FOOTBALL
Following his outsanding 2009 season, Millbrook junior Justus Hoffmann was named the Cap-7 Conference's Defensive Player of the Year.
Cap-7 announces
All-Conference
football honors
WF-R's Trea Jones receives
Player of the Year award
Two days after the Heisman trophy was awarded to the best running back on the best college team — Alabama's Mark Ingram — the Cap-7 Conference released it's awards Monday morning, including the league's Player of the Year honors.
And like the Heisman, the Cap-7 coaches also voted to award the best running back on the best team with the league's highest accolade.
After leading the Wake Forest-Rolesville football team to an undefeated regular-season, and its second straight 4-AA Eastern Regional appearance, Trea Jones was named the league's Player of the Year.
Bengals clobber 'Cats 27-13
November 14, 2009
By Christian Worstell,
NorthRaleighSports.com correspondent
You might say the Millbrook football team was beaten at its own game Friday night.
You could also argue the Wildcats never got to play their own game either.
Fuquay-Varina jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, rushed for 381 yards and took the ball out of the hands of Keith Marshall and the Wildcat running game in a 27-13 first-round playoff win.
With the defeat, Millbrook’s season comes to a close at 6-6.
PHOTO BY ROB ORAZI
The Millbrook defense, including Austin Merritt (from left), Jarrick Feaster, Matt Aronowitz, Greg Gilchrist and Justus Hoffmann, will get plenty opportunities to make tackles against Fuquay-Varina's stout running attack Friday night.
Wildcats prepare for Fuquay-Varina ground game
As Millbrook football coach Clarence Inscore explained it, there are three phases to interpreting Fuquay-Varina running back Cory Hunter's 463-yard performance earlier this season.
First, shock. ("My first reaction? Oh my God," the coach admitted.)
Second. Who did the Bengals play?
And thirdly?
"Well, it doesn't matter who they played because you have to be a pretty good running back to put up 460-some yards," Inscore reasoned.
Inscore and the Wildcats get to see Hunter and the Bengals' stout running attack in person Friday night as the two squads square off in the first round of the 4-AA state playoffs.
FILE PHOTO
On Millbrook senior night, Scott Gray recorded a milestone game, reaching the end zone four times in the Wildcats' 42-35 victory over Enloe Friday.
Gray, Wildcats shrug off Enloe
Needing a win in its regular-season finale to keep its postseason plans intact, the playoffs arrived a week early for the Millbrook football team.
So, too, did the heroic playoff performances and postseason drama.
Scott Gray scored four touchdowns for the first time in his life and Kendall Whitehead picked off an Enloe pass to stave off a late threat as the Wildcats won 42-35 on their home field Friday night.
With the win, Millbrook — which had lost four of its last six games entering Friday — secured a playoff berth with a 6-5 record.
Nearing the end
Six seniors share their thoughts on Friday night's finales
This is it. It all comes down to this.
Four years of up-and-downs, field-long gassers and film study have lead up to now.
Afternoons lifting weights, summer workouts and all the practices between games, too.
And Every moment Friday will be a memory replayed for years to come.
So there's little surprise the seniors of the Leesville Road, Millbrook and Sanderson football teams will be a tad emotional when they take the field Friday night — their last assured home game of their careers.
PHOTO BY ROB ORAZI
WF-R's Darren Kirby (2) tripped up Millbrook's Michael Thornton (20) in the second half of the Cougars' 48-0 victory Friday night. WF-R improved to 10-0, including 5-0 in conference.
WF-R routs Wildcats 48-0
Undefeated Cougars clinich
Cap-7 title with victory
It might be hard to remember following the Millbrook football team's humbling 48-0 defeat at the hands of Wake Forest-Rolesville Friday night, but the Wildcats' wheels didn't fall off right away.
The Cougars' seven touchdowns just made it feel that way.
In fact, 12 minutes into the Cap-7 Conference contest, the two squads were still deadlocked in a scoreless tie, and Millbrook had already driven deep into Cougars' territory — though WF-R's Darren Kirby blocked their field goal attempt — and thwarted WF-R's first two possessions.
And after halting WF-R's third drive at the Millbrook four-yard line, the Wildcats seemed hellbent on not allowing the Cougars to clinch the conference title Friday in front of a fired up senior night crowd.
Alas, the Cougars' stellar defense — which allows fewer than five points a contest — got the WF-R ball rolling as senior defensive back Will Braddy picked off a Trey McFarland pass and dashed 14 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter.
Millbrook sophomore Keith Marshall tallied 162 of his 203 rushing yards in the first half of Friday's 39-23 win over Leesville Road. Marshall and the Wildcats visit undefeated WF-R Friday, Oct. 30.
Millbrook, miscues thwart Pride attack
Wildcats clinch win with four consecutive takeaways Friday
For a Millbrook football team plagued by costly turnovers seemingly all season, Friday's 39-23 victory over visiting Cap-7 Conference rival Leesville Road had a certain level of vindication to it.
