taught to do that, to trail and pursue," Moss said. "When I saw it come out I was about five yards
away and I jumped right to it. No one wanted to go home with another loss."
Kannapolis-56 Kings Mountain-28
KANNAPOLIS — Ron Massey hasn't won 100 games in less than 10 full seasons at A.L. Brown by being easily satisfied.That was evident after the Wonders put more than 50 points on the scoreboard against his old team Friday night — and Massey felt they should have scored more.
"I think we could be better," Massey said. "But to be 3-1 with the non-conference schedule we played, I feel pretty good about that."
You wouldn't have known it by hearing him talk, but Massey did have reasons to be happy after Kannapolis dismantled Kings Mountain 56-28 to give the coach win No. 100 at the school.Junior standout Travis Riley rushed for four consecutive Wonder touchdowns that broke the game open, capped by a 70-yard burst on the first scrimmage play of the second half for a commanding 35-14 lead.
"We came out the first play in an unbalanced formation and he just made a great cut on it," Massey said. "They
were blitzing and putting everybody up on the line of scrimmage and we felt if we could get to the second level we had a shot."
The Kannapolis defense, meanwhile, stuffed Kings Mountain on the ground and forced four turnovers in the
game, including a 66-yard interception return by junior Labrian Black in the final minute of the third quarter that pushed the edge to 49-14.
"I just saw the ball in the air, my hands went up, I caught it and just ran it in," Black said. "Once I got to the corner, I didn't see anybody behind me, I had blockers in front of me and just kept going."
Through the first three quarters, the Wonders' defense held Kings Mountain to just one touchdown, which
came on the final play of the first half. By that point, the Wonders had already recovered three fumbles and set their offense up with short fields several times. Sophomore Gerald Holt recovered a fumble on Kings
Mountain's first series of the game. A.L. Brown's offense didn't take advantage that time, but it did score off of the other recoveries. Desmond Gray pounced on a loose ball at the Mountaineers' 10 midway through the first, and Antwoine Jordan scored on the next play to make it 7-0.It was 14-7 in the second quarter when Gray got a piece of a Kings Mountain punt, allowing the Wonders to take over at the Kings Mountain 32.Five plays later, Riley went around left end for a 7-yard score. Later in the quarter, senior lineman Dana Moss recovered the third fumble which led to Riley's third touchdown that made it 28-7.The longest of Kannapolis' four scoring
drives in the opening half was 59 yards.
"Our defense played more aggressive tonight," Massey said. "We created more turnovers. They gave us great
field position. We should've put more points on the board offensively."
Moss said the Wonders switched from their standard 4-3 defense to a "34" during their open week and that helped take pressure off a struggling secondary.
"We practiced the new defense all week," Moss said. "They came out in an off-set and we had to figure out how to play against that, and we just got it. "Everybody did their job. It was just turnover after turnover. We just kept doing it."
Offensively, Brown totaled 238 rushing yards, including 129 by Riley on 14 carries. The Wonders had just 44 passing yards, though.
"There are still a lot of breakdowns that I'm not happy with," Massey said. "We didn't throw the ball well. We've got to be able to throw the ball better. When people line up in man coverage on us and we get an
opportunity we've got to take advantage of it."
The lone highlight for the Wonders in the air came on a reverse pass to quarterback Martel Campbell in
the second quarter.
"I think we could be better," Massey said. "But to be 3-1 with the non-conference schedule we played, I feel pretty good about that."
You wouldn't have known it by hearing him talk, but Massey did have reasons to be happy after Kannapolis dismantled Kings Mountain 56-28 to give the coach win No. 100 at the school.Junior standout Travis Riley rushed for four consecutive Wonder touchdowns that broke the game open, capped by a 70-yard burst on the first scrimmage play of the second half for a commanding 35-14 lead.
"We came out the first play in an unbalanced formation and he just made a great cut on it," Massey said. "They
were blitzing and putting everybody up on the line of scrimmage and we felt if we could get to the second level we had a shot."
The Kannapolis defense, meanwhile, stuffed Kings Mountain on the ground and forced four turnovers in the
game, including a 66-yard interception return by junior Labrian Black in the final minute of the third quarter that pushed the edge to 49-14.
"I just saw the ball in the air, my hands went up, I caught it and just ran it in," Black said. "Once I got to the corner, I didn't see anybody behind me, I had blockers in front of me and just kept going."
Through the first three quarters, the Wonders' defense held Kings Mountain to just one touchdown, which
came on the final play of the first half. By that point, the Wonders had already recovered three fumbles and set their offense up with short fields several times. Sophomore Gerald Holt recovered a fumble on Kings
Mountain's first series of the game. A.L. Brown's offense didn't take advantage that time, but it did score off of the other recoveries. Desmond Gray pounced on a loose ball at the Mountaineers' 10 midway through the first, and Antwoine Jordan scored on the next play to make it 7-0.It was 14-7 in the second quarter when Gray got a piece of a Kings Mountain punt, allowing the Wonders to take over at the Kings Mountain 32.Five plays later, Riley went around left end for a 7-yard score. Later in the quarter, senior lineman Dana Moss recovered the third fumble which led to Riley's third touchdown that made it 28-7.The longest of Kannapolis' four scoring
drives in the opening half was 59 yards.
"Our defense played more aggressive tonight," Massey said. "We created more turnovers. They gave us great
field position. We should've put more points on the board offensively."
Moss said the Wonders switched from their standard 4-3 defense to a "34" during their open week and that helped take pressure off a struggling secondary.
"We practiced the new defense all week," Moss said. "They came out in an off-set and we had to figure out how to play against that, and we just got it. "Everybody did their job. It was just turnover after turnover. We just kept doing it."
Offensively, Brown totaled 238 rushing yards, including 129 by Riley on 14 carries. The Wonders had just 44 passing yards, though.
"There are still a lot of breakdowns that I'm not happy with," Massey said. "We didn't throw the ball well. We've got to be able to throw the ball better. When people line up in man coverage on us and we get an
opportunity we've got to take advantage of it."
The lone highlight for the Wonders in the air came on a reverse pass to quarterback Martel Campbell in
the second quarter.
Kannapolis-34 J.M Robinson-14
CONCORD — Beginning with Friday night's South Piedmont Conference opener at Jay M. Robinson, A.L Brown will be big favorites every time it takes the field for the rest of the regular season.So head coach Ron Massey and the Wonders are stressing the importance of being mentally focused.While the execution wasn't always perfect against Robinson, Kannapolis' focus — along with its superior talent — was more than enough to translate into an easy 34-14 win.Four different Wonder offensive players found the end zone in the game and they led 34-0 after a 20-point third quarter.
"We had a lot of mental mistakes last week and we had to come out this week at practice and focus and be ready for this game," said running back Travis Riley, who rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown.
Kannapolis (4-1, 1-0) outgained Robinson 217-61 in the opening half, but missed on two scoring opportunities to settle for a 14-0 edge. Robinson (1-4, 0-1) started the second half with a 72-yard kickoff return, but the Wonders' defense held on downs, capped by Dominique Phifer's sack.Kannapolis took over and drove 66 yards on 10 rushing plays, capped by Antwoine Jordan's 13-yard score.
"We didn't really try to put them away in the first half like we should," Massey said. "But I thought coming out
in the second half with the defense making the stop and the offense taking it down and scoring was very big."
The Wonders' defense then forced turnovers on the Bulldogs' next two possessions, leading to two quick
touchdowns. Phifer recovered a fumble at the Robinson 27, and Xavier Stanback's 3-yard run made it 27-0. Defensive back Jaques Deese then stepped in front of a pass from Robinson backup quarterback Joey Bastine and returned it 35 yards for the defense's second score in as many games.
"We're giving up some plays, but we're being real aggressive and making some," Massey said of his
team's new-look "34" defense. "I was glad to see them get another score tonight."
A week after forcing four turnovers against Kings Mountain, Kannapolis recorded three in this one, and scored off of each one. The Wonders also limited Robinson, which was playing without injured starting quarterback Robert Cloninger, to 72 total yards through the first three quarters.
"We're trying to make them a little more mobile and athletic," Massey said. "It's going well. We've still got a long way to go, though."
Offensively, the Wonders once again did their work mostly on the ground, rushing for 307 yards despite a concerted effort to establish the passing game in the first half — even with wet conditions.Quarterback
Martel Campbell completed 4 of 13 passes for 62 yards — all in the first two quarters.Campbell threw to Tyler Gilmore for a 33-yard gain on the first possession to the Robinson 11. The drive stalled, though, after a
botched snap and two incompletions.
"I thought we didn't score a couple times on offense," Massey said. "We wanted to try to work on our passing game a little bit in the first half. We saw some things that were good. We broke down on pressure a couple of times and a couple times we just didn't hit. It's tough weather to throw the ball in."
Following an interception by Josh Black, the Wonders got on the board on their second drive, a seven-play, 57-yard march that included runs of 19 and 22 by Riley. He capped it by plowing in from the Robinson 2 for his 14th touchdown of the season. Kannapolis took advantage of great field position for its second score midway into the second quarter. The defense forced a three-and-out inside Robinson's 10 and a 16-yard punt set the offense up at the Bulldogs' 23.Campbell scored on a 7-yard keeper around right end for the 14-0 lead.
"We know coming in that we're pretty good at running the football and people are going to change fronts on us
and do some things," Massey said. "The thing we want to do is be efficient enough to make the right decisions at quarterback and on the offensive line to take us out of bad plays.
"We've just got to get better. We're hitting a stretch right now where obviously we're going to be favored. We've just got to focus at practice and make sure that we don't put ourselves in a trap."
The Wonders host winless Central Cabarrus and Cox Mill the next two weeks.
"It's hard," Riley said about staying focused against inferior competition. "But you've got to go into it like it's a state championship game every week and be mentally ready."
"We had a lot of mental mistakes last week and we had to come out this week at practice and focus and be ready for this game," said running back Travis Riley, who rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown.
Kannapolis (4-1, 1-0) outgained Robinson 217-61 in the opening half, but missed on two scoring opportunities to settle for a 14-0 edge. Robinson (1-4, 0-1) started the second half with a 72-yard kickoff return, but the Wonders' defense held on downs, capped by Dominique Phifer's sack.Kannapolis took over and drove 66 yards on 10 rushing plays, capped by Antwoine Jordan's 13-yard score.
