COLUMN
Spartans garner much-deserved win
November 2, 2009
By Tommy Kopetskie, NorthRaleighSports.com
There were several noteworthy items from the Sanderson football team's 38-24 come-from-behind victory over Enloe Friday night, and each one deserves a moment of recognition.
So, let's rattle off a few before I get to my actual point. (I usually have a point, I swear.)
1. Comeback kids
The Spartans trailed 17-14 at half, but then scored 24 of the game's next 31 points.
2. Spreading it around
Receivers Josh O’Neal, Kevin Ott and Chris Lampkins combined for nine catches for 140 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
3. On the attack
Their 38-point performance was Sanderson's biggest offensive showing of the season. (The Spartans' previous high was 24 points in a loss to Millbrook Oct. 9.)
4. One in the win column
The victory gave first-year head coach Tony Lewis his first conference win.
5. Knocked off a quality opponent
The win came against an Eagle squad which thumped Wakefield just a week earlier.
Devin Laws (left) and Derrick Powell helped the Spartans score their first conference victory Friday night, defeating Enloe 38-24.
But that is all information you can divulge from a boxscore and schedule.
One other story-line stood out, and you only know it if you were in attendance, and NorthRaleighSports.com correspondent Christian Worstell was nice enough to bring it to my attention.
Saturday, the morning after the game, Worstell e-mailed me explaining one item stayed with him about the Spartans' win.
What was on his mind? The class in which Lewis and Company closed out the game.
He wrote "You know what was refreshing to see? Sanderson had the ball at the 2-yard line with a minute left and instead of punching it in for another score they took 2 kneel downs."
Few people would have criticized the Spartans if they burst in another score after a somewhat frustrating season plagued with turnovers (six second-half giveaways against Panther Creek) and near-misses (led Millbrook 24-21 before losing 42-24).
After weeks of little satisfaction, and hours of practice not resulting in wins, it would have seemed justifiable for the Spartans to squeeze every drop from the win.
But they were above it.
Following the game, Lewis — who has continually praised his team throughout its tumultuous season — finally got to talk about a winner.
"We didn’t look like a team that’s 1-8,” he said. “It says a lot about our kids to only have one win and come out with that kind of effort. You don’t always see that from a 1-8 team.”
Quarterback Sam Bauckham said the Spartans played for something better than a win — one another.
“We’re playing for ourselves and for our pride,” he said. “Everything we do, we’re playing our hearts out.”
Unable to clinch the four wins needed to reach the playoffs, Sanderson's season ends Friday night hosting Broughton.
But could the Spartans go for two in a row? A "two-game winning streak" does have a nice ring to it.
Here's to hoping the Spartans can clinch Friday's game with another victory formation.
You've got mail
In case you were wondering, Saturday wasn't the first time Worstell has dropped an observation or two in an e-mail or text message.
Here are my two favorites this year.
Moments after Leesville Road's rout of Southern Lee Sept. 18, he texted me "48-0. It came right down to the end."
And following Sanderson's 43-14 loss at Southeast Raleigh in August, he e-mailed me a brief wrap up of the game. He ended it with this little tidbit.
"Southeast had a lineman that was 6-6 and 378 pounds. No thanks."
Good stuff.
Here are a few things which caught my eye during the last week
1. 95-0. Wow.
In case you haven't seen the Wake Forest-Rolesville defense this season, I have just one word for you — yikes.
I've watched the Cougars up close twice this season, first against Wakefield and Friday against Millbrook, and both ended in Cougar shutouts.
And looking up at the scoreboard in the fourth quarter, I've realized those two games had a combined score of 95-0. I said it before, but Wow!
These two wins didn't come against cupcakes either. Wakefield was riding high off a 35-32 win over Leesville the week before. Millbrook was in the same boat, posting a huge victory against the Pride seven days earlier.
But apparently momentum doesn't travel well to the new Heritage High School in Wake Forest, where the Cougars have been relocated this season.
A few things have stood out to me about the Cougars ...
First, their offensive line is bigger and better than I expected, especially Dylan Intemann, who stands 6-foot-5 and 280 pounds. And secondly, the WF-R secondary has a bevy of playmakers, each more dangerous than the next.
In the two games I've seen them, defensive backs Darren Kirby, Marcus Jones and Will Braddy have accounted for three interceptions, two blocked punts, an INT return for a touchdown and a punt return for a touchdown.
2. And yet....
Despite the Cougars' remarkable 10-0 season, and having already clinched the Cap-7 Conference title, I am not going to be surprised if Leesville Road — if healthy — pulls off the upset.
While 95-0 impresses me to no end, WF-R's wins came with Millbrook running back Keith Marshall on the sidelines (injured arm) and Wakefield quarterback Connor Mitch (shoulder) out as well. And the Wolverines lost its best interior lineman Will Butler to a hamstring injury in the first half.
Depending on who lines up for the Pride Friday — defensive star Ryan Mangum could see the field for the first time since September — the Cougars should be facing its toughest test of the season.
3. Bombs away
With its 28-7 victory over Harrells Christian Academy, the Ravenscroft football team captured the Big East Conference championship, and they did it through the air.
