Rings

Tonight Rocky Mount High School had it's end of the year sports awards where every athlete who played any sport was recognized for their efforts this past school year. Of course the highlite of the evening was the 2015 3A football State Champions received their state championship rings.   Each player was handed a ring box and could not open to see his ring until all the football awards were handed out.

(My ring and I featuring Bobby English who has been a member of the chain crew since the mid 1970's)  

The top prizes of the year went to the male and female scholar athletes of the year.  Both are top three in grade point average among the seniors well over 5.0.  Both excelled on the playing field in more than one sport never ignoring their class work.  The awards went to Forest Bell and Schuyler Moss.

The Triple Crown award given by the Kappa Alpa Psi Fraternity for Athletic, academics and character went to Tyrell Forbes and Schuyler Moss

The Juan Chesson Award was presented to Alicia Pickett.

The top athletes of the year were female Laneeja Shepard and Sherrod Greene.

Even the United States Army was on hand to congratulate Sherrod Greene for being nominated as one of the 400 candidates eligible to play in the US Army All American Football game in January.

Athletic Director Mike Gainey announced that the Gryphons won the Wells Fargo Cup as the best all round athletic program in the Big East in the school year 2015-16.

Rocky Mount High was presented the 2016 Sportsmanship Award presented by the North Carolina Athletic Directors Association and the North Carolina Coaches Association.

During each sports presentation Mike Gainey gave out plaques presented by the Big East Conference
Track and Field.  Big East Runner of the year. Girls Laneeja Shepard  boys Jonathan Romero.

David Harrison Big East Baseball pitcher of the year.

Tyler Brice Big East Tennis player of the year.

Boys Big East Swimmer of the year Wyatt Phillips

Football Big East Offensive Player of the Year Nick Bynum

football Big East Defensive Player of the Year Sherrod Greene

Around 500 ate dinner and a couple hundred others watched the show as this officially ends the 2015-2016 sports year even though several athletes will be running in the state championships of track and field starting Friday in Greensboro.

Big East Baseball All Conference

The Big East has announced the all conference baseball  team  and the three teams tied at the top pull in five players each.  Jacob Williamson of Hunt was voted the Player of the year and Rocky Mount pitcher David Harrison was named as the top pitcher.

Rocky Mount's five selection would seem to shine a light on a bright future for next year as four of the five on the team are juniors.  David Harrison, Logan Pearce, Jake Philbeck and Josh Pittman.  The lone senior is Forest Bell who now can say he has two all conference selections this school year joining football.

Northern Nash has three players returning next season in Dwight Daniels, Josh Daniels and sophomore Silas Gonzalez.  Seniors Tyler Barrett and Chad Nelms make the Northern Nash five.

Besides the player of the year in Jacob Williamson sr Hunt has Ty Galloway Jr, Greg Lamm Sr., Joel Taylor Sr and Bryson Worrell jr.

Nash Central tying for 4th gets three selections in John Michael Kelly Sr, Noah Shrock Sr, and Cameron Taylor Jr.

Fike gets three picks in D J Daniels who just might get drafted in the June baseball draft.  Jalynn Melton Soph and Brandon Winstead Sr.

Southern Nash's lone pick  is Trevor Mills Soph.

The honorable mentions were Zack Keeter  Rocky Mount, Whit Casper Northern Nash, Conner Griffin Hunt, Zack Patterson Nash Central, Terry Jackson Fike and Ryan Marlowe Southern Nash.

Normally the top team coach is named coach of the year and this year there are three tied at the top so all three coaches were named coaches of the year.  Pat Smith Rocky Mount, Bard Collins Northern Nash and Jon Smith Hunt.

The baseball season ended tonight for Faith Christian.  Knotted 3-3 the game went into the eighth inning but Northside Christian Academy from Charlotte exploded for seven runs and advance 10-3 over Faith.

Softball season has ended for Northern Nash at Topsoil with a 10-1.

Championships Bring On The Spoils

Thirteen football players from across from North Carolina have been nominated to play in the end of the season national US Army Allstar football game. Nash County has a player nominated and the player is Sherrod Greene Linebacker from Rocky Mount High.  400 players from across the country have been put on the list and as the season goes forward and 90 players will make up the two 45 man rosters that will play in the game.