"We didn't really try to put them away in the first half like we should," Massey said. "But I thought coming out
in the second half with the defense making the stop and the offense taking it down and scoring was very big."
The Wonders' defense then forced turnovers on the Bulldogs' next two possessions, leading to two quick
touchdowns. Phifer recovered a fumble at the Robinson 27, and Xavier Stanback's 3-yard run made it 27-0. Defensive back Jaques Deese then stepped in front of a pass from Robinson backup quarterback Joey Bastine and returned it 35 yards for the defense's second score in as many games.
"We're giving up some plays, but we're being real aggressive and making some," Massey said of his
team's new-look "34" defense. "I was glad to see them get another score tonight."
A week after forcing four turnovers against Kings Mountain, Kannapolis recorded three in this one, and scored off of each one. The Wonders also limited Robinson, which was playing without injured starting quarterback Robert Cloninger, to 72 total yards through the first three quarters.
"We're trying to make them a little more mobile and athletic," Massey said. "It's going well. We've still got a long way to go, though."
Offensively, the Wonders once again did their work mostly on the ground, rushing for 307 yards despite a concerted effort to establish the passing game in the first half — even with wet conditions.Quarterback
Martel Campbell completed 4 of 13 passes for 62 yards — all in the first two quarters.Campbell threw to Tyler Gilmore for a 33-yard gain on the first possession to the Robinson 11. The drive stalled, though, after a
botched snap and two incompletions.
"I thought we didn't score a couple times on offense," Massey said. "We wanted to try to work on our passing game a little bit in the first half. We saw some things that were good. We broke down on pressure a couple of times and a couple times we just didn't hit. It's tough weather to throw the ball in."
Following an interception by Josh Black, the Wonders got on the board on their second drive, a seven-play, 57-yard march that included runs of 19 and 22 by Riley. He capped it by plowing in from the Robinson 2 for his 14th touchdown of the season. Kannapolis took advantage of great field position for its second score midway into the second quarter. The defense forced a three-and-out inside Robinson's 10 and a 16-yard punt set the offense up at the Bulldogs' 23.Campbell scored on a 7-yard keeper around right end for the 14-0 lead.
"We know coming in that we're pretty good at running the football and people are going to change fronts on us
and do some things," Massey said. "The thing we want to do is be efficient enough to make the right decisions at quarterback and on the offensive line to take us out of bad plays.
"We've just got to get better. We're hitting a stretch right now where obviously we're going to be favored. We've just got to focus at practice and make sure that we don't put ourselves in a trap."
The Wonders host winless Central Cabarrus and Cox Mill the next two weeks.
"It's hard," Riley said about staying focused against inferior competition. "But you've got to go into it like it's a state championship game every week and be mentally ready."
Kannapolis-45 Central Cabarrus-0
KANNAPOLIS — Battling illness most of the week, A.L. Brown standout Travis Riley saw only limited action Friday night.That certainly wasn't going to affect the Wonders chances of beating winless Central Cabarrus.It just gave others a chance to grab some of the offensive spotlight. Backup Antwoine Jordan, quarterback Martel Campbell and receiver Tevin Jones each took advantage as Kannapolis cruised to a 45-0 shutout that was just as easy as one would've expected. Jordan rushed for 171 yards and two scores, Campbell had his best passing game of the season and Jones had a touchdown catch as the Wonders (5-1, 2-0) won their fourth straight game.
"There were a lot of good things," Wonders head coach Ron Massey said. "They threw a lot of fronts at us, which we thought might happen and we were able to run the ball pretty good. I thought Martel threw the ball better tonight. I was glad to see that. We made some good plays throwing the football and the defense did a great job keeping them out of the end zone."
The Wonders scored on their first two possessions, outgained Central 262-45 in the opening half and did all of their scoring in the first three quarters. Jordan capped it off with touchdown bursts of 47 and 36 yards. The speedy senior needed only 11 carries and three quarters to amass his yardage.
"Antwoine was due for a big game," Massey said. "He's worked hard too. We've got two outstanding running backs and that just makes us better when both of them can produce like that."
Campbell, whose development early in the season was hampered by an injury, ran the offense efficiently, except for one interception. He completed 7 of 10 passes for 128 yards — all in the first half. The junior threw a strike to Jones on a short slant for a 3-yard touchdown that made it 21-0 in the second quarter. He
also showed poise in routinely checking plays off at the line of scrimmage.
"You have to remember it's only his third game as a varsity quarterback. He's getting along and getting better," Massey said. "He does a good job keeping his composure and the receivers did a good job of catching the
ball tonight too."
Jones had three receptions for 57 yards, including a diving 36-yard catch while being interfered with along the sideline. Not to be completely outdone, Riley still managed to score two touchdowns on just seven rush attempts — each capping Brown's first two drives of the game. He totaled 50 of the Wonders' 286 rushing yards.
"We wanted to hold him back a little bit, but we still wanted to play him some," Massey said.
Brown's defense got into the scoring act for the third straight week on Mike Robinson's 29-yard interception return off a deflection in the second quarter. The Wonders limited Central's offense to 92 total yards in the first three periods and forced three turnovers in the game — leading to 17 points.Fumble recoveries by sophomore Kaleel Hollis and senior Trenton Nobles set up Jordan's first touchdown run and a 32-yard field goal by Brenden Brown.
"We gave up some chunks of yardage at points, but when we had to make plays they did a good job of making plays," Massey said. "Special teams were pretty good tonight. It was a good win for us. We've just got to keep working to get better."
The blowout gave sophomores Damien Washington (the junior varsity quarterback) and Demetrius Jackson a chance for playing time in the second half. Jackson rushed for 49 yards on seven carries.
"I'm happy for the kids," Massey said. "All of them work extremely hard and to be able to have success like this is good. We were able to get a lot of people in the football game."
The youngsters will likely get a chance for more action next Friday against first-year school Cox Mill. Massey meanwhile, is focused on the Wonders continuing to make strides on the practice field in the midst of a weak stretch in the schedule.
"That's where you're going to improve and that's what we want to try to do," he said.
"There were a lot of good things," Wonders head coach Ron Massey said. "They threw a lot of fronts at us, which we thought might happen and we were able to run the ball pretty good. I thought Martel threw the ball better tonight. I was glad to see that. We made some good plays throwing the football and the defense did a great job keeping them out of the end zone."
The Wonders scored on their first two possessions, outgained Central 262-45 in the opening half and did all of their scoring in the first three quarters. Jordan capped it off with touchdown bursts of 47 and 36 yards. The speedy senior needed only 11 carries and three quarters to amass his yardage.
"Antwoine was due for a big game," Massey said. "He's worked hard too. We've got two outstanding running backs and that just makes us better when both of them can produce like that."
Campbell, whose development early in the season was hampered by an injury, ran the offense efficiently, except for one interception. He completed 7 of 10 passes for 128 yards — all in the first half. The junior threw a strike to Jones on a short slant for a 3-yard touchdown that made it 21-0 in the second quarter. He
also showed poise in routinely checking plays off at the line of scrimmage.
"You have to remember it's only his third game as a varsity quarterback. He's getting along and getting better," Massey said. "He does a good job keeping his composure and the receivers did a good job of catching the
ball tonight too."
Jones had three receptions for 57 yards, including a diving 36-yard catch while being interfered with along the sideline. Not to be completely outdone, Riley still managed to score two touchdowns on just seven rush attempts — each capping Brown's first two drives of the game. He totaled 50 of the Wonders' 286 rushing yards.
"We wanted to hold him back a little bit, but we still wanted to play him some," Massey said.
Brown's defense got into the scoring act for the third straight week on Mike Robinson's 29-yard interception return off a deflection in the second quarter. The Wonders limited Central's offense to 92 total yards in the first three periods and forced three turnovers in the game — leading to 17 points.Fumble recoveries by sophomore Kaleel Hollis and senior Trenton Nobles set up Jordan's first touchdown run and a 32-yard field goal by Brenden Brown.
"We gave up some chunks of yardage at points, but when we had to make plays they did a good job of making plays," Massey said. "Special teams were pretty good tonight. It was a good win for us. We've just got to keep working to get better."
The blowout gave sophomores Damien Washington (the junior varsity quarterback) and Demetrius Jackson a chance for playing time in the second half. Jackson rushed for 49 yards on seven carries.
"I'm happy for the kids," Massey said. "All of them work extremely hard and to be able to have success like this is good. We were able to get a lot of people in the football game."
The youngsters will likely get a chance for more action next Friday against first-year school Cox Mill. Massey meanwhile, is focused on the Wonders continuing to make strides on the practice field in the midst of a weak stretch in the schedule.
"That's where you're going to improve and that's what we want to try to do," he said.
Kannapolis-61 Cox Mill-7
KANNAPOLIS — On its fifth offensive play of the game, Cox Mill connected on a fluky 55-yard touchdown pass to tie A.L. Brown at 7-7. That, however, was the one and only surprise that occurred on the Memorial Stadium field Friday night. The rest was the one-sided mismatch that you didn't have to be Nostradamus to see coming.
After the Cox Mill score, the Wonders racked up 34 more points by halftime and the only suspense left was the exact final score.It ended up at a somewhat merciful 61-7, thanks to a running clock for most of the second half.
"You never want to try and embarrass anybody, but these kids bust their tails at practice so they're going to go out and play hard, and I wouldn't want it any other way," Kannapolis head coach Ron Massey said.
The Wonders collected their fifth straight win — the last four coming by overwhelming margins — and running backs Travis Riley and Antwoine Jordan padded their season stats. Riley accumulated 211 yards and four touchdowns on just 13 carries — all in the first half — while Jordan added 69 yards and two scores in a barely over two quarters of action.The Wonders totaled 290 rushing yards by halftime and finished the game with 438.
"Obviously they're undermanned as a first-year school and we were able to play a lot of people. We've still got to work on what we can do. I thought we blocked well and we ran the ball hard."
Cox Mill (0-6, 0-2) was playing its third game in eight days — the Chargers were forced to play a makeup against Mount Pleasant on Tuesday
"I don't know how I would prepare for it," Massey said. "And I know their kids are worn out."