The Wildcats forced the Pride into seven turnovers — including takeaways on Leesville's last four possessions — scoring a much-needed victory in Millbrook's postseason pursuit. (More importantly, Millbrook turned the ball over just once in their impressive victory.)
Following the win, head coach Clarence Inscore highlighted the parallels between how the Wildcats lost games earlier this season, and how they won Friday.
"What's been killing us all year, helped us tonight," he reasoned of turnovers. "We were finally on the right end of the turnover ratio. Again, that is huge for us. We are a good football team when we don't turn the ball over."
If the skill-position players shine in Friday night's Millbrook/Leesville Road football game, the boys upfront will undoubtedly be playing well. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Millbrook.
Pride, Wildcats square off Friday
In rivalry games, like Friday night's Leesville Road at Millbrook football match-up, records and previous performances can usually be thrown out.
(After scoring just 12 points against Broughton Oct. 9, did anyone see Wake Forest-Rolesville hanging 47 points on crosstown foe Wakefield. Me, neither.)
So, anything can happen when rivalries — i.e. emotions — are involved. And Friday will be no different.
For that reason, let's focus on these four facts leading into the contest.
PHOTO GALLERY
Young Wildcats battle Pride
The Millbrook and Leesville Road junior varisty football teams battled Thursday, Oct. 22. For photos of the jayvee action, click above.
With Stradford Barnett (40) giving chase, Scott Gray (22) looks to cut upfield during Friday night's clash between Millbrook and Sanderson. The Wildcats prevailed 42-24.
Millbrook spoils
SHS homecoming
Wildcats score 21 unanswered points to knock off Spartans Friday
In a game of spectacular plays, the turning point of the Millbrook football team’s 42-24 win over Sanderson Friday was not a long touchdown pass or highlight-reel run.
Rather, it was a funny hop on a Millbrook punt in the fourth quarter that opened the floodgates for the Wildcats to score 21 unanswered points and spoil the Spartans' homecoming.
Trailing 24-21 and punting from their own 23 yard-line, the Wildcats recovered a live ball that glanced off a Sanderson player while rolling dead.
The unfortunate bounce gave Millbrook a new set of downs inside the Spartan 30 yard-line. And the play set off a snowball effect as the Wildcats captured momentum and snapped a three-game losing skid.
Wakefield junior Denzel Brown rushed for three touchdowns and more than 100 yards against Millbrook Friday night. The 5-2 Wolverines host undefeated Leesville Road Friday.
Wolverines throttle Millbrook Friday
Wakefield's 59 points most in school history, Dinwiddie said
It's hard to pinpoint exactly which Wolverines' highlight— and there were plenty to choose from in the Wakefield football team's 59-21 victory — spoiled Millbrook's homecoming festivities Friday night.
Was it Denzel Brown's 7-yard TD scamper less than two minutes into the game? Or maybe Michael Bailey's fumble recovery and touchdown just seven seconds later?
Either way, by the time freshman QB Connor Mitch hit Trip Foreman on a 7-yard TD pass midway through the first quarter, giving Wakefield a 21-0 lead, the Wolverines were officially — for the lack of a better term — a real party pooper.
And the Wolverines had help in dampening the celebration as Millbrook committed three turnovers in its first four possessions — all inside the Wildcats' territory.
Wakefield's Connor Mitch (left) and Millbrook's Trey McFarland might be first-year varsity starters, but the duo has shown all the poise and ability to be stars for their respective teams. Both quarterbacks have stellar defenses helping them ease into their new leadership positions.
Stellar defenses headline Wakefield/ Millbrook match-up
What a difference a year makes.
A season removed from having two of Wake County's most high-powered offenses, the Millbrook and Wakefield football teams enter Friday's match-up with a decidedly different look this fall. A more defensive look, for sure.
The Wolverines, allowing just 12.5 points a game, haven't surrendered more than two touchdowns in a game in a month.
Likewise, the Wildcats have flexed defensive muscle this fall, allowing more than 20 points just once.
Wolverines wreck Wildcats
The Wakefield JV football team knocked off Millbrook
51-0 Thursday, Oct. 1. For photos of the action, click
on the photograph above.
Sophomore Keith Marshall's 54-yard touchdown run in the third quarter against Broughton Friday pulled Millbrook within two points, 9-7. But the Wildcats couldn't get any closer, falling 16-7.
Millbrook stumbles
in league opener
It wasn’t quite what the Millbrook football had in mind for junior QB Trey McFarland’s return.
After missing the last two games following a concussion, McFarland returned to an offense that couldn’t get out of its own way during a 16-7 loss to Broughton in its Cap-7 Conference opener Friday night.
The Wildcats gained just 166 yards on offense and their first six possessions resulted in a safety, a lost fumble, two interceptions and a pair of turnovers on downs.
In the end, it added up to the second straight loss for Millbrook and snapped a four-game losing streak by the Capitals.
Six football games
not to miss
In no order of importance, here are the six conference games I believe each football fan should mark on his or her calendar. And there's good news, all six are slated for a different Friday night, so you won't have to miss any of them.