Looking back at last football season Greene was the starting fullback and starting middle linebacker the first few games last season.  It became apparent early on then Rocky Mount was loaded at running backs but linebacker was a different problem.  Coach Jason Battle  made the move putting Nick Bynum at fullback saving Greene to concentrate solely  on defense.  That move gave Greene freshness the entire game instead of going both ways the whole game.

Bynum rushed for over 1600 yards and Greene was on the way to being the linebacker that made the Gryphon defense become championship quality.  Greene had 106 solo tackles, 48 assisted tackles.  Averaged 9.6 tackles per game.  Had five sacks, caused two fumbles, recovered four, and returned two of those fumbles for touchdowns.  Even as a backup fullback averaged 5.7 yards per carry and scored five touchdowns.

Two notable tackles during the Edenton game Greene Kicked off to about the five yard line.  The returner was sailing along before Greene was the first man down the field and met the runner at the 19 yard line the ball flew up in the air when it was picked off and returned for a Gryphon touchdown.

The most important tackle all season occurred in overtime of the state championship game when South Point faced with third an goal from the eight yard line the South Point quarterback broke around the end and had a free lane to the goal line until number 44 Sherrod Greene met him at the five yard line and that was as far as he went.  The next play was the failed field goal by South Point  which set up Chase Miller's the state championship winning field goal on the Gryphons try to break the overtime tie.

Weather has dealt the baseball and softball a low blow.  The softball game of Northern Nash taking on Topsail in the third round of the state playoffs have been moved to Wednesday at 6:pm at Topsoil

Faith Christian who was hosting a third round private school playoff game against Northside Christian Academy of Charlotte has been moved to 5pm Wednesday.

Rocky Mount High school will be hosting their end of the year sports banquet Thursday night. If you are interested in going call the main office to purchase a $10 ticket. Supplies are low.  Demand for tickets has been high since the football players will be getting their championship rings during the football segment.  Dinner starts at 5pm.

Gryphons Heading Back To Football Jamboree

Whether it is the Holiday basketball tournament  at Christmas or the football jamboree there is only two ways to get invited.  The first is you are expected to be a powerhouse next year in football.  It might be the coat tails of the state championship last season in football but the Gryphons are heading back to the Highschoolot football jamboree.  The second possible reason is the players that next season will be highly recruited and the Gryphons have one of the top recruiting talents for next season and several others that are getting looks after they were seen in the playoffs.

You might remember that back in basketball state championship and the recruitment of Tashawn Mabry the Gryphons back around 2010 got the Gryphons in the Holiday Christmas tournament two years in a row.  Since then we have not had a recruit as highly valuable as Mabry and have not been invited  since.  The Christmas tournament loves to showcase highly recruited players especially if they are headed to a Triangle schools to play college ball.

There are 14 teams starting at 12:30 during the August Saturday will play another team for an hour and forty minutes.  The Gryphons will hit the field at 5:40 and they will scrimmage a foe from last  year's playoff South Johnston. The games wil be played at Cardinal Gibbons high school and don't worry we will remind you come August.

Lady Gryphons traveled to Jacksonville Monday night and anyone who follows soccer whether boys or girls know that the Cardinals are a powerhouse in soccer and they have been a thorn the the Gryphons sides for years.  So the third round Rocky Mount travels to Jacksonville and the Lady Gryphons make the trip without leading scorer Sarah Bland who was out of state.

Talk about putting yourself in a hole before the start but the Lady Gryphons got a first half goal from Katie Moss to tie the score at one at the half.  Two quick second half goals give Jacksonville the lead that they will not give up and the soccer season is over for the Lady Gryphons losing 5-1  They finish the season at 17-7.

Tuesday night the Lady Knights of Northern Nash the only Big East team still alive in softball travel to Topsail the third seed in the 3-A playoffs but they have a 23-3 record. Northern 16-5 and the sixth seed play at 6pm Tuesday.  Topsail averages eight runs a game while Northern is slightly less than eight.  Northern gives up 4.5 runs agame while Topsail is stingy on defense giving up only 1.5 runs per game.  The Lady Knights the last Nash County public school playing in any sport other than track and field have a major test at the beach.

Faith Christian continues their playoff play in the private school playoffs and since everybody else's baseball season is over this will be a game that could be a real classic game.  Faith 18-2 will host Northside Christian Academy  of Chatlotte 18-5 at 5 pm Tuesday.  Could be the last high school game of the season in the area until summer or Legion ball cranks up.

