Rainy Night in Nash County

One of the weaknesses of this year's Gryphon team coming into the season was backup play on the offensive line.

Tonight, with two starters on the sidelines, the Gryphons failed to run the ball in the first half getting only 18 yards on 16 running plays

BUT...

One the strengths this year has been the ability to pass the ball and despite not being able to run the ball in the first half, the Gryphons found the end zone twice by way of air mail.

Keith Strickland had over 100 yards receiving in the first half and caught two bombs from Collins Cuthrell. Strickland's touchdown catches were for 50 yards and 68 yards.

The defense gave up a score tonight, but only surrendered their average on the year: seven points.

You know two years ago when we played SWE on a Monday night and followed that with a trip to Southern Nash, we lost two games. Not this year as the Gryphons have taken solid control of the NEW 6 with a 3-0 conference mark.

We have now played nine games and the nicks and bruises are appearing and yet, the Gryphons took care of business 24-7 over the Firebirds.

Early Friday afternoon came and we heard that SouthWest had already postponed its game due to the expected rain.

I wish they would wait until it least started raining before calling a game. Later in the afternoon, the Fike-Northern Nash game became a casualty of the forecast.

It started raining at Southern right at the kickoff, but several people who were without umbrellas stood in the rain the whole game and were no worst for wear after the game.

Looking at the state doubles tennis tournament in Burlington today.

In the morning session in Burlington, the sister team of Kate and Caroline Gray won their match 7-6, 6-2 over a team from Burlington Williams and the duo of Lindsey Thomas and Addie Keeter moved on to the semifinals with a 6-0, 6-2 win.

The afternoon session brought an end to the tennis season as both teams were beaten. The Gray sisters lost their match in a hard fought affair 7-5, 6-4, while the Thomas/Keeter team were eliminated 6-1, 6-0.

Whenever you lose in the playoffs, that sudden end makes you walk off the field with a feeling that you did something wrong, but whenever you make it to the semifinals in any sport you have had a great season.

Congratulations to Kate, Caroline, Lindsey and Addie for a job well done.

Rebound from Victory?

Last year, we had seven home games and of those seven, three were conference games.

This year, we are only going to have five home games and we catch the three road games in conference.

All three road conference games are in a row and the second of the three is Friday night at Southern Nash

A lot of people think the Gryphons did not play well Monday night. In some areas, we didn't, but one area where we did was on defense.

Yes, SWE dominated the clock, but in the end, the idea of the game is to outscore the other side which the Gryphons did.

You must also give some credit to the Cougarst. They are pretty good. A lot of the reason why we didn't do what we normally do was because of them.

It took a lot to win Monday night. Even though we won, how much energy did it take from us to win?

Can we rebound and have what it takes Friday night to get the job done?

You know if Southern were to win, it would be tied for first place. So they have plenty of reason to try to beat us twice in a row at Southern Nash.

The regular season ends two weeks from Friday night, so we are so close to the end to have a slip up now.

Speaking of rebounding, the JV Gryphons got back on the winning track tonight beating the Firebirds 26-13.

The news is not good in the NEW 6 Soccer tournament finals, however, as Northern Nash got a penalty kick with 10 minutes left and beat the Gryphons 1-0.

State playoffs begin next week for soccer.

Friday morning, the Gryphon doubles teams start the state championships in Burlington. We will pass along the results when blogging after the game.

It was rather chilly tonight at the JV game, so if you are not brave enough to make the trip to Southern, we start our Gryphon propaganda at 7 p.m. on AM 1390.

You know the Gryphons are still alive looking for the No. 1 seeding in the football playoffs. But unless they finish without a loss in conference play, they won't get a chance at the top seeding.

I wonder whether we will wear gold jerseys tomorrow?

We are 3-0 in the gold and have scored 119 points while allowing just six. Remember the six that came on a fumble that was picked up by Southern Wayne. And they scored it on second team offense, so the first team defense has not been scored on while in gold.

MId-Week Already

I don't know how many of you have heard the commercial on ESPN radio about switching Mondays to make it part of the weekend, and making Thursday the last workday of the week.

After playing on Monday night, I felt like Tuesday was Saturday and it is already Wednesday. Where has this week gone?????