On two of the Ravens' first four plays, quarterback Quinn Billerman connected on lengthy touchdown passes setting up the 21-point win. After tossing a 74-yard touchdown bomb to Hartland Jones on Ravenscroft's second play from scrimmage, Billerman followed it up with a 75-yard TD reception to Shane Bird.
According to head coach Ned Gonet, the passes were nearly identical 30-yard yard strikes, but to different receivers running different routes. Connor Gonet tacked on two second-quarter TD runs, giving the Ravens a 28-7 halftime lead which stood up through a scoreless second half.
In all, Billerman, just a sophomore, finished 11 for 14 for 277 yards and two touchdowns.
The Ravens look to build on its 7-4 season in the postseason, hosting Providence Day Friday.
4. In need of a break
After watching his Wolverines fall 34-14 to Broughton Thursday, there were only two positives Wakefield head coach J.D. Dinwiddie could take from the game.
First, the defensive effort was there all night — five times the Capitals started first-half drives in Wakefield territory, but scored just two touchdowns. And secondly, the Wolverines' bye week couldn't come at a better time.
It could be argued no team has needed time away as badly as the Wolverines. (Though Leesville was down to its fourth-string QB by the end of last week and the Pride certainly needed its open week to heal up.)
But the Wolverines are beaten up physically and mentally, and the team's confidence has wavered in the four weeks since beating Leesville. And the subtraction of QB Connor Mitch and defensive tackle Will Butler have played a big role in the slump.
Add either one to the Enloe or Broughton defeats, and I think the Wolverines go 1-1, maybe even 2-0.
It's a team sport, but those are two big cogs in the Wakefield attack.
If one or both are in uniform for Wakefield's playoff opener — Butler should most definitely be back — I'd argue there is no more dangerous team hovering around .500 than the Wolverines.
5. Holds help Wildcats drop contest
No one might remember this fact, but the Millbrook/WF-R football game was tied 0-0 after one quarter. (If you read my game story, then you probably heard me mention it. Sorry for the repeat.)
And I think the game could have had — maybe not an entirely different outcome — but certainly a more competitive one if the Wildcats don't receive two costly penalty calls.
First, on its opening drive, Millbrook battles down to the WF-R 15-yard line, and facing a third-and-eight, Trey McFarland scampers within inches of the goal line. First and goal from the half-foot line, right?
Nope, a holding call pushes them back to the 24-yard line, and one incompletion and a blocked field goal later leaves the Wildcats empty-handed.
Then, with Millbrook trailing 14-0 in the second quarter — still very much in contention — McFarland converts on a fourth-and-1 from the Wildcat 42-yard line, racing 17 yards. But another holding call pushes the squad back again and forces a punt.
Two yellow flags, two missed opportunities.
(Personally, I saw only one of the plays upclose, and I'm still looking for the hold on the fourth-and-1 play.)
Mitch Mallory closes in the finish line at Saturday's 4-A Mideast Regional Cross Country meet. The Wakefield junior's fifth-place finish qualified him for the state meet this week.
Best play I saw in person this week
It was either Wakefield's Mitch Mallory placing fifth in the boys race at the 4-A Mideast Regional Cross Country meet, or Millbrook's Samantha George taking second for the girls. You can decide. Both are impressive as George, a sophomore, returns to states, and Mallory — the first male Wakefield runner to ever advance — makes his first appearance.
Though Mallory did trip himself, and fell a few hundred meters from the end of the race, which might give him the award outright.
Best play we caught on tape
Broughton's Jerry Randolph lunging for a sack against Wakefield in the first half of Thursday's game. After slicing through the Wolverines' offensive line, the defensive lineman stretched four yards to trip up Patrick Johnstone in the backfield. (Check it out for yourself, http://northraleighsports.com/articles/whs/whsfootball102909.html)
Best all-around performance
Ravenscroft freshman Wesley Frazier winning the individual title at the NCISAA 3-A Cross Country State Championship Meet Friday, Oct. 30 at Hagan-Stone Park in Greensboro. She posted a time of 17:36.
Fantasy insight
If you don't know who Ryan Moats is — hint: the Houston Texans' running back who rushed 23 times for 126 yards and three scores this week — you should.
Stat of the week
261, 112
Broughton running back Chris Mangus ran for 261 yards against Wakefield Thursday. The Wolverines gained a total of 112 yards on offense in the same game.
Quote of the Week
"I remember three years ago, as a freshman, watching the seniors from the bleachers, it just seems like five minutes later I'm already here."
—Wakefield senior J'Kwan Fogg, talking about how quickly his high school career has gone by.
Random thought
I must apologize in advance for the person I will undoubtedly rear-end on Leesville Road between the high school and 540 in the coming months. Why on Earth isn't there a turn lane for the housing subdivisions between those two points? The state must be trying to get me in an accident. Or are NCDOT and the black guy on the All State commercials — the person who plays the president on 24 — in cahoots?
Photo of the week
This week I saw this picture online of former Steeler Destry Wright's dislocated ankle from a few years back and couldn't NOT put it in here.
Enjoy...
E-mail your thoughts to tommy@northraleighsports.com.