Unfortunately for the Chargers, it showed in their tackling, or lack thereof. Riley broke at least a half-dozen tackles by himself in the game and on one 34-yard run carried multiple Cox Mill defenders for almost 20 yards. But the bruising junior also had plenty of easy running too. On the first play from scrimmage, he raced untouched for a 65-yard score that was called back for a holding penalty — one of three Brown touchdowns negated by flags.Three plays later, Riley was back in the end zone after a 48-yard run.Then came Cox Mill's one big moment as Wonder defensive back Kaleel Hollis tipped a pass over the middle up in the air and receiver Kyle Hunter hauled it in behind him and took it the distance, stunning the home crowd.
"We were in position to make a play and just didn't make it," Massey said. "Those things will happen. It was probably good for us. It may have woke us up a little bit more."
Order was quickly restored for Brown with Riley's 34-yard burst, followed on the next play by Jordan's 32-yard touchdown run.The Wonders were flagged for 12 penalties in the game, most of them were on offense, but they still moved the ball at will, scoring on seven of their next nine possessions after taking the 13-7 lead. Riley had
consecutive touchdown runs of 5, 14 and 4 yards before Tevin Jones caught a 20-yard pass from backup quarterback Michael Church that made it 41-7 just before halftime.The Wonders' defense didn't find the end zone for a fourth straight game, but a 47-yard interception return by Ryan Blackmon set up Xavier Stanback's 9-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Hollis also atoned for his part in Cox Mill's lone score with a pair of fumble recoveries.
"Other than one series on defense I thought we did a good job shutting down their veer (offense)," Massey said.
Beyond that, though, Massey was left unsure about just how much his team is progressing after another
noncompetitive game.
"We'll look at the film and just check it out and see," he said. "It's tough because we need to play good competition, but (Cox Mill) coach (Greg Neuendorf) has done a great job over there with what he's got. They're very well-coached in what they want to do. They're just undermanned right now.
"Hopefully nobody got hurt and we'll move on to next week."
After the Cox Mill score, the Wonders racked up 34 more points by halftime and the only suspense left was the exact final score.It ended up at a somewhat merciful 61-7, thanks to a running clock for most of the second half.
"You never want to try and embarrass anybody, but these kids bust their tails at practice so they're going to go out and play hard, and I wouldn't want it any other way," Kannapolis head coach Ron Massey said.
The Wonders collected their fifth straight win — the last four coming by overwhelming margins — and running backs Travis Riley and Antwoine Jordan padded their season stats. Riley accumulated 211 yards and four touchdowns on just 13 carries — all in the first half — while Jordan added 69 yards and two scores in a barely over two quarters of action.The Wonders totaled 290 rushing yards by halftime and finished the game with 438.
"Obviously they're undermanned as a first-year school and we were able to play a lot of people. We've still got to work on what we can do. I thought we blocked well and we ran the ball hard."
Cox Mill (0-6, 0-2) was playing its third game in eight days — the Chargers were forced to play a makeup against Mount Pleasant on Tuesday
"I don't know how I would prepare for it," Massey said. "And I know their kids are worn out."
Unfortunately for the Chargers, it showed in their tackling, or lack thereof. Riley broke at least a half-dozen tackles by himself in the game and on one 34-yard run carried multiple Cox Mill defenders for almost 20 yards. But the bruising junior also had plenty of easy running too. On the first play from scrimmage, he raced untouched for a 65-yard score that was called back for a holding penalty — one of three Brown touchdowns negated by flags.Three plays later, Riley was back in the end zone after a 48-yard run.Then came Cox Mill's one big moment as Wonder defensive back Kaleel Hollis tipped a pass over the middle up in the air and receiver Kyle Hunter hauled it in behind him and took it the distance, stunning the home crowd.
"We were in position to make a play and just didn't make it," Massey said. "Those things will happen. It was probably good for us. It may have woke us up a little bit more."
Order was quickly restored for Brown with Riley's 34-yard burst, followed on the next play by Jordan's 32-yard touchdown run.The Wonders were flagged for 12 penalties in the game, most of them were on offense, but they still moved the ball at will, scoring on seven of their next nine possessions after taking the 13-7 lead. Riley had
consecutive touchdown runs of 5, 14 and 4 yards before Tevin Jones caught a 20-yard pass from backup quarterback Michael Church that made it 41-7 just before halftime.The Wonders' defense didn't find the end zone for a fourth straight game, but a 47-yard interception return by Ryan Blackmon set up Xavier Stanback's 9-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Hollis also atoned for his part in Cox Mill's lone score with a pair of fumble recoveries.
"Other than one series on defense I thought we did a good job shutting down their veer (offense)," Massey said.
Beyond that, though, Massey was left unsure about just how much his team is progressing after another
noncompetitive game.
"We'll look at the film and just check it out and see," he said. "It's tough because we need to play good competition, but (Cox Mill) coach (Greg Neuendorf) has done a great job over there with what he's got. They're very well-coached in what they want to do. They're just undermanned right now.
"Hopefully nobody got hurt and we'll move on to next week."
Kannapolis-28 Mt Pleasant-7
MOUNT PLEASANT — The 21-point margin of victory doesn't indicate it, but for the first time in a month, A.L. Brown was pushed on Friday night.The Wonders faced their first deficit since the third game of the season. And they led by just a touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter.
"It's probably good," A.L. Brown head coach Ron Massey said of his team being challenged. The way his team answered that challenge was definitely good.
Antwoine Jordan's short touchdown run provided some breathing room, and Jaques Deese's interception return for a score put the game away as Kannapolis beat host Mount Pleasant 28-7.
"Give a lot of credit to Mount Pleasant," Massey said. "I knew (Mount Pleasant) coach (Mike) Johns would do a
great job. They were well-prepared and threw a few wrinkles at us and did a great job. But I was proud of our kids too. We put our backs against the wall early and came back and did what we had to do to win. It's a long season. All of them aren't going to be blowouts, all of them aren't going to be pretty, but the key to this thing is finding a way to win. I thought we did that."
Travis Riley rushed for 157 yards and two first-half touchdowns, leading the Wonders (7-1, 4-0) to their sixth straight win.This one wasn't nearly as easy as the previous three. Mount Pleasant scored on its fourt offensive play and stayed with Kannapolis for the first three and half quarters.Trailing 14-7 at the half, the Tigers (2-6, 1-3) had a chance for the tying score after mounting a drive of more than six minutes to start the third quarter.Using a combination of short passes and runs by several previously little-used rushers, Mount Pleasant set up first-and-goal at the Kannapolis 10. However, the Wonders' defense rose up and turned the Tigers away, thanks to a 7-yard sack by linebacker Desmond Gray on second down and a pass breakup by defensive back Quin Gill on fourth down.
"(Scoring) would've just pumped them up," Massey said. "They used a lot of clock so for us to stop them was very big."
It remained 14-7 until the Wonders put together its best drive of the game — a 10-play, 77-yard march that was capped by Jordan's 2-yard run with 7:10 left in the fourth quarter.Quarterback Martel Campbell, who had struggled most of the game, came up with two big completions to Tevin Jones to key the drive. The first was a 31-yarder over the middle on a third-and-10 play at the A.L. Brown 34. Riley and Jordan followed with 12-yard runs and Campbell hit Jones for a 17-yard gain along the sideline, setting up Jordan's score on the next play.
"We didn't hit some passes early, but we hit a key one to keep a drive alive," Massey said. "We battled. It was a good, physical football game. They played very physical and I thought our kids rose to the occasion and were very physical too."
The Wonders iced it 41 seconds later when defensive back Josh Black tipped a pass and Deese hauled it in and sprinted down the sideline 32 yards for the touchdown — the fourth score in five games for the Wonders' ball-hawking defense.
"Just playing fast football, fundamental football," Gray said. "That's all it is. We make some mistakes, but we come back and just do our jobs, do what we need to do."
Brown later got interceptions deep in its territory by defensive backs Quin Gill and Kaleel Hollis, and finished with four takeaways in the game.
"It felt pretty great (being in fight)," Gray said. "The first half was pretty bad. We were still up, but it wasn't good
enough so the coaches gave a good speech and we came out and did what we needed to do."
Kannapolis limited Mount Pleasant to 70 total yards in the first half. But 48 of them came on a reception by receiver Chett Currie on the Tigers' second offensive play. A 3-yard touchdown run two plays later gave the home team a surprising early lead.
"They throw the ball a lot," Massey said. "You've got to contain them. They hit some long passes, but I thought our defense did a good job of containing them and making them throw underneath as much as possible."
The Wonders' defense atoned later in the quarter with a sack and a forced fumble that Gill recovered. Riley ran for a 30-yard TD on the next play. Brendon Brown's extra point tied the game.
"That was big to give us a short field and stick it in real quick," Massey said. "It took a little bit of air out and everything."
The Wonders took the lead for good midway into the second quarter on Riley's 46-yard dash up the middle.
Kannapolis missed a chance to add to the lead right before halftime. Jones took a short pass for 39 yards to the Mount Pleasant 16 with under 10 seconds left. The Wonders had one timeout, but tried to get closer and
as Campbell overthrew a receiver in the end zone, time ran out.
"We thought with the time left on the clock we could throw one and then use the timeout," Massey said. "We were just out of field goal range. We broke down on protection and it pushed him out of the pocket so it took a little bit longer."
Jordan finished with 86 rushing yards, while Jones caught five passes for 96 yards. Campbell completed 9 of 17 passes for 122 yards, with one interception.
"It's probably good," A.L. Brown head coach Ron Massey said of his team being challenged. The way his team answered that challenge was definitely good.
Antwoine Jordan's short touchdown run provided some breathing room, and Jaques Deese's interception return for a score put the game away as Kannapolis beat host Mount Pleasant 28-7.
"Give a lot of credit to Mount Pleasant," Massey said. "I knew (Mount Pleasant) coach (Mike) Johns would do a
great job. They were well-prepared and threw a few wrinkles at us and did a great job. But I was proud of our kids too. We put our backs against the wall early and came back and did what we had to do to win. It's a long season. All of them aren't going to be blowouts, all of them aren't going to be pretty, but the key to this thing is finding a way to win. I thought we did that."
Travis Riley rushed for 157 yards and two first-half touchdowns, leading the Wonders (7-1, 4-0) to their sixth straight win.This one wasn't nearly as easy as the previous three. Mount Pleasant scored on its fourt offensive play and stayed with Kannapolis for the first three and half quarters.Trailing 14-7 at the half, the Tigers (2-6, 1-3) had a chance for the tying score after mounting a drive of more than six minutes to start the third quarter.Using a combination of short passes and runs by several previously little-used rushers, Mount Pleasant set up first-and-goal at the Kannapolis 10. However, the Wonders' defense rose up and turned the Tigers away, thanks to a 7-yard sack by linebacker Desmond Gray on second down and a pass breakup by defensive back Quin Gill on fourth down.