(In retrospect, I could have listed them chronologically, but where's the fun in that.)
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.
Each four- and five-yard dash stomped out the memory of the Wildcats' early-game miscues.
Gray powers Millbrook to comeback win
Sometimes, it really is just about coaching. And sometimes, it is the simplest change which affects an entire ball game.
For Millbrook football coach Clarence Inscore, that simple change Friday night was moving senior WR Scott Gray (pictured) to the second running back position, and the switch completely changed the nature of the Wildcats' contest — a 45-19 come-from-behind victory — at Northern Durham.
In the first half, sophomore RB Keith Marshall was the focal point of a successful Wildcat offense, carrying the ball 17 times for 133 yards and a score. However, as the half progressed, Northern Durham started to key on the talent running back, and Inscore made an adjustment.
Warriors upend Wildcats late
It is a very rare occurrence in sports when one play hurts and helps both teams at the same time. But that's exactly what happened in Millbrook’s 17-16 loss to the East Wake Friday night, giving the Wildcats their first loss of the season.
Trailing 10-6 with just under four minutes remaining in the third quarter, Wildcat junior QB Trey McFarland hit a wide open Michael Thornton 30 yards down field for a go-ahead touchdown pass.
But as Thornton and the rest of Wildcats celebrated the score, McFarland laid on the ground, holding his head as the trainers rushed to his aid. In a single play, the Wildcats took the lead, but lost their starting quarterback to a possible concussion. And while the Warriors lost their lead, they knew McFarland would no longer be able to burn their struggling defense anymore.
Continued ...
Millbrook QB Trey McFarland (5) scored the Wildcats' game-winning touchdown in Friday's 20-14 win at Knightdale. The victory improves Millbrook's record to 2-0.
Resilient Wildcats knock off Knightdale
On its way to a 20-14 victory over Knightdale, the Millbrook football team could have tripped over any of the considerable obstacles if faced Friday night.
First, there was the soggy weather supported by a continuous rain.
Then there were the Wildcats' self-inflicted wounds — three first-half turnovers.
And, finally, Millbrook's most serious hurdle was overcoming the sight of sophomore running back Keith Marshall taken away from the field on a stretcher.
If the Wildcats were looking for an excuse to lose, there were plenty available. But Millbrook chose to play through the challenges, and deliver its second impressive victory in as many weeks.
PHOTO BY CHRISTIAN WORSTELL
Millbrook sophomore Keith Marshall racked up 189 rushing yards last week against Garner. The running back looks to carry that momentum into Friday's match-up at Knightdale.
Wildcats looking forward, not back
Monday, three days after its 34-24 victory over Garner — the biggest victory in many of the Wildcats' young lives — the Millbrook football team was right back to business.
It was time to turn their collective attention to Knightdale, and the Wildcats didn't waste practice time reminiscing.
Head coach Clarence Inscore admitted the levelheadedness of his squad caught him off-guard.
Continued ...
Wildcats kick off season
The Millbrook junior varsity football team opened its season Thursday, Aug. 27, with Knightdale. The young Wildcats lost 14-0. For photographs of the jayvee action, click on the picture above.
Wildcat QB Trey McFarland (5) — who was sidelined most of last season with an injury — showed no signs of rust Friday night, leading Millbrook over Garner 34-24.
Marshall, McFarland muscle Millbrook to win
As Millbrook’s football season approached, there were questions whether sophomore running back Keith Marshall and junior quarterback Trey McFarland could fill the shoes left by departed stars Kuwon Eldridge and Brian Kass.
After one game anyway, the shoes are nice and snug.
Marshall and McFarland, both making their varsity debuts, accounted for 498 yards of total offense and all five touchdowns as the Wildcats survived a fourth-quarter scare and held off Garner 34-24 in Friday night's season opener at Millbrook.
Wildcats roll in opener
The Millbrook football team opened its season in impressive fashion Friday, Aug. 21, defeating Garner
34-24. To see more of the action, click on the photograph above.
Receiving threat
Millbrook doesn't bring back a lot from last year's offensive unit, but one marquee returner is senior receiver Michael Thornton.
The pass-catcher recently talked about the Wildcats' new QB, playing in the Cap-7 Conference and his thoughts on his final high school season. Click here to see what Thornton said.
Millbrook puts in work
The Wildcats and Trey McFarland worked on their offense during the latter part of Aug. 10's practice.
To see more of the action click on the photograph above.
Versatile senior receiver Scott Gray will again be a big part of the Wildcats' attack this fall.
Wildcats ready
to overcome expectations
Millbrook football coach Clarence Inscore knows what outsiders might say about his program.
They could predict the Wildcats lost too many key contributors — 24 seniors in all — from last year's 9-3 squad to be successful this fall.
Or that the school's jayvee program and it's one victory in two years spells trouble.
And that there's no Division-I prospect in house to muster a serious postseason run.
But those attitudes Inscore shrugs off because he's more than happy with the hand he's been dealt. He actually enjoys it.
