Power Football

If the Super Bowl was held next Sunday, the two teams playing for the title would be the Tennessee Titans and the New York FOOTBALL Giants.

There are 11 weeks to go in the NFL regular season. Let's wait and see if either even makes it to the league championship.

What do they both have in common? A running game! DEFENSE!!!!

Despite all the West Coast offenses and other so-called sophisticated schemes, the teams that win week after week are the running teams.

Even with the running game that New England had last year, it relied too much on the pass and when it needed a running game, they kept passing. In the end, scoring quickly on offense and putting your defense right back in the game is not good come the fourth quarter.

The Rocky Mount Gryphons have speed, but Thursday night when the game was tight in the second half, they relied on power football to get the advantage in the game.

High school football is spattered with teams that try to spread teams all over the field. Year after year, the teams that go deep into the playoffs ram it down your throat running the football.

The teams that have had the best success on the Gryphons have been the teams that had a quarterback that was hard to bring down.

Western Alamance comes to mind for some reason.

Americus Williams from Northern Vance was that way last Thursday night. Do you realize we shut them out in the second half and they crossed the 50- yard line only once in the second half?

Friday night is the first night of conference football. The Gryphon Nation needs to be in the house as the baseball team will be receiving its state championship rings. ECU freshman Jacobi Jenkins will also receive one for winning the 3-A 110 hurdles state title.

Five players on the football team will be among those sporting new hardware: Collins Cuthrell, Brian Goodwin, Chris Pittman, Nick Hahula and Carter Varnell. From what I hear, all members of last year's team will be at the RMAC, even the five that have moved on to college.

Wes Bradshaw, our very own play-by-play man, who during the spring is the PA voice of Gryphon baseball, will be the master of ceremonies. We will bring the event to you live on AM 1390 as it happens.

There is no better way to celebrate a Gryphon crowning achievement than to do it in front of the Northern Nash faithful.

By the way, let me get on the Northern crowd for just a minute.

Now that the schedule has changed and RM-NN are playing the first game in the conference rotation instead of the last and Northern is on a one-game winning streak, there is no reason not to attend this game. If you remember the last time these two met in Rocky Mount ,at least the Knights' cheerleaders show up because no one else did for Northern.

T-MINUS five days and counting until The Game!