"(Scoring) would've just pumped them up," Massey said. "They used a lot of clock so for us to stop them was very big."
It remained 14-7 until the Wonders put together its best drive of the game — a 10-play, 77-yard march that was capped by Jordan's 2-yard run with 7:10 left in the fourth quarter.Quarterback Martel Campbell, who had struggled most of the game, came up with two big completions to Tevin Jones to key the drive. The first was a 31-yarder over the middle on a third-and-10 play at the A.L. Brown 34. Riley and Jordan followed with 12-yard runs and Campbell hit Jones for a 17-yard gain along the sideline, setting up Jordan's score on the next play.
"We didn't hit some passes early, but we hit a key one to keep a drive alive," Massey said. "We battled. It was a good, physical football game. They played very physical and I thought our kids rose to the occasion and were very physical too."
The Wonders iced it 41 seconds later when defensive back Josh Black tipped a pass and Deese hauled it in and sprinted down the sideline 32 yards for the touchdown — the fourth score in five games for the Wonders' ball-hawking defense.
"Just playing fast football, fundamental football," Gray said. "That's all it is. We make some mistakes, but we come back and just do our jobs, do what we need to do."
Brown later got interceptions deep in its territory by defensive backs Quin Gill and Kaleel Hollis, and finished with four takeaways in the game.
"It felt pretty great (being in fight)," Gray said. "The first half was pretty bad. We were still up, but it wasn't good
enough so the coaches gave a good speech and we came out and did what we needed to do."
Kannapolis limited Mount Pleasant to 70 total yards in the first half. But 48 of them came on a reception by receiver Chett Currie on the Tigers' second offensive play. A 3-yard touchdown run two plays later gave the home team a surprising early lead.
"They throw the ball a lot," Massey said. "You've got to contain them. They hit some long passes, but I thought our defense did a good job of containing them and making them throw underneath as much as possible."
The Wonders' defense atoned later in the quarter with a sack and a forced fumble that Gill recovered. Riley ran for a 30-yard TD on the next play. Brendon Brown's extra point tied the game.
"That was big to give us a short field and stick it in real quick," Massey said. "It took a little bit of air out and everything."
The Wonders took the lead for good midway into the second quarter on Riley's 46-yard dash up the middle.
Kannapolis missed a chance to add to the lead right before halftime. Jones took a short pass for 39 yards to the Mount Pleasant 16 with under 10 seconds left. The Wonders had one timeout, but tried to get closer and
as Campbell overthrew a receiver in the end zone, time ran out.
"We thought with the time left on the clock we could throw one and then use the timeout," Massey said. "We were just out of field goal range. We broke down on protection and it pushed him out of the pocket so it took a little bit longer."
Jordan finished with 86 rushing yards, while Jones caught five passes for 96 yards. Campbell completed 9 of 17 passes for 122 yards, with one interception.
Kannapolis-38 Hickory Ridge-13
KANNAPOLIS — A.L. Brown running back Travis Riley has made a habit of using his speed to break away for long touchdown bursts. And he's routinely displayed his strength and power when breaking tackles or running over defenders.He did those things again during Friday night's key SPC game against Hickory Ridge.But on a 56-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that capped off the Wonders' 38-13 victory, Riley showed he can be patient and elusive as well. Taking a pitch to the right, he encountered several Hickory Ridge defenders but saw a way around them, making a quick move back to the inside, and then back out before sprinting down the sideline.
"He kind of set it up and waited for the cut," Wonders head coach Ron Massey said. The run was the last of Riley's four touchdowns in the game — and his personal favorite."The sweep was pretty nice," Riley said. "The line was blocking pretty good so we could do about anything with the run game. (Fullback) Antwoine (Jordan) made a great kickout block outside so I was able to cut it up and then make a cut back outside."
Riley opened the scoring with a 75-yard sprint on Brown's second offensive play and later had touchdown runs of seven and four yards. He totaled 210 yards on 19 carries as the Wonders (8-1, 5-0) took over sole possession of first place in the SPC.
"You've got two games left and we knew we had to win this one to have an opportunity," Massey said. "Now
we've got to go to Northwest and they're going to have one loss. So we told our kids we're just starting the playoffs a little early."
Against Hickory Ridge — which came in unbeaten in the league after surprising Northwest last week — the Wonders scored on their first two possessions and maintained control throughout.Riley followed his opening score with a bruising 22-yard run on the next drive
"That's always fun to do," the junior said about running over defenders.
His 7-yard score on the next play made it 14-0. Hickory Ridge (5-4, 4-1) got on the board on a 45-yard run by Brian Baltimore midway through the second quarter, but the Wonders answered with 10 points to build a 24-6 halftime lead.A Hickory Ridge interference penalty started a 66-yard Brown drive that Riley capped with his third score of the game. In between, Jordan had a 31-yard run and quarterback Martel Campbell caught a 21-yard reverse pass from receiver Tyler Gilmore on a fourth-and-16 play.It was an identical play to one the Wonders used on a fourth-down play earlier in the season against Kings Mountain.Campbell didn't score on that one, but he would have scored on this one — except he slipped and fell at the Hickory Ridge 4. Riley strolled in on the next play.
"We knew they were giving us man coverage and they can't cover the quarterback in man coverage so we'd planned on using that this week," Massey said.
Brown's defense then delivered its standard contribution, with linebacker Desmond Gray blindsiding Hickory Ridge's passer, forcing a fumble and the Wonders recovered at the Ragin' Bulls 26.That set up a 38-yard field by Brenden Brown with 2:16 left in the half.
"I was glad to see him kick the field goal and then kick a couple deep balls in the end zone (on kickoffs)," Massey said. "I thought our special teams did a great job tonight."
The Wonders made it 31-6 on their second possession of the second half. A leaping 31-yard reception by Gilmore set up a 23-yard touchdown run by Campbell.After gaining 118 yards on his first five carries, Riley was actually slowed by Hickory Ridge's defense until the 56-yard score in the fourth quarter. He had gained just 27 yards on his previous 13 rushes.This didn't come as a surprise to Massey.
"We knew it was going to be feast or famine the way they play defense," he said. "They bring a lot of people and we knew they were going to make some plays, but we knew if we could get to the second and third level we'd have a shot."
Said Riley: "They were hitting me, that's all I know. Their defense played good and was able to make some stops. But the coaches were able to make some adjustments and we were able to make some more
plays."
Baltimore rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns for Hickory Ridge, but the Wonders completely shut dow nthe passing game, allowing just two completions for 12 yards.
"The effort was great," Massey said. "I thought the defense did a great job in the first half of controlling them a little bit and keeping them from getting multiple first downs."
Brown can clinch at least a share of another conference championship by winning at Northwest Cabarrus next week as the teams renew their rivalry after a four-season hiatus.
"It's going to be a big game," Riley said. "We've got to go out next week and beat Northwest and then beat Concord.
"We want to win state, but you've got to start by winning the conference. So that's our goal."
"He kind of set it up and waited for the cut," Wonders head coach Ron Massey said. The run was the last of Riley's four touchdowns in the game — and his personal favorite."The sweep was pretty nice," Riley said. "The line was blocking pretty good so we could do about anything with the run game. (Fullback) Antwoine (Jordan) made a great kickout block outside so I was able to cut it up and then make a cut back outside."
Riley opened the scoring with a 75-yard sprint on Brown's second offensive play and later had touchdown runs of seven and four yards. He totaled 210 yards on 19 carries as the Wonders (8-1, 5-0) took over sole possession of first place in the SPC.
"You've got two games left and we knew we had to win this one to have an opportunity," Massey said. "Now
we've got to go to Northwest and they're going to have one loss. So we told our kids we're just starting the playoffs a little early."
Against Hickory Ridge — which came in unbeaten in the league after surprising Northwest last week — the Wonders scored on their first two possessions and maintained control throughout.Riley followed his opening score with a bruising 22-yard run on the next drive
"That's always fun to do," the junior said about running over defenders.
His 7-yard score on the next play made it 14-0. Hickory Ridge (5-4, 4-1) got on the board on a 45-yard run by Brian Baltimore midway through the second quarter, but the Wonders answered with 10 points to build a 24-6 halftime lead.A Hickory Ridge interference penalty started a 66-yard Brown drive that Riley capped with his third score of the game. In between, Jordan had a 31-yard run and quarterback Martel Campbell caught a 21-yard reverse pass from receiver Tyler Gilmore on a fourth-and-16 play.It was an identical play to one the Wonders used on a fourth-down play earlier in the season against Kings Mountain.Campbell didn't score on that one, but he would have scored on this one — except he slipped and fell at the Hickory Ridge 4. Riley strolled in on the next play.
"We knew they were giving us man coverage and they can't cover the quarterback in man coverage so we'd planned on using that this week," Massey said.
Brown's defense then delivered its standard contribution, with linebacker Desmond Gray blindsiding Hickory Ridge's passer, forcing a fumble and the Wonders recovered at the Ragin' Bulls 26.That set up a 38-yard field by Brenden Brown with 2:16 left in the half.
"I was glad to see him kick the field goal and then kick a couple deep balls in the end zone (on kickoffs)," Massey said. "I thought our special teams did a great job tonight."
The Wonders made it 31-6 on their second possession of the second half. A leaping 31-yard reception by Gilmore set up a 23-yard touchdown run by Campbell.After gaining 118 yards on his first five carries, Riley was actually slowed by Hickory Ridge's defense until the 56-yard score in the fourth quarter. He had gained just 27 yards on his previous 13 rushes.This didn't come as a surprise to Massey.
"We knew it was going to be feast or famine the way they play defense," he said. "They bring a lot of people and we knew they were going to make some plays, but we knew if we could get to the second and third level we'd have a shot."
Said Riley: "They were hitting me, that's all I know. Their defense played good and was able to make some stops. But the coaches were able to make some adjustments and we were able to make some more
plays."
Baltimore rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns for Hickory Ridge, but the Wonders completely shut dow nthe passing game, allowing just two completions for 12 yards.
"The effort was great," Massey said. "I thought the defense did a great job in the first half of controlling them a little bit and keeping them from getting multiple first downs."
Brown can clinch at least a share of another conference championship by winning at Northwest Cabarrus next week as the teams renew their rivalry after a four-season hiatus.
