Millbrook football
Senior Austin Merritt (44) celebrates a Millbrook fumble recovery during the first half of Friday night's game at Southern Durham. The Spartans defeated the Wildcats 17-14.
Millbrook's late charge
runs out of time
After the first half the Millbrook football team put together Friday night at Southern Durham — committing four turnovers, among a slew of other self-inflicted wounds — the Wildcats had no business contending in the ball game late.
But there they were anyway, monotonously moving the ball down field on a 22-play, fourth-quarter drive, trailing one of the state's highest-ranked squads by just three points.
With running backs Scott Gray and Keith Marshall carrying the offensive load, and QB Michael Thornton filling in the gaps — as well as filling in for injured starter Trey McFarland — Millbrook gashed the Spartans' defense with short runs during the pivotal drive.
And each four- and five-yard dash stomped out the memory of the Wildcats' early-game miscues.
It was a methodical possession — a series which Millbrook imposed its will on the Spartans. And it appeared the Wildcats might actually pull off the unlikely comeback.
Want to see Keith Marshall's 94-yard run for yourself? Here's your chance.
Alas, the Millbrook possession stalled inside the Southern 10-yard line, and a game-tying field goal missed its mark, handing the Wildcats a 17-14 defeat.
Say what you will about moral victories, but the Millbrook squad which took the field in the second half didn't lose. They just didn't have enough time to correct all of their first-half mistakes.
"A lot of teams — in this environment, with the beginning we had — would have folded up and quit," Millbrook head coach Clarence Inscore told his team following the loss. "A lot of teams would have started arguing and bickering and fighting with each other. That is not a true team. You are a team, and you showed that you are a team."
Speaking of the Wildcats' resiliency, Inscore added, "It can't be taught and it can't be coached, but you guys have it, and that's going to take you a long way."
Aside from Marshall's 94-yard touchdown run in the second quarter — which the Spartans coincidentally answered with a Khamari Everett 90-yard kickoff return moments later — the Wildcats could not have played an uglier first half.
After the Spartans fumbled away the ball on the game's opening possession, Millbrook failed to capitalize on the turnover despite taking over at the Southern 31-yard line. The Spartans answered on their next two possessions as Adelmann Martinez hit a 39-yard field goal and QB Alan Lee dashed 25 yards for a touchdown.
What was the Wildcats' response to both scores? Consecutive lost fumbles.
Millbrook later threw an interception as well, but the defense managed to keep the Spartans in check.
Marshall's long run breathed new life into the Wildcats, pulling Millbrook within three, 10-7, with 6:31 remaining before halftime. But Everett quickly dashed their hopes with his return.
At times, the game appeared to be getting away from the Wildcats, most notably during Millbrook's disastrous opening second-half possession. During the four-play drive, which netted minus two yards, Millbrook burned two of its three second-half timeouts.
But the Spartans fumbled the ensuing punt, which proved to be the jump-start the Wildcats needed.
Taking over at midfield, Marshall broke off a 12-yard run, and Thornton raced 23 yards one play later, moving the ball to the Southern 15-yard line. Three snaps after that Gray raced into the end zone from 10 yards out. With its successful PAT, Millbrook trailed 17-14 with 8:41 remaining in the third.
Despite the fact Southern tried to get N.C. State-recruit Tony Creecy more involved — he ran for just 55 total yards on 14 carries — Millbrook stopped the Spartans' next two drives.
With 18.8 seconds left in the third, Millbrook took over the ball on its own 9-yard line, and mounted its mammoth — yet unsuccessful — drive.
It wouldn't account for any points, but the 22-play series was the Wildcats' biggest highlight of the night — a sustained possession against a top-ranked team, which seemingly had no answer for the Wildcats' attack.
Marshall finished with 174 rushing yards on 17 carries, and Gray added 64 yards on 20 attempts. Thornton completed six of 14 pass attempts for 45 yards.
"We dominated that team in the second half, and they are a good football team," Inscore said. "We're a better football team, but we didn't play better than them tonight.
We just weren't good enough to overcome our own mistakes."
Gray lauded his team's ability to fight on regardless of the circumstances.
"It just proves no matter what happens — one turnover, two, three — we're not going to give up just because we aren't playing well," the senior said. "We can play with anybody and we proved that tonight, turning the ball over five times, but still only losing by three points to a really good team."
The Wildcats' grit and determination stuck with Inscore more than the final score.
"We have to play smarter, but I don't think you could have played any harder," he told his team. "If we had a problem with people playing hard, I would be very upset right now. I'm not upset. I am encouraged. Now don't get me wrong, I hate losing ... but I was encouraged with how you guys came out in the second half."
Gray admitted he expected the Wildcats' record (3-2) to be better heading into their Cap-7 Conference opener at Broughton Friday, Sept. 25. But he's not disheartened because he sees something more important than the win column.
"It's not exactly where I want to be, but heart-wise, the way we play and the way we rebound from mistakes, we're are well above where I thought we would be," the senior said. "I would rather our hearts be into it 100 percent, then to go into conference play with an undefeated record."