One of those games that I didn't think they would win, but they did. Hooray for the boys soccer team as they knocked off Fike in the semifinals of the NEW 6 tournament at Fike.

Having just lost at Fike last week and being the No. 2 seed meeting the No. 3 seed on its home field seemed daunting. But the Gryphons pulled it off on penalty shots.

I'm glad we won, but penalty shots in high school is a tough way to lose. I think they should just play an overtime period until one team scores.

I got my days wrong on the tournament finals. They are Thursday night instead of tonight and the Gryphons will play Northern Nash for the title.

Unfortunately, I will be on the PA at the JV football game and will not be doing TV.

You can about tell the quality of your league by how well conference members do in the first round of the playoffs.

In volleyball in the first round, the NEW 6 was 1-3. That left the Lady Gryphons to shoulder the burden for the conference.

In round two, they played host to South Central and the coaching career of Debbie Webb has ended for the Gryphons.

In 21 years as the Gryphons' coach, Webb won 304 games and loss just 140. Seventeen of those 21 years were when we were members of the Big East 4-A, and that works out to 15 wins a year and just nine losses.

Webb will leave some very large shoes to fill. Good luck with the grand kids, Debbie and Bert!

Getting back to how well the conference is doing, we turn to tennis where the girls tennis team won their round two match.

Kate Gray, Addie Keeter, Caroline Gray, Lindsey Thomas and Caroline Nelson won their singles matches over Southern Alamance.

Now it's on to the third round at NEW 6 foe Fike Tuesday. Fike won both matches during the regular season. Both matches were nail biters, despite their 7-2 and 6-3 scores.

Turning to football, we have over the last couple of games started a tendency of getting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

On Monday night, one flag was thrown 15 yards from the nearest Gryphon, so you know somebody's mouth was working overtime. Then we had one on what would have been a fourth-and-inches on our sideline, and we had to punt instead of going for it on fourth down.

Those type penalties will beat you somewhere down the road. We were part of six or seven of them against Northern Nash.

That trend has to stop!

Did everyone notice that every coaching staff in the conference, as well as other schools, were there to watch and scout Monday night? They all got an eye full of both teams.

The JVs will try to start on a new winning streak tomorrow night against Southern Nash.

Focus Forward

Two years ago after the Monday night defeat to Southwest Edgecombe the Gryphons didn't recover and lost at Southern Nash in overtime the following Friday.

Recovering from an all out effort to win and being able to get ready in four short days until the next game. Different circimstance but the same problem. Being ready this Friday Night.

Two years ago we went to Southern Nash and lost. SWE finds themselves having to get back on track but they get a home game Friday against Nash Central.

The schedule has favored the Cougars as they have played Fike, Rocky Mount and will play Nash Central all at home this year.

The Gryphons must take advantage of the start they have had in conference play any stumble would do away with the fine effort Monday night.

My Job I cannot go onto my computer and access any sports because it has been filter out of my computer. So in order to catch up on anything related to sports I have to do it once I get home at night.

I have just gotten through reading all the comments on line in the Rocky Mount Telegram about last nights game.

It is funnier than reading the Sunday comics.

I can't get over all the Cougar fans who want to down grade Rocky Mount's victory by saying the Gryphons were lucky or the refs cheated.

Seems to me when you down grade a team that just beat you, you down grade yourself because you didn't beat them.

Now that I have had twenty four hours to digest the game. It was still a great game.

I don't know what the numbers were related to time control but I bet SWE had it close to thirty minutes to the Gryphons eighteen,

The turnovers were Gryphons four and SWE zero. Yet the Gryphons won.

Raymond Cobb is a running coach just like BW Holt runs the ball. You know what you are good at most of the time you know what stops you and can stop someone else who runs too.

In the five meeting these two legandary coaches have stopped each other. Rocky Mount has score but sixteen points a game while SWE has been held to nine.

I will be in Wilson Wednesday night to cover the Championship game of the conference finals in boys soccer for The Stretchlon Sports show.

Tonight Northern Nash has played Nash Central and Rocky Mount is playing Fike on their home field.

The two winner play for the conference crown tomorrow night.

Over the weekend and into Monday the Gryphon doubles team of Addie Keeter and Lindsey Thomas made it all the way to the regional Finals in doubles losing to a team from Fike.