"It's going to be a big game," Riley said. "We've got to go out next week and beat Northwest and then beat Concord.
"We want to win state, but you've got to start by winning the conference. So that's our goal."
Kannapolis-35 Northwest Cabarrus-21
KANNAPOLIS — As ugly as things were for A.L. Brown in the first half against Northwest Cabarrus, the Wonders were far from out of the game despite trailing 14-0.Coach Ron Massey stressed that to his team in the locker room.
"We told them at halftime, 'We're one play away from being in it,' " he said.
Sure enough, that one play came — and in a hurry. On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, junior star Travis Riley broke a 75-yard touchdown run, igniting a 21-point third quarter as the Wonders rallied past the Trojans 35-21 in Friday night's SPC showdown in front a large crowd at Northwest.The win gave Kannapolis (9-1, 6-0) another conference championship.
"It's a great win for us," Massey said. "I'm just proud of our kids for persevering, coming back out in the second half and just settling down and getting back to what we do best."
What the Wonders do best on offense is get the ball in Riley's hands. And in the second half against Northwest, they rode their horse to victory. Riley rushed 14 times for 193 yards and two touchdowns after halftime. He totaled 249 yards in the game, including a 55-yard score that gave Kannapolis the lead for good with 2:48 left in the third quarter.Riley called the score on which he took a pitch right, cut back through the middle and ran away from speedy Northwest defensive back Grant Keyes a "2-yard play." But he turned it into a whole lot more.
"Antwoine (Jordan) came through and made a great block to kick me out," Riley said. "I was just able to cut back and outrun the guy to the sideline. I was going to run straight but I saw (the gap) so I just cut it
back."
In between the two quick strikes, Riley gained 42 yards on a 46-yard drive which quarterback Martel Campbell capped with a 1-yard run to tie the game at 14-14. Riley was shaken up after a 15-yard rush, but returned on the Wonders' next possession. Riley staying on the bench was the only way the Trojans were going to slow him down once he got going.
"What he does well is he's patient," Northwest coach Rich Williams said. "He finds those creases. I think we held the creases pretty well in the first half and he found a few in the second half and made us pay for it."
An adjustment on offense also helped the Wonders break loose in the second half after a first half in which they gained just 82 yards and didn't record a first down until the second quarter.
"We went with a two-tight end set," Massey said. "It gave us one more gap that they had to cover defensively. They were taking away a lot of our stuff to the tight end side, but giving us that one extra gap was big for us."
Kannapolis increased the lead to 28-14 early in the fourth quarter. A 23-yard reception by Tevin Jones and a couple of Riley runs helped set up Xavier Stanback's 5-yard score. Jordan kept the drive alive by recovering a
Riley fumble on the play before the touchdown.
"Our defense shut them down, got three-and-outs and gave us the ball back in good field position and
then we were able to capitalize," Massey said.
Facing the rival Wonders for the first time in five years, Northwest (7-3, 4-2) played inspired early, and didn't go away easily. The Trojans went to their spread offense and Jeremy Cannon engineered a 12-play, 87-yard drive, capped by his third touchdown pass of the game that made it 28-21.The Wonders went three-and-out and Northwest got the ball back at its own 33 with 3:38 left. But Brown's defense got the stop to seal the game. A 4-yard sack of Cannon came between incompletions. Then a Cannon scramble on fourth-and-14 was way short.Campbell then put it away, breaking out of the pack on a routine sneak and taking it for a 26-yard touchdown.Cannon completed just 12 of 27 passes for 124 yards. The Wonders' defense also sacked the standout quarterback five times and limited him to just 5 rushing yards on 17
carries
"When he spreads the field on you, that's tough on a defense," Massey said. "But I thought we got great pressure with four rushing a lot of times and our secondary was in good position a lot of times."
Besides contending with a fired-up Northwest defense, Kannapolis also hurt itself with miscues in the first half.
Senior Mike Robinson tried to field a punt inside his own 10 early in the opening quarter, fumbled it and the Trojans recovered at the 1 and scored two plays later. When the Wonders finally started moving the ball late in the second quarter, Campbell was intercepted at the Trojans' 14 with a little over a minute left in the half.
"We probably looked like we didn't know what we were doing in the first half," Massey said. "We're still a young football team and I think we got caught up in the atmosphere."Said Riley: "We had to get over that initial shock of them coming out and hitting us in the mouth.
"We were getting pretty mad, but we were trying to keep as calm as we could in the locker room, just like a
normal game. There's two halves to a ballgame."And one play can turn it all around.n
"We told them at halftime, 'We're one play away from being in it,' " he said.
Sure enough, that one play came — and in a hurry. On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, junior star Travis Riley broke a 75-yard touchdown run, igniting a 21-point third quarter as the Wonders rallied past the Trojans 35-21 in Friday night's SPC showdown in front a large crowd at Northwest.The win gave Kannapolis (9-1, 6-0) another conference championship.
"It's a great win for us," Massey said. "I'm just proud of our kids for persevering, coming back out in the second half and just settling down and getting back to what we do best."
What the Wonders do best on offense is get the ball in Riley's hands. And in the second half against Northwest, they rode their horse to victory. Riley rushed 14 times for 193 yards and two touchdowns after halftime. He totaled 249 yards in the game, including a 55-yard score that gave Kannapolis the lead for good with 2:48 left in the third quarter.Riley called the score on which he took a pitch right, cut back through the middle and ran away from speedy Northwest defensive back Grant Keyes a "2-yard play." But he turned it into a whole lot more.
"Antwoine (Jordan) came through and made a great block to kick me out," Riley said. "I was just able to cut back and outrun the guy to the sideline. I was going to run straight but I saw (the gap) so I just cut it
back."
In between the two quick strikes, Riley gained 42 yards on a 46-yard drive which quarterback Martel Campbell capped with a 1-yard run to tie the game at 14-14. Riley was shaken up after a 15-yard rush, but returned on the Wonders' next possession. Riley staying on the bench was the only way the Trojans were going to slow him down once he got going.
"What he does well is he's patient," Northwest coach Rich Williams said. "He finds those creases. I think we held the creases pretty well in the first half and he found a few in the second half and made us pay for it."
An adjustment on offense also helped the Wonders break loose in the second half after a first half in which they gained just 82 yards and didn't record a first down until the second quarter.
"We went with a two-tight end set," Massey said. "It gave us one more gap that they had to cover defensively. They were taking away a lot of our stuff to the tight end side, but giving us that one extra gap was big for us."
Kannapolis increased the lead to 28-14 early in the fourth quarter. A 23-yard reception by Tevin Jones and a couple of Riley runs helped set up Xavier Stanback's 5-yard score. Jordan kept the drive alive by recovering a
Riley fumble on the play before the touchdown.
"Our defense shut them down, got three-and-outs and gave us the ball back in good field position and
then we were able to capitalize," Massey said.
Facing the rival Wonders for the first time in five years, Northwest (7-3, 4-2) played inspired early, and didn't go away easily. The Trojans went to their spread offense and Jeremy Cannon engineered a 12-play, 87-yard drive, capped by his third touchdown pass of the game that made it 28-21.The Wonders went three-and-out and Northwest got the ball back at its own 33 with 3:38 left. But Brown's defense got the stop to seal the game. A 4-yard sack of Cannon came between incompletions. Then a Cannon scramble on fourth-and-14 was way short.Campbell then put it away, breaking out of the pack on a routine sneak and taking it for a 26-yard touchdown.Cannon completed just 12 of 27 passes for 124 yards. The Wonders' defense also sacked the standout quarterback five times and limited him to just 5 rushing yards on 17
carries
"When he spreads the field on you, that's tough on a defense," Massey said. "But I thought we got great pressure with four rushing a lot of times and our secondary was in good position a lot of times."
Besides contending with a fired-up Northwest defense, Kannapolis also hurt itself with miscues in the first half.
Senior Mike Robinson tried to field a punt inside his own 10 early in the opening quarter, fumbled it and the Trojans recovered at the 1 and scored two plays later. When the Wonders finally started moving the ball late in the second quarter, Campbell was intercepted at the Trojans' 14 with a little over a minute left in the half.
"We probably looked like we didn't know what we were doing in the first half," Massey said. "We're still a young football team and I think we got caught up in the atmosphere."Said Riley: "We had to get over that initial shock of them coming out and hitting us in the mouth.
"We were getting pretty mad, but we were trying to keep as calm as we could in the locker room, just like a
normal game. There's two halves to a ballgame."And one play can turn it all around.n
Kannapolis-10 Concord-13
KANNAPOLIS — A.L. Brown's football team picked a bad time to play a bad game.The host Wonders lost their shot at an unblemished conference season — and a two-year hold on the coveted rivalry bell — with a 13-10 loss to Concord on Friday.
"We couldn't get any rhythm going," coach Ron Massey said after Kannapolis (9-2, 6-1 SPC) offered a well-meaning but clunky performance. "We'd make a play and they'd come back and undo it. Everybody's tried to stop our running game all year and we've been able to adapt. We just didn't do it tonight."
A standing-room-only crowd watched Concord (5-6, 5-2) blank the Wonders in the second half and close the regular season with its fifth straight win. Kannapolis rushed for 190 yards —including 116 by junior back Travis Riley — but that was more than 100 below its weekly average. And despite averaging 38.5 points per game, the Wonders were limited to a first-quarter touchdown and a second-period field goal.
"I think mentally we weren't ready for them," linebacker Desmond Gray explained. "We thought we would blow them off. This is what happens when you take someone lightly. They were the bigger men tonight."
They were. If this game had been a fish, the Wonders would be obliged to throw it back. They were three-touchdown favorites and never even held a lead.
"This wasn't supposed to happen," 255-pound right guard Tavis Bailey said in the despondent K-town locker room. "Not in my senior year. I didn't even think about losing this one. But here's what happened: we played a really bad game."
Offensively, Concord did just enough to prevail. The Spiders had only 12 first downs and 76 yards rushing. But they won the line-of-scrimmage battle and kept the Wonders chasing a carrot they never could catch.
"It was a great win against a great program," said CHS coach Glen Padgett. "I think in the second half we were able to win field position and that was a key. We contained (Riley) and our offense made a few big plays."
