Raining Inside And Out

Just maybe the rout of Rose last week lingered in the minds of the 2013/2014 Rocky Mount Gryphons but South Central brought in a talented group of guards who had no other choice but to shoot outside shots because the Gryphon  big men owned the inside.  The Falcons made nine three pointers on the night and each one seemed to keep Rocky Mount at bay until the about the two minute mark of the third quarter.  Isaiah Alston found his three form and rained down seven over the next six minutes scoring 29 on the night as the Gryphons survive South Central 76-74.

Rocky Mount dominated the backboards winning  that phase 40-22.  Immanuel King lead the way hauling down 18 boards and he added 17 points for good measure. Donte Battle added nine rebounds and 18 points.

Rocky Mount trailed 19-16 after the first quarter.  38-27 at the half and before they finally got their engines running trailed 42-27 early in the third quarter but cut the lead to 56-51 after three.  The Gryphons lead by three, three different times down the stretch but could never get out go the clutches of the Falcons.  Jermaine Wilis who had four threes finished with 21 points and Tyree Suggs had four threes himself also  tossing in 21

The Lady Gryphons won their first game of the year beating South Central 47-41.  The Lady Gryphons were coasting along having lead the entire game and were leading 34-29 after Carmen Richardson scored eight straight points but she tumbled to the floor clutching her knee with about 1:49 to play in the 3rd quarter.  From that point on the Lady Gryphons would make only one basket by freshman Michelle Gainey.  It wasn't because they were not shooting nothing was going in.  Rocky Mount made 11 free throws.  The good news Richardson returned to the game   to help solidify that Pam Gainey defense that put the clamps on the Falcons down the stretch

Carmen Richardson lead the Gryphons with 19 T T Thomas added 11. South Central won the rebounding  38-32 but the Lady Gryphons cut the total in half in the fourth quarter getting rebound and putting the ball by up but missed every one.  Tamara Harper yanked down 9 rebounds for Rocky Mount.  The Gryphons caused 24 turnovers while giving the ball away only  13 times.

Northern Nash girls stay undefeated beating Conly while the Northern boys lost by six.

N C State The NFL Quarterback Factory

The Wolfpack has three starting quarterbacks starting the NFL.  Mike Glennon  was rumored going to be the starting quarterback during summer camp butTampa decided to sit the rookie and made a mid season switch.  The first couple of games he looked the part of a rookie but now the last three weeks has played the part of a cagey veteran in leading  Tampa to three straight wins and during this win streak has five touchdowns and only one pick. His quarterback rating has been over 110 during the streak which puts his rating at 91for the year.

Russell Wilson  in his second NFL season just might be the best of all those quarterbacks from the so called super class in 2012.  Yes the run and gun quarterbacks were suppose to change the NFL but all of those running quarterbacks have found out the NFL has coaches that can look at film and come up with a plan to stop quarterbacks that can't be accurate throwing.  Russell Wilson doesn't fit that mold.
First of all he only runs out of desperation not part of the huddle call.  Most of all he is an accurate thrower in the pocket or while rolling out out.  His QB rating is 105 and the NFL standard these days is any QB over 100 is classified down right great.

Then there is Philip Rivers who went over 30,000 yards last week in his 10 year career.  There is no doubt if he played in New York where he was drafted he would be considered just may be top five quarterbacks of all time.  But he plays for San Diego who always some how pulls bonehead plays like intercepting a pass that beats Tom Brady in 2005 playoffs  while returning the ball fumble it and Brady is setup to runout the clock and watch the winning field goal.  Just maybe Archie Manning knew what he was talking about when he wouldn't let Eli play there.

Rivers has won 60 per cent of his games for a team that many times he has to score 41 to win.  His one chance when San Diego was the best team  he has surgery on his knee the  Monday before the AFC championship game  just  to hold his knee together.  Between being the toughest he is the one of the most accurate in the history of the NFL.  He is 4th in passing yardage this year but  there are 10 quarterbacks have attempted more passes than he has. Just this pass Sunday brought his team back three times in the fourth quarter to win in KC to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.  His QB rating on the season is 106 and his 95.7 is sixth best in NFL history

Ok Wolfpack fans this year has  been a stinker.  The football season ends Saturday for theWolfpack but we can all turn our attention to our three Wolfpackers quarterbacking  in the NFL  Just might have one in the Super Bowl.