When I get back from soccer tomorrow night I hope to report on Volleyball, the tennis team and boys soccer all of them in action today.

I have a full plate this week with the Monday night football game and then Wednesday night soccer, PA at the JV Game Thursday and back to Stanhope or Friday night football.

I plan on being in a recliner all day Saturday.

This was a Championship Game!

In boxing, when there is a championship fight, it goes 15 rounds.

The judges give the winner of each round 10 points and the loser either gets eight or nine points.

Tonight, the Gryphons won the first round 10-8. From rounds two to 15, two champions slugged it out with each team winning seven rounds each by a score of 10-9.

Then, the judges added the scores up and that first round was the difference.

Tonight, two quality teams went tooth and nail against each other and the difference was the first drive of the game - a 46-yard march that took over six minutes off the clock. But it was gold for the Gryphons as they outlasted SouthWest Edgecombe 7-0.

The Gryphon "D-Block: survived a dropped touchdown pass in the end zone and a fourth-and- inches from the goal line, but in the end, it was the second straight shutout for the Gryphons.

For the game, Rocky Mount had the ball six total times. Two punts, three fumbles and an interception and won the game. One of those fumbles on an attemped punt return kept us from getting another chance as we gave it back to the Cougars before we had a chance to get it.

The only time that we didn't punt or turn it over, we scored.

Until the last desperation plays by SWE with 1:25 left to play, each team got at least one first down or more on every drive.

The defenses played great, but neither side could stop the other.

Those in attendance tonight saw two of the best teams in the state square off and if they had of played four more quarters, I don't think there would have been a touchdown difference between the two.

The Cougars' first drive of the game was 14 plays and covered 65 yards and ended with a blocked field goal.

SWE's opening drive of the second half was 20 plays long and went 79 yards and two feet and ended with no points.

Both offenses move the ball just enough to keep it away from the other.

Rocky Mount 7, SouthWest Edgecombe 0.

Riding home tonight, Charles Alston, Wes Bradshaw and I were discussing the game and I said "boy, that stop at the goal line saved the game." I want to steal this line from Wes, but I will give him credit for it.

He said, "The L'var Silver third-and-10 with the ball laying on the goal line and then he picked up 24 yards off tackle won the game for us."

I agree, if SWE makes us punt from the goal line, they were probably close enough to score, but with that 24-yard run, the Cougars never got the ball on our side of the field again.

Tonight's victory was No. 64 for head coach B.W. Holt at Rocky Mount. He is now all alone in second place on the all-time Rocky Mount victory list.

That touchdown on the first drive meant that Rocky Mount has scored in 97 straight games.

The seven points is the lowest point total for Holt since he has been at Rocky Mount - lower that the 10 RMHS scored against Western Alamance in the 2005 3-A east finals.

The seven points also stops a 76-game streak in which Rocky Mount had scored double figures in a game. The streak started on Sept. 2, 2002 with a 7-0 win at Hunt - a game in which I called the play-by-play and Wes did the color.

FYI, Charlotte Independence has the longest double-figure scoring streak at 140 games, followed by Reidsville's 102. RMHS' was the third longest in the state until tonight.

The streak ended tonight oddly enough with another 7-0 victory. Most of the time, if you don't score in double figures you would think you would lose. But both ends of the streak are 7-0 victories.

Don't you think that's kind of odd.

I am still numb from this game. Just think we now have to recover to go to Southern Nash Friday night!

But we will go there Friday as the leaders of the NEW 6. There is now a four-way tie for second between SWE, Nash Central, Fike and Southern Nash.

I don't know what more I can say. Whenever two teams walk off the field having given everything they had, you can't ask for more!

RMHS volleyball moves on

Saturday night was a good night for the Lady Gryphon's Volleyball team as they cruise to the second round of the NCHSAA playoffs.

They won 3-0 against the visiting Southern Wayne Saints.

It was victory #303 for Debbie Webb who is putting closure on a twenty one year coaching career when ever this season ends.

The season ended abruptly for the other three members of the NEW-6 that were in the volleyball playoffs. Northern was upset and Nash Central and Fike failed to make it out of the first round.

So the Lady Gryphons will carry the Banner for the NEW-6 for the remainder of the season. The ladies look for victory #20 in the second round.

