Getting Paranoid

The Rocky Mount Gryphons have gone on the road  and for the second year in a row I'm back in Rocky Mount doing basketball at Wesleyan.  Once again this year the Gryphons having little trouble without me in the stands coaching  pounding the Storm of Southern Guilford 49-20.

The Gryphons kickoff was a pooch kick fumbled by the storm and recovered by the Gryphons at their 20. Charlie Williams takes it in from 8 yards out and three minutes in the game the Gryphons lead 7-0. Late in the first quarter Gryphon wide receiver Rajah McGowen took a hit and laid motionless on the field for several minutes.  His father Dominic Henderson reported to me he was taken to the hospital for a possible concussion but he passed all the test and they were waiting to be released from the hospital as I write this  at 11pm.

Now numb the Gryphons allow a blocked punt at the 20 and SG  scored in several plays and tied the score at 7 with two minutes to go in first quarter.  You may have read Last week that Coach Jason Battle said several players would now go both ways to put best possible players on the field.  Artavious Richardson the defensive end played tight end tonight and caught a pass fumbled the ball and picked up by DeAngelo Collins to scooted for a touchdown.

The next drive the Storm quarterback breaks free and goes 77 yards but the extra point is missed and it is now 14-13.  The kickoff after a penalty the Gryphons start from their own five and they take control of this game.  Carrying the ball on his first carry of the night Sherrod Greene goes 68 to up the Gryphon lead to 21-13 and he scored again with a minute left in the half from five yards out to get it to 28-13.

Receiving the second half kickoff the Gryphons ram it down the storm's throat with a 70 yard all running plays capped off by a B J Sanders 1 yard dive that took six minutes off the clock.  Southern Guilford had to commit 11 men on the line to stop the Gryphon runners Shabious Lynch found K K Edwards 20 yards in the clear on a 50 yard td toss and the lead is 42-13 with 10 minutes left.

The Clock down to eight minutes Charlie Williams broke free to cap off a 49 point night for the Gryphons.  The 2nd team D gave up a td pass on the last play of the game to make the final 49-20

The Eastern Finals will be played in Havelock a 24-7 winner over West Craven.  The Gryphons caught a break last year after the Rams lost and the Gryphons avoided a trip to Cherry Point.  The state  Championship goes through Havelock this year.

Tarboro advances beating East Carteret 13-7.  The Vikings stopped the Mariners after they had a first and five late in the game.  Their Eastern Finals goes to Wallace Rose Hill.

North Edgecombe wasn't as lucky losing at Plymouth 21-8.

Roger Taylor Invitational Tonight

High school football playoffs have been the main focus for nearly three weeks now and very little attention has been made to high school or Wesleyan Basketball.  Tonight and Saturday afternoon the Battling Bishops of North Carolina Wesleyan will host the Roger Taylor Invitational named after former Wesleyan basketball star and Rocky Mount Business man Roger Taylor and a great supporter of NC Wesleyan Sports..

The tip off tonight at 6pm will feature Shenandoah University 4-1 facing Greensboro Pride 2-1.  The Battling Bishops will host Bob Jones University 2-7 in the night cap.  The Bishops 3-3 will then flip flop on Saturday afternoon at 3pm and take on Shenandoah while the 1pm game will be Bob Jones and Greensboro.

The Bishops squad this season does not have a senior on the team and only two juniors.  There is no true point guard but Adrian Moore from Plymouth a true small forward/ shooting guard has taken the role and leads the team in scoring.

If four men's basketball games is not enough on Friday and Saturday afternoon you can catch the Lady Bishops 4-2 at 7:30 Saturday night hosting Lynchburg.  The Lady Bishops are led by a trio of scorers in Alexis  Fitzgerald 13.7, Keshae Parker 12.9 and former Nash Central player Timyra Staton 12.7.

No longer do we have college football games but there is the championship game in the ACC in Orlando.  You know the game was suppose to be in Charlotte but moved.  I personally hope only 20,000 show up and the ACC loses it's butt by moving the game but they could not have any better traveling teams than Virginia Tech and Clemson.

This is a truly a great matchup.  I am not sure Clemson is a top four team and deserve to be in final four.  A victory over Tech will not hurt their rating  but a loss kicks them into a bowl game.  The Tigers will not push Tech around.  It would not shock me if Tech wins.  Where would Clemson go then in Bowl Games?

Just not sure Tech can stop the Tigers enough or even score enough.  Clemson wins the ACC 33 Virginia Tech 23.