So Much Going On

There is so much going on this time of year especially when there are several teams from this area advancing into all the state playoffs there is just not enough room to keep up with it all in one day.  Here are the local results from the state Eastern  Regional Track Championship where both the Nash Central girls and the Southern Nash Boys finished third.  Here is the list of every person from Nash County who finished in the top eight in any event.

Girls:
100 Meter Hurdles-Myka Hedgepeth Nash Central 5th
100 Meters Dash- Laneeja Shepard Rocky Mount 2nd, Teyanna Dessaure Rocky Mount 7th
200 Meters Dash- Michaela Nelms Nash Central 5th
300 Meters Hurdles- Anaiya Harris Nash Central Harris Nash Central 3rd
3200 Meters run- Halie Huffman Northern Nash 7th, MacKenzie Proctor  Northern Nash 8th
400 Meter Dash- Michaela Nelms Nash Central 1st,  Brittany Beckford Rocky Mount 3rd, Carisha Leonard Nash Central 4th, Diamond Ward Southern Nash 8th
4x100 Relay- Nash Central 3rd, Rocky Mount 7th
4x200 Relay- Nash Central 2nd, Rocky Mount 5th
4x400 Relay- Nash Central 1st
4x800 Relay- Nash Central 5th
800 Meter Run- Carisha Leonard Nash Central 2nd
Discus- Keyanna Spivey Rocky Mount 4th
High Jump- Miya Spivey Nash Central 2nd, Anaiya Harris Nash Central 5th
Pole Vault- Sarah Hicks Nash Central 3rd, Myka Hedgepeth Nash Central 6th
Shot Put- Keyanna Spivey Rocky Mount 2nd, Vanessa Ward Rocky Mount 8th

Boys:
100 Meters Dash- Nadir Thompson Southern Nash 3rd
110 Meter Hurdles- D'Jahe Ruffin Nash Central 2nd, Jonathan Romero Rocky Mount 3rd, Tremain Andrews Southern Nash 6th
1600 Meter Run- Coleman Cherry Northern Nash 2nd
200 Meter Dash- Nadir Thompson Southern Nash 1st
300 Meter Hurdles- Jonathan Romero Rocky Mount 1st, Malcolm Wade Nash Central 4th, Je'Tijah Smith 7th
3200 Meter Run- Coleman Cherry Northern Nash 3rd, Jordan Richardson Northern Nash 7th
400 Meter Dash- Tyreke Mills Northern Nash 5th, Kevon Whitehead Rocky Mount 7th
4x100 Relay- Rocky Mount 5th
4x200 Relay- Rocky Mount 5th
4x400 Relay- Southern Nash 4th Nash Central
4x800 Relay- Northern Nash 7th
800 Meter Run- Stephen Whitehead Northern Nash 4th
Discus- Sherrod Greene Rocky Mount 7th
High Jump- JaClayton Freeman Rocky Mount 1St, Malcolm Wade Nash Central 5th, Isaiah Morris Rocky Mount 6th, NaJuoson Cooper Nash Central 8th
Long Jump-  Jaquay Mitchell Southern Nash 1st, Justus Locus Nash Central 4th
Shot Put- Sherrod Greene Rocky Mount 1st
Triple Jump- Jaquay Mitchell Southern Nash 1st

Regional Champions:
Girls :
400 Meter Dash- Michaela Nelms Nash Central
4x400 Relay-  Nash Central
Boys-
200 Meter Dash Nadir Thompson Southern Nash
300 Meter Hurdles- Jonathan Romero Rocky Mouth
High Jump- JaClayton Freeman Rocky Mount
Long Jump- Jaquay Mitchell Southern Nash
Shot Put- Sherrod Greene Rocky Mount
Triple Jump- Jaquay Mitchell Southern Nash
Congratulations to all the winners as they will advance to Greensboro this weekend in the state championships.

Not Enough Mirrors

You know if you are in a barber shop and they have mirrors on both walls facing each other, if you are sitting in the right spot it looks like 100 of you sitting in the chair.  Rocky Mount had one pitcher all season and mirrors every other time and tonight Triton had no trouble with the Gryphon mirrors.

Triton scored four in the first, three in the second, two in the third and another in the fourth.  Finally the Gryphons held them scoreless in the fifth but by that time Triton had all they needed to win in five innings 10-0.