All the scoring came in the opening half. Concord struck first when wideout Jacquise Moore caught a 43-yard TD pass from freshman quarterback B.J. Beecher, spinning away from Kannapolis defensive back Quin Gill
and down the left sideline. It was the longest play of the game and put the Spiders ahead 7-0 late in the first quarter.
"We made too many mistakes," linebacker Terrance Johnson said. "They might have been lucky on the first
touchdown, but everybody on offense and defense could have done a better job."
The Wonders answered immediately with their most productive drive of the game. Quarterback Martel Campbell steered them 78 yards in nine plays for a game-tying touchdown. Key plays were Antwoine Jordan's 20-yard run into Concord territory and Riley's 11-yard burst to the 23. Then on fourth-and-6 from the Concord 19, Campell flipped a short pass to Tevin Jones in the left flat. Jones promptly pitched the ball to Riley, who hurdled a couple of defenders and scored on a 15-yard run.
"We have to be able to run the ball to be successful," Massey said. "We didn't do enough of it. It's not hard to figure out."
Concord regained the lead in the second quarter, aided by a shovel pass that gained 8 yards on an anticipated field goal attempt. Moments later Gray blocked a Concord punt on the 9-yard line, presenting a golden opportunity for the Wonders to take the lead just before halftime. Instead their short drive fizzled like Coca-Cola and they settled for Brenden Brown's 23-yard field goal.
"Our defense gave us a chance and we didn't get in the end zone," Massey said. "Those guys kept us in the ballgame. The defense really played well and gave us decent field position throughout the second half. We
just didn't get it done offensively."
Johnson watched intently as Concord's post-game celebration unfolded and the bell changed hands.
"Knowing we can lose may end up helping us," he said. "Now we know we can't lose again."
"We couldn't get any rhythm going," coach Ron Massey said after Kannapolis (9-2, 6-1 SPC) offered a well-meaning but clunky performance. "We'd make a play and they'd come back and undo it. Everybody's tried to stop our running game all year and we've been able to adapt. We just didn't do it tonight."
A standing-room-only crowd watched Concord (5-6, 5-2) blank the Wonders in the second half and close the regular season with its fifth straight win. Kannapolis rushed for 190 yards —including 116 by junior back Travis Riley — but that was more than 100 below its weekly average. And despite averaging 38.5 points per game, the Wonders were limited to a first-quarter touchdown and a second-period field goal.
"I think mentally we weren't ready for them," linebacker Desmond Gray explained. "We thought we would blow them off. This is what happens when you take someone lightly. They were the bigger men tonight."
They were. If this game had been a fish, the Wonders would be obliged to throw it back. They were three-touchdown favorites and never even held a lead.
"This wasn't supposed to happen," 255-pound right guard Tavis Bailey said in the despondent K-town locker room. "Not in my senior year. I didn't even think about losing this one. But here's what happened: we played a really bad game."
Offensively, Concord did just enough to prevail. The Spiders had only 12 first downs and 76 yards rushing. But they won the line-of-scrimmage battle and kept the Wonders chasing a carrot they never could catch.
"It was a great win against a great program," said CHS coach Glen Padgett. "I think in the second half we were able to win field position and that was a key. We contained (Riley) and our offense made a few big plays."
All the scoring came in the opening half. Concord struck first when wideout Jacquise Moore caught a 43-yard TD pass from freshman quarterback B.J. Beecher, spinning away from Kannapolis defensive back Quin Gill
and down the left sideline. It was the longest play of the game and put the Spiders ahead 7-0 late in the first quarter.
"We made too many mistakes," linebacker Terrance Johnson said. "They might have been lucky on the first
touchdown, but everybody on offense and defense could have done a better job."
The Wonders answered immediately with their most productive drive of the game. Quarterback Martel Campbell steered them 78 yards in nine plays for a game-tying touchdown. Key plays were Antwoine Jordan's 20-yard run into Concord territory and Riley's 11-yard burst to the 23. Then on fourth-and-6 from the Concord 19, Campell flipped a short pass to Tevin Jones in the left flat. Jones promptly pitched the ball to Riley, who hurdled a couple of defenders and scored on a 15-yard run.
"We have to be able to run the ball to be successful," Massey said. "We didn't do enough of it. It's not hard to figure out."
Concord regained the lead in the second quarter, aided by a shovel pass that gained 8 yards on an anticipated field goal attempt. Moments later Gray blocked a Concord punt on the 9-yard line, presenting a golden opportunity for the Wonders to take the lead just before halftime. Instead their short drive fizzled like Coca-Cola and they settled for Brenden Brown's 23-yard field goal.
"Our defense gave us a chance and we didn't get in the end zone," Massey said. "Those guys kept us in the ballgame. The defense really played well and gave us decent field position throughout the second half. We
just didn't get it done offensively."
Johnson watched intently as Concord's post-game celebration unfolded and the bell changed hands.
"Knowing we can lose may end up helping us," he said. "Now we know we can't lose again."
Kannapolis-30 J.M Robinson-14
KANNAPOLIS — It took the better part of three quarters and some help from special teams, but A.L. Brown's offense managed to break free from the struggles that plagued it in last week's upset loss to Concord.Boosted by a kickoff return and a fumble recovery by senior Mike Robinson, the Wonders broke open a tight game with two Travis Riley touchdown runs in the fourth quarter and pulled away to a 30-14 victory over SPC rival Jay M. Robinson Friday night in the opening round of the 3AA playoffs.
"We were rusty, not being outside (for practice) and everything, but it doesn't matter in the playoffs," Brown
head coach Ron Massey said. "It doesn't matter how pretty or ugly it is, you just win and move on."
Third-seeded Brown (10-2) did its part to set up a fifth straight postseason meeting with Charlotte Catholic. However, No. 11 Asheville Erwin knocked off No. 6 Catholic 49-28 Friday and will travel to face the Wonders in next week's second round.Regardless, Brown will likely need to take its game up a notch or two.Against 14th-seeded Robinson (5-7), the Wonders led just 3-0 at halftime and only 10-7 heading to the final quarter before Riley scored on runs of 25 and 12 yards a little more than five minutes apart.The first touchdown was set up by a momentum-turning 55-yard kickoff return by Robinson after the Bulldogs had gotten on the board and closed within three.Robinson fielded the kick at his 1, nearly stepping backward across the goal line, then burst through a hole up the middle before being tripped up by teammate's foot at the Bulldogs' 44.
"Early in the season, I about scored on like three returns, so I knew I could do it," Robinson said. "The team blocked for me and I busted through the hole. Unfortunately, I tripped over my own guy's feet, but it's all good."
Four plays later, Riley ran up the middle and shook off a tackle inside the 5 to make it 16-7 seven seconds into the fourth quarter.Both teams then went three-and-out, but Robinson running back Antonio Francis muffed Brown's punt and Robinson pounced on the loose ball at the Bulldogs' 48.
"When I saw him wave for a fair catch I screamed at him and he dropped it," Robinson said. "I jumped on it and had it in my fingertips and Dana (Moss) pushed the ball into my arms more."
Following a 14-yard run by Riley and a personal foul on the Bulldogs, Riley cut back through a hole and scored again to push the lead to 23-7 with 6:34 left. "Getting that score and then getting the turnover and turning around and scoring again, that was a good job answering back after they got back in the game," Massey said.Riley finished with 131 yards on 15 carries after a slow start. Junior varsity quarterback Damien Washington tacked on a 31-yard touchdown with 1:54 to play before Robinson closed the scoring with a touchdown pass in the final minute.
"We knew it was going to be a struggle because it's a playoff game," Brown receiver Tyler Gilmore said. "No matter who the opponent is, they're going to play hard and play four quarters. I hate being a second-half team, but that's just what we are."
Gilmore's 14-yard catch on a fourth-and-8 kept Brown's opening drive of the game going, and the 12-play march ended with a 21-yard field by Brenden Brown.After that, though, the Wonders had to rely on their defense for the rest of the half. Unlike the teams' first meeting, Robinson starting quarterback Robert Cloninger was healthy and the Bulldogs mixed his passing with the running of Francis to move the ball. But Brown's defense kept them off the scoreboard with two key stops on downs inside the Wonders' 15. That left the offense backed up, though, and it couldn't get much going and was plagued by penalties, including a flag for an illegal formation that nullified a 92-yard touchdown run by quarterback Martel Campbell.
"We were lucky to get out 3-0 at half," Massey said. "We got the field goal and then played on their side of the field it seemed like. They did a good job of making first downs and swung field position on us so we were backed up and just couldn't break one. But credit our kids. We found some holes in the second half with some formations and were able to break some plays."
The Wonders found the end zone for the first time on their opening possession of the third quarter. A 17-yard reception by Gilmore and a 14-yard run by Riley set up Campbell's 1-yard run that capped a 47-yard drive.
Campbell rushed for 51 yards and was 5 of 12 passing for 63 yards. Several of those were key completions to Gilmore, who had four catches for 58 yards.
"There was a certain play that we ran and we kept running it and kept running it and putting it down their throats, basically," Gilmore said. "They finally bit on it and then we ran another play and it was there. Just the
coverage they ran helped us a lot."
"We were rusty, not being outside (for practice) and everything, but it doesn't matter in the playoffs," Brown
head coach Ron Massey said. "It doesn't matter how pretty or ugly it is, you just win and move on."
Third-seeded Brown (10-2) did its part to set up a fifth straight postseason meeting with Charlotte Catholic. However, No. 11 Asheville Erwin knocked off No. 6 Catholic 49-28 Friday and will travel to face the Wonders in next week's second round.Regardless, Brown will likely need to take its game up a notch or two.Against 14th-seeded Robinson (5-7), the Wonders led just 3-0 at halftime and only 10-7 heading to the final quarter before Riley scored on runs of 25 and 12 yards a little more than five minutes apart.The first touchdown was set up by a momentum-turning 55-yard kickoff return by Robinson after the Bulldogs had gotten on the board and closed within three.Robinson fielded the kick at his 1, nearly stepping backward across the goal line, then burst through a hole up the middle before being tripped up by teammate's foot at the Bulldogs' 44.
"Early in the season, I about scored on like three returns, so I knew I could do it," Robinson said. "The team blocked for me and I busted through the hole. Unfortunately, I tripped over my own guy's feet, but it's all good."
Four plays later, Riley ran up the middle and shook off a tackle inside the 5 to make it 16-7 seven seconds into the fourth quarter.Both teams then went three-and-out, but Robinson running back Antonio Francis muffed Brown's punt and Robinson pounced on the loose ball at the Bulldogs' 48.