Looking at College Football:

Former Gryphon and North Carolina High School athlete of the year in 2005 Terrell Hudgins caught two touchdown passes yesterday for Elon which were his 31st and 32nd of his career.

That makes him #1 all time at Elon for Touchdown passes. Yesterday was also the worst day of Terrell's career as he only caught three balls all day for thirty nine yards.

Elon has found a running game in the past few weeks taking catches away from Terrell. This new found offense has helped propel Elon to #3 in the FCS standings before this weekend's 42-7
Victory over Chattanooga. The Phoenix is now 7-1 on the year.

We need to send out a holler to former Tarboro Viking Shawn Draughn who for the past two weeks has gone over a hundred yards for Carolina.

Looked to me like Carolina needed to give him the ball more late in the game while they were trying to run out the clock.

What in the world has happened to Wake Forest? Just a few weeks ago they were as good as anybody and now their offense is dead in the water.

All four of the Big four schools bit the dust this weekend as Duke is beginning to play Duke Football that we all know and N C State keeps giving effort but losing.

ECU was the lone winner of our area major colleges but locally N C Wesleyan won over at Northern yesterday.

Looks like as far as the ACC is concerned Georgia Tech is the best team this week. All we have to do is wait until next Saturday and put someone else at the top for the week.

We are all creatures of habit. We like our high school football on Friday night and the NFL on Monday night. This week you can see what is now the battle for the out right lead in the NEW-6 as the winner will be the only undefeated team in the conference after two games.

Remember it is a 7.00pm kickoff which means we will go on the air on AM1390 at 6.30pm from the pressbox at Southwest Edgecombe.

I'll blog again after the game Monday night.

To Play Or Not To Play

Since Friday night's game has been moved to Monday, the question is being asked why do we play high schools sports?

Obviously ,the first answer is for the enrichment of those who participate.

In order for those who play to partake, someone has to pay the bills.

Right now, we are in the middle of an election campaign in which both candidates are promising to give us more. They both claim that they can cut taxes to do it.

Any person in their right mind knows in order to be given anything, someone pays for it. Money just doesn't grow on the government tree as some people think.

There lies the decision to move the biggest game of the weekend in the area and possibly in the state to Monday night.

Sporting budgets come from booster clubs and ticket sales. There is no line item in the school budgets that say athletic $$$$$$$$.

A barbecue dinner can raise $4,000, but a big gate can raise $15,000. When given a choice, which will the decision makers go for?

The expenses at a game.. Once the lights go one, someone pays. How much is that, $100 an hour? Only the meter reader knows for sure.

Those referees show up every Friday night from Fayetteville, Greenville or Goldsboro. Do you think they like Rocky Mount so much that they just got in their car to do us a favor?

We all hate to do it, but we go through security every game just to be safe. Do you think the security scanner is all we need. Police and sheriff deputies are there every game and someone pays.

There is probably $2,000 of expenses every time the lights go on and don't forget the JVs that cost is probably $1,000.

I don't remember how old I was, but this was somewhere around 1960, my dad never missed a game on Friday night in Ahoskie. Southern Durham was in town and at about 7.30 (back then kickoff was at 8),the bottom fell out and rained like all get out for three hours.

The coaches huddled up around 8 and Southern Durham was asked whether they wanted to come back Saturday night. Their reply was we come a long way to not play. We soundly trounced them 40-0 in front of six faithful fans.

My dad, me, Louis Young, a coach's wife, her two sons and my dad's best friend Randolph. Being an electrician, my father always carried polyethylene with him and we sat as dry as could be possible some times not able to see the other side of the field.

I think back then it was $1 to get in. We worried more about the victory more than the cost. That was a time when a person was rich if he had $20 in his pocket. Nowadays, $20 will not get you in and out of a movie.

I watched ECU play this afternoon - sometimes in the rain. It was a sellout so 38,000 tickets were sold. If more than 20,000 sat through the game, they had a crowd. I bet the cost of that ticket was $40.

I wonder how many people asked for a refund as they ran for their cars to get out of the rain.

Yes, 40 years ago, we would have played last night, but nowadays, they have to worry where the money is going to come from to put gas in two buses to ship the team off next weekend.

I wish we had of played Friday, but I understand why we didn't.

The price of a high school football game ticket is $6. It's the best bargain around - whether it's on a Monday or Friday.