The Gryphons only choice in a game like this is to score runs themselves but collecting only three hits Logan Pearce, David  Harrison and Jamar Ellis with walks the Gryphons left the bases loaded twice  but failed to cross the plate.  The Hawks pounded out 12 hits and three errors by the Gryphon defense didn't help the Gryphon cause.  The Gryphon finish the season 13-9.

Hunt got knock out in the baseball playoffs 8-5 by Orange County and Fike was eliminated by Corinith Holders 2-0.  Baseball season is over for the Big East.

There will be no third round for the Hunt Warriors in softball as they lose 11-0 to Lee County.  It took  an extra inning but the Lady  Knights of Northern Nash remain alive in the softball playoffs winning in the eighth inning 4-3.  You know any time two teams are equal and have to play more to decide a winner it is exciting but playoffs extra play is thrilling to win. The Knights play at Topsoil in the third round.

The soccer is a different story as three teams made it to the second round and all three will play in round three.  The big story is Hunt's upset of the top seed Terry Sanford.  Tied 1-1 they played two ten minute over times and two five minutes sudden death over times and we're still tie at 1.  In the shoot out Hunt wins 4-2 and advances to the third.

Fike had no trouble at all with Burlington Williams winning 8-1. They travel in round three to the third seed Corinith Holders.  Rocky Mount advances after a home win over Richlands 3-1.  The Gryphons are a 10 seed and will now have to travel to Jacksonville the two seed in Jacksonville.

The last couple of weeks big News has come across the state concerning Eastern Alamance the team that won their first 14 football games until they ran into the Gryphons. Seems they use an ineligible player through a clerical error and has forfeited the entire season.  They also had to forfeit all basketball wins four games in the first semester once the error was found.

This brings up a real question about what if's.  Suppose EA had of beaten the The Gryphons and surely the question by every team that they played the first three rounds can be asked.   Since a forfeit constitutes a win can we go play in the next round all over again.  The answer is of course no but look at what could or does happen when ever any teams mis deeds are not caught as they happen.  EA would not have been in the playoffs at all and other teams in their conference would have moved up in other brackets.  Even the Gryphons may have played the fourth playoff game at home instead of on the road.    The NCHSAA fined Eastern Alamance 19,000 dollars which was a 500 dollar fine for the ineligible player and they have to return all playoff monies which is about 18,500 dollars.

Sport Season Ends At Wesleyan

Friday was  the last sport still alive at North Carolina Wesleyan was tennis that won the USA South crown way back in the middle of April when the entire spring conference tournaments were here in Rocky Mount.

The Battling Bishops earned their way into the NCAA Div III playoffs and finally this weekend took part as the Battling Bishops met Washington and Lee on Friday and And the playoffs hopes of the Battling Bishops are over losing to W&L 5-4

Last sports season was the first time that I had ever been on the PA at any Wesleyan Sporting event and I will begin my second season starting with football on September 10th.  Boy, do they have a doozy to start off with.  Mount Union Ohio will be coming to Bishop Stadium,  Those that are familiar with Division III football knows that Mount Union is for DIII what Alabama is to DI.  They are the Giant of the division.  They are the defending National champion and have won 12 DIII titles in football.

Mount Union is the mother lode of DIII football.  There will be no reason that this game will not sell out of tickets in advance.  The Battling Bishops will go to Alliance Oh  for the return match  in 2017.
This is the home opener for the Bishops but will be their second game of the season as they open Labor Day weekend with a Trip to Stevenson University.

The 2015-2016 athletic year for Battling Bishop athletes was a very good year.  The men won the President's Cup as having the best overall sports record in the conference.  They were the men's tennis champions garnering 13 points. They collected another 11in basketball for a grand total of 51 points beating out Methodist at 49.5.  They won despite not having a cross country team.

The women finished seventh of the twelve teams in the USA South,  Women's tennis grabbed 11 points and softball 10.5 to lead the way in NCW's 39 points.  Piedmont was the women's division winner collecting 68 point during the school year.

The overall President's Cup standing adding both the men and women together the Battling Bishops finished 5th with 90 points.  They trailed the overall winner Methodist 103.5, Piedmont 99, Maryville 95 Covenant 90 which ties the Bishops.

Today in Burlington the doubles team from Rocky Mount Tyler Brice and George Shannon were beaten in the round of 16 by a team Marvin Ridge by a score of 6-2 a 7-5.