"When I saw him wave for a fair catch I screamed at him and he dropped it," Robinson said. "I jumped on it and had it in my fingertips and Dana (Moss) pushed the ball into my arms more."
Following a 14-yard run by Riley and a personal foul on the Bulldogs, Riley cut back through a hole and scored again to push the lead to 23-7 with 6:34 left. "Getting that score and then getting the turnover and turning around and scoring again, that was a good job answering back after they got back in the game," Massey said.Riley finished with 131 yards on 15 carries after a slow start. Junior varsity quarterback Damien Washington tacked on a 31-yard touchdown with 1:54 to play before Robinson closed the scoring with a touchdown pass in the final minute.
"We knew it was going to be a struggle because it's a playoff game," Brown receiver Tyler Gilmore said. "No matter who the opponent is, they're going to play hard and play four quarters. I hate being a second-half team, but that's just what we are."
Gilmore's 14-yard catch on a fourth-and-8 kept Brown's opening drive of the game going, and the 12-play march ended with a 21-yard field by Brenden Brown.After that, though, the Wonders had to rely on their defense for the rest of the half. Unlike the teams' first meeting, Robinson starting quarterback Robert Cloninger was healthy and the Bulldogs mixed his passing with the running of Francis to move the ball. But Brown's defense kept them off the scoreboard with two key stops on downs inside the Wonders' 15. That left the offense backed up, though, and it couldn't get much going and was plagued by penalties, including a flag for an illegal formation that nullified a 92-yard touchdown run by quarterback Martel Campbell.
"We were lucky to get out 3-0 at half," Massey said. "We got the field goal and then played on their side of the field it seemed like. They did a good job of making first downs and swung field position on us so we were backed up and just couldn't break one. But credit our kids. We found some holes in the second half with some formations and were able to break some plays."
The Wonders found the end zone for the first time on their opening possession of the third quarter. A 17-yard reception by Gilmore and a 14-yard run by Riley set up Campbell's 1-yard run that capped a 47-yard drive.
Campbell rushed for 51 yards and was 5 of 12 passing for 63 yards. Several of those were key completions to Gilmore, who had four catches for 58 yards.
"There was a certain play that we ran and we kept running it and kept running it and putting it down their throats, basically," Gilmore said. "They finally bit on it and then we ran another play and it was there. Just the
coverage they ran helped us a lot."
Kannapolis-45 Asheville Erwin-27
KANNAPOLIS — A.L. Brown senior lineman Tavis Bailey said the pressure was on the Wonders' offense against Erwin in Friday night's NCHSAA 3AA second-round playoff game because they knew the 11th-seeded Warriors could score.And before Erwin's quick-strike offense got going, Brown's offense put the visitors in too
big a hole to come back from.Led by a big game from quarterback Martel Campbell, third-seeded Brown jumped out to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter and maintained a double-digit advantage throughout on its way to a 45-27 win.
"We just want to keep going," Campbell said. "We're not done yet."
The Wonders (11-2) will play at home again next week against No. 7 seed South Point.Coming into the playoffs, the big question for Brown was how its offense would fare if and when standout running back Travis Riley was contained.On this night - at least - the answer was just fine.Riley had a relatively quiet 59 rushing yards on 21 carries, but Campbell and Antwoine Jordan picked up the slack, accounting for 344 total yards between them.
"We've kind of hung our hat on (Riley) running the football and it's good for us to be able to do some things like that and for other people to step up," Brown head coach Ron Massey said.
But first it was the defense that stepped up.On the game's second offensive play, Brown senior defensive lineman Dana Moss drilled Erwin running back Martese Jackson in the backfield, forcing a fumble and teammate Jaques Deese recovered at the Warriors' 17.Three plays later, Campbell threw the first of his two
touchdown passes, hitting tight end Spencer Falls in the back of the end zone for a 14-yard score.
"We just had a play-action fake and I was able to get my eyes up, the free safely bit on it and we were able get over top and get it in the end zone," Campbell said.
After an Erwin three-and-out, the Wonders got good field position at their own 46 and took six plays to get back
in the end zone. Campbell followed a 13-yard run with a 30-yard completion to Tyler Gilmore to the Erwin 3 and Riley powered in from there to make it 14-0 just over six minutes into the game.
"Martel did a good job running the offense and keeping us in some positions to do some things and hitting some big passes for us on play-action," Massey said. "And the receivers catching the ball."
On its next possession, Brown marched 71 yards and got a break along the way to add to the lead.Erwin's defense snuffed out a reverse-pass play by Gilmore, forcing an incompletion on 3rd and 8 - and likely a Wonders' punt. However, referees ruled there was an inadvertant whistle and decided to replay the down Brown capitalized on the second chance with Jordan bursting up the middle for a 36-yard gain which set up his own 2-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter for a 21-0 advantage.
"They won the (coin) toss and wanted the football so I thought they knew they were going to have to score a bunch of points," Massey said. "For us to get the stop and get the ball back real quick a couple times and be able to stick it in the end zone... it's always to good to get out like that."
Jordan's run was the first of four combined touchdowns to be scored in just over four minutes of action as the Warriors finally got into the act.Jackson, 5-foot-6, 160 pound speedster, accounted for two of those four. He started with a 41-yard run that set up a 9-yard score and later went up the middle untouched for a 75-yard touchdown.
"We don't have anybody that can run with him," Massey said of Jackson, who had 30 touchdown runs coming in, including four against Charlotte Catholic last week.
But in between Jackson's highlights, the Wonders scored again themselves. A 48-yard reception by Riley set up his 3-yard touchdown, allowing Brown to take a 28-13 lead into halftime.
"When they scored, we came back and answered," Massey said. "That was good on the offense's part.
Especially not after taking the second-half kickoff and going 65 yards on five plays to make it 35-13. Riley got his second touchdown of the game on a 40-yard reception, shugging off a pair of Erwin defenders just after the catch halfway there.Though he was held down in the run game, Riley caught three passes for 94 yards.
Jackson returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for his third touchdown, but the Wonders' defense contained the speedster after that. He finished with 122 rushing yards, but 116 of that came on two plays in the first half. Brendan Brown's 29-yard field goal with 8:25 left in the fourth quarter pushed Brown's lead to 38-20 and afte Erwin scored on its next drive, the Warriors touched their onside kick before the ball went 10 yards and the Wonders took over.Jordan's 17-yard run with nine seconds left capped the scoring. He finished with 109 yards on 17 carries.Campbell rushed 12 times for 94 yards, while completing 6 of 9 passes for 141 yards.
"We had a lot of confidence in our passing game this week," Campbell said. "We had a great week of practice and we came out here and it showed."Said Bailey: "It feels so great. As a senior, you just want to keep it going and make it all the way."
big a hole to come back from.Led by a big game from quarterback Martel Campbell, third-seeded Brown jumped out to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter and maintained a double-digit advantage throughout on its way to a 45-27 win.
"We just want to keep going," Campbell said. "We're not done yet."
The Wonders (11-2) will play at home again next week against No. 7 seed South Point.Coming into the playoffs, the big question for Brown was how its offense would fare if and when standout running back Travis Riley was contained.On this night - at least - the answer was just fine.Riley had a relatively quiet 59 rushing yards on 21 carries, but Campbell and Antwoine Jordan picked up the slack, accounting for 344 total yards between them.
"We've kind of hung our hat on (Riley) running the football and it's good for us to be able to do some things like that and for other people to step up," Brown head coach Ron Massey said.
But first it was the defense that stepped up.On the game's second offensive play, Brown senior defensive lineman Dana Moss drilled Erwin running back Martese Jackson in the backfield, forcing a fumble and teammate Jaques Deese recovered at the Warriors' 17.Three plays later, Campbell threw the first of his two
touchdown passes, hitting tight end Spencer Falls in the back of the end zone for a 14-yard score.
"We just had a play-action fake and I was able to get my eyes up, the free safely bit on it and we were able get over top and get it in the end zone," Campbell said.
After an Erwin three-and-out, the Wonders got good field position at their own 46 and took six plays to get back
in the end zone. Campbell followed a 13-yard run with a 30-yard completion to Tyler Gilmore to the Erwin 3 and Riley powered in from there to make it 14-0 just over six minutes into the game.
"Martel did a good job running the offense and keeping us in some positions to do some things and hitting some big passes for us on play-action," Massey said. "And the receivers catching the ball."
On its next possession, Brown marched 71 yards and got a break along the way to add to the lead.Erwin's defense snuffed out a reverse-pass play by Gilmore, forcing an incompletion on 3rd and 8 - and likely a Wonders' punt. However, referees ruled there was an inadvertant whistle and decided to replay the down Brown capitalized on the second chance with Jordan bursting up the middle for a 36-yard gain which set up his own 2-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter for a 21-0 advantage.
"They won the (coin) toss and wanted the football so I thought they knew they were going to have to score a bunch of points," Massey said. "For us to get the stop and get the ball back real quick a couple times and be able to stick it in the end zone... it's always to good to get out like that."
Jordan's run was the first of four combined touchdowns to be scored in just over four minutes of action as the Warriors finally got into the act.Jackson, 5-foot-6, 160 pound speedster, accounted for two of those four. He started with a 41-yard run that set up a 9-yard score and later went up the middle untouched for a 75-yard touchdown.
"We don't have anybody that can run with him," Massey said of Jackson, who had 30 touchdown runs coming in, including four against Charlotte Catholic last week.
But in between Jackson's highlights, the Wonders scored again themselves. A 48-yard reception by Riley set up his 3-yard touchdown, allowing Brown to take a 28-13 lead into halftime.
"When they scored, we came back and answered," Massey said. "That was good on the offense's part.
Especially not after taking the second-half kickoff and going 65 yards on five plays to make it 35-13. Riley got his second touchdown of the game on a 40-yard reception, shugging off a pair of Erwin defenders just after the catch halfway there.Though he was held down in the run game, Riley caught three passes for 94 yards.
Jackson returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for his third touchdown, but the Wonders' defense contained the speedster after that. He finished with 122 rushing yards, but 116 of that came on two plays in the first half. Brendan Brown's 29-yard field goal with 8:25 left in the fourth quarter pushed Brown's lead to 38-20 and afte Erwin scored on its next drive, the Warriors touched their onside kick before the ball went 10 yards and the Wonders took over.Jordan's 17-yard run with nine seconds left capped the scoring. He finished with 109 yards on 17 carries.Campbell rushed 12 times for 94 yards, while completing 6 of 9 passes for 141 yards.
