Slugfest

The opening night of NEW 6 Conference football has come and gone and the Gryphons did what they were suppose to do.

The boys in blue and gold were 40-point favorites and they covered the spread with a 49-0 chewing up of Northern Nash.

Every weekend ,Charles Alston looks at the game film and double checks the stats to make sure he gave the right carry to the right number and tackles to the correct player.

Unless he has made a major miss in the press box, the Knights of Northern Nash do not have as many yards in the total stats for the season than when they started tonight.

The "D" Block held Northern running game to five yards. Where the "D" really laid it on Northern was every time it went back to pass, it was losing yards. In high school stats ,until the quarterback let's go of the ball ,regardless on his intent to throw the ball, it is counted as a rushing attempt.

As if five yards wasn't bad enough, when Northern did get a chance to try a pass, it failed to find a white shirt to catch it and for the night zero yards passing.

I am thinking back from memory, but the Gryphons only had the ball nine times tonight and scored seven times.

Twice, we started on our side of the 50-yard line and scored both times. We never punted all night. In fact, twice when we failed to score we went for it on a fourth and ten on their side of the field and put it in the hands of the defense to keep them on their side of the 50 and they did.

Northern started on our side twice and once gave it up on its own 32. The other time it failed on a fourth down play.

In the past, this has been a great rivalry ,but tonight it was a pushing and shoving match which distracted greatly from the game. I remember at least six unsportsman ike conduct penalties call on both sides.

I think there should be a rule instead of calling it an off-setting penalty the players involved get in the penalty box like hockey and think about what a stupid thing you have just done for 10 minutes.

You know, if a player gets tossed out of a game, he cannot play the next week. But if they sit in the penalty box as long as they never get tossed out let them play next week.

Everyone that attended the game got to see a very special halftime with the baseball team and track star Jacobi Jenkins receiving rings for their championships in the spring.

WHIG-TV was there and as its game of the week can be see it Saturday at 9.30 am and after the Stretchlon Sports Show Sunday night at around 10 p.m.

By the way, the Stretchlon Sports Show Sunday featuresthe Rocky Mount soccer match against Southern Nash in which was the first soccer game that I actually did the play-by-play

I vote that the Gryphons wear the gold jerseys for every game for the rest of the season.

In the two games since the gold jerseys were unveiled, the Gryphons have won two games and out scored their competition 112-6.

No one has found any points on Rocky Mount all year in the first quarter and the Gryphons have out scored everyone 121-0 in the first quarter.

Collins Cuthrell was 8-for-14 passing and he missed on a 60- yard pass that he let go from our 43-yard line and was over thrown in the end zone. The ball was actually in the air 60 yards in the wind. His other two misses were dropped by our receiver right in their numbers and hands.

Since tonight was the first night of conference action, here is what happened elsewhere.

Nash Central beat Southern Nash 24-13 at the Dawg Pound. Nash Central has not lost on the field since its opening game with Tarboro.

In the game that had all eyes looking toward Pinetops, Southwest Edgecombe scored with 23 seconds to play and beat Wilson Fike 21-14.

Next Friday nigh,t the Gryphons travel to SouthWest in what some may find to be a ultra big football game.

I will close with this fact.... since the NEW 6 conference began play, working on four years now, the Gryphons are are 14-2 in conference play. One of those two losses happened at SouthWest two years ago.