"We had a lot of confidence in our passing game this week," Campbell said. "We had a great week of practice and we came out here and it showed."Said Bailey: "It feels so great. As a senior, you just want to keep it going and make it all the way."
Kannapolis-7 South Point-24
KANNAPOLIS — There is certainly no guarantee that A.L. Brown would have beaten South Point Friday night with standout running back Travis Riley available.But what Riley's absence did assure was that the Wonders'
margin for error in the 3AA quarterfinal game was dramatically reduced.And while they didn't make a ton of mistakes, they made enough against a good opponent to result in a season-ending 24-7 loss.
Third-seeded Brown spotted No. 7 South Point a quick touchdown and lost out a crucial swing early in the third quarter to end the season at 11-3. Riley was held out of the game after sustaining a hard hit late in
last week's win over Asheville Erwin.
"It puts a damper on it when you don't have your best running back," Brown head coach Ron Massey said.
"He got dinged up a little bit last week and we just felt like health-wise we didn't want to take a chance. That's no excuse.
"I thought the kids stepped in there and did a good job. We found some things early but when you get behind
against them, it makes it tough."
Sophomore Xavier Stanback filled in admirably for Riley, rushing for a team-high 73 yards and scoring the Wonders' lone touchdown on a reception. But it wasn't enough.
"It's heartbreaking that we lost," Stanback said. "Once you give it your all over the summer, it's just heartbreaking."
The Wonders lost a fumble on the second play from scrimmage that set up a South Point touchdown, but it was a sequence in the third quarter that essentially decided the game. Trailing 14-7, Brown a chance to even it up after a diving interception by sophomore Kaleel Hollis on the third play of the third quarter.Taking over at the South Point 42, Stanback rushed three times in four plays for 30 yards, setting up first-and-goal at the 7. Fullback Antwoine Jordan gained four yards, but then was stuffed on second down and Martel Campbell was sacked for a 9-yard loss. Brenden Brown's 29-yard field goal attempt sailed wide and the Wonders got nothing out of the turnover.
"We come back in the second half and get the turnover we wanted and just couldn't stick it in," Massey said. "A lot of that is on me."
South Point then made the situation worse by marching 80 yards on six plays to open up a two-touchdown lead with 4:51 left in the third quarter. Fullback Aaron Crumbley scored on a 1-yard run that was set up by a 50-yard scamper by wingback Scott McWhirter.
"When we got the turnover and didn't get the score, I think it deflated us. They made the big play coming
back down and sticking it in and against them when you get down by two scores halfway through the third quarter you're in trouble because you're not going to touch the ball much after that," Massey said.
Said South Point head coach John Devine of his team's defensive stop and ensuing score: "Those three plays
back-to-back were really the difference in the game."
The Red Raiders added a 27-yard field goal on their next drive to make it 24-7 and the Wonders threatened just once after that, moving to the South Point 13 early in the fourth before being stopped on downs.
"They're a very good football team," Massey said. "I thought their defensive line was probably more physical
tonight with their pressure on the pass. We just couldn't make plays when we had to make them."
The Wonders didn't help themselves at all with their start. After a false start penalty on the first play from scrimmage, Wonders quarterback Martel Campbell fumbled the snap on the next play and South
Point recovered. Quarterback Josh Justice ran untouched for a 17-yard
touchdown on the Red Raiders' first snap.
"We jumped offsides on the first play, then fumble and just put our defense in a hole," Massey said. "After that I thought they played great. They just made some plays on offense."
Brown tied it up midway through the second quarter on a 10-play, 60-yard drive. Stanback kept it alive with a 3-yard run on fourth down, then ran for 17 yards before an 18-yard touchdown catch over the middle. He held
to the ball despite a hard hit right after the catch just over the goal line.
"Martel put it in the right place at the right time and I just made a big play for my team," Stanback said.
South Point, though, responded with a methodical 84-yard drive to regain the lead. Justice completed only three passes in the entire game, but all three came on the go-ahead drive, which was also aided by a 15-yard facemask penalty.
"I thought we started shutting the run down a little bit and they went to the air," Massey said. "We put our
DBs on an island. We had to play man coverage and their receivers made the catches and the quarterback made the throws."
McWhirter scored the touchdown on a 9-yard run with 39 seconds left in the first half.While Brown's defense did a pretty good job of slowing Crumbley (16 rushes for 76 yards) and Justice (20 rushes for 58 yards) inside, it struggled to contain McWhirter and fellow wingback Ramon Costner outside. The duo combined for 132 of
the team's 266 rushing yards.
"We said the wingbacks are going to have to beat us and they made some big plays," Massey said. "They pitched it three times in the three films we'd seen and they pitched it more tonight than they pitched it all year. Give them credit for making that adjustment."
Devine said his offense didn't operate much differently than it had all season.
"We do all three phases — fullback, quarterback, pitch, and we let you pick your poison," said Devine, whose team will host 12th-seeded Anson County in the state semifinals next week. "We'll just take what you give us and that's all we can do. We're not hard-headed."
Meanwhile, the Wonders, who averaged nearly 300 rushing yards per game, were held to just 93 without their leader. Jordan had just 27 yards on 12 carries. Campbell, under heavy pressure much of the second half, completed 10 of 20 passes for 109 yards.
"I'm proud of the kids," Massey said. "When you get to this point it's tough to lose, but I think these kids will look back and appreciate what they accomplished in getting this
far."
margin for error in the 3AA quarterfinal game was dramatically reduced.And while they didn't make a ton of mistakes, they made enough against a good opponent to result in a season-ending 24-7 loss.
Third-seeded Brown spotted No. 7 South Point a quick touchdown and lost out a crucial swing early in the third quarter to end the season at 11-3. Riley was held out of the game after sustaining a hard hit late in
last week's win over Asheville Erwin.
"It puts a damper on it when you don't have your best running back," Brown head coach Ron Massey said.
"He got dinged up a little bit last week and we just felt like health-wise we didn't want to take a chance. That's no excuse.
"I thought the kids stepped in there and did a good job. We found some things early but when you get behind
against them, it makes it tough."
Sophomore Xavier Stanback filled in admirably for Riley, rushing for a team-high 73 yards and scoring the Wonders' lone touchdown on a reception. But it wasn't enough.
"It's heartbreaking that we lost," Stanback said. "Once you give it your all over the summer, it's just heartbreaking."
The Wonders lost a fumble on the second play from scrimmage that set up a South Point touchdown, but it was a sequence in the third quarter that essentially decided the game. Trailing 14-7, Brown a chance to even it up after a diving interception by sophomore Kaleel Hollis on the third play of the third quarter.Taking over at the South Point 42, Stanback rushed three times in four plays for 30 yards, setting up first-and-goal at the 7. Fullback Antwoine Jordan gained four yards, but then was stuffed on second down and Martel Campbell was sacked for a 9-yard loss. Brenden Brown's 29-yard field goal attempt sailed wide and the Wonders got nothing out of the turnover.
"We come back in the second half and get the turnover we wanted and just couldn't stick it in," Massey said. "A lot of that is on me."
South Point then made the situation worse by marching 80 yards on six plays to open up a two-touchdown lead with 4:51 left in the third quarter. Fullback Aaron Crumbley scored on a 1-yard run that was set up by a 50-yard scamper by wingback Scott McWhirter.
"When we got the turnover and didn't get the score, I think it deflated us. They made the big play coming
back down and sticking it in and against them when you get down by two scores halfway through the third quarter you're in trouble because you're not going to touch the ball much after that," Massey said.
Said South Point head coach John Devine of his team's defensive stop and ensuing score: "Those three plays
back-to-back were really the difference in the game."
The Red Raiders added a 27-yard field goal on their next drive to make it 24-7 and the Wonders threatened just once after that, moving to the South Point 13 early in the fourth before being stopped on downs.
"They're a very good football team," Massey said. "I thought their defensive line was probably more physical
tonight with their pressure on the pass. We just couldn't make plays when we had to make them."
The Wonders didn't help themselves at all with their start. After a false start penalty on the first play from scrimmage, Wonders quarterback Martel Campbell fumbled the snap on the next play and South
Point recovered. Quarterback Josh Justice ran untouched for a 17-yard
touchdown on the Red Raiders' first snap.
"We jumped offsides on the first play, then fumble and just put our defense in a hole," Massey said. "After that I thought they played great. They just made some plays on offense."
Brown tied it up midway through the second quarter on a 10-play, 60-yard drive. Stanback kept it alive with a 3-yard run on fourth down, then ran for 17 yards before an 18-yard touchdown catch over the middle. He held
to the ball despite a hard hit right after the catch just over the goal line.
"Martel put it in the right place at the right time and I just made a big play for my team," Stanback said.
South Point, though, responded with a methodical 84-yard drive to regain the lead. Justice completed only three passes in the entire game, but all three came on the go-ahead drive, which was also aided by a 15-yard facemask penalty.
"I thought we started shutting the run down a little bit and they went to the air," Massey said. "We put our
DBs on an island. We had to play man coverage and their receivers made the catches and the quarterback made the throws."
McWhirter scored the touchdown on a 9-yard run with 39 seconds left in the first half.While Brown's defense did a pretty good job of slowing Crumbley (16 rushes for 76 yards) and Justice (20 rushes for 58 yards) inside, it struggled to contain McWhirter and fellow wingback Ramon Costner outside. The duo combined for 132 of
the team's 266 rushing yards.
"We said the wingbacks are going to have to beat us and they made some big plays," Massey said. "They pitched it three times in the three films we'd seen and they pitched it more tonight than they pitched it all year. Give them credit for making that adjustment."
Devine said his offense didn't operate much differently than it had all season.
"We do all three phases — fullback, quarterback, pitch, and we let you pick your poison," said Devine, whose team will host 12th-seeded Anson County in the state semifinals next week. "We'll just take what you give us and that's all we can do. We're not hard-headed."
Meanwhile, the Wonders, who averaged nearly 300 rushing yards per game, were held to just 93 without their leader. Jordan had just 27 yards on 12 carries. Campbell, under heavy pressure much of the second half, completed 10 of 20 passes for 109 yards.
"I'm proud of the kids," Massey said. "When you get to this point it's tough to lose, but I think these kids will look back and appreciate what they accomplished in getting this
far."