Prep soccer -- C.B. Aycock blanks Rosewood

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on August 18, 2004 1:56 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- A season-opening 3-0 win over rival Rosewood obviously pleased Charles B. Aycock assistant coach Byron Adkins.

He seemed just as impressed -- or more so -- with the physical shape his players were in on Tuesday evening at Hardy Talton Stadium.

With a new possession-style offensive attack, Aycock -- who has just two senior starters -- seemed to wear down the Eagles' midfield and defense, especially in the second half of a physical game. The two county foes combined for 24 penalties, including hand balls, and four yellow cards.

"I'm very pleased with the outing. I don't have any superstars this year and the players we do have seem to want to knock the ball around," Adkins said. "We have the capability to knock it long, but our midfield runs back-and-forth and gets a little tired.

"I told the kids, 'We may not win a lot of games, but we are going to be fit this year.' "

Conversely, Rosewood coach Daniel Mitchell believes his squad needs to improve its endurance.

"Anybody watching us could tell that fatigue was a factor," Mitchell said. "We are going to have to get in shape in practice, and that's my fault. That's something we will definitely address.

"It's just going to take us a game or two to get a feel for it."

The Golden Falcons outshot the Eagles 13-4 on the game as Garrett Davis scored twice, while Taylor Mills added one goal.

From the midfield spots, Danny Derwitz had two assists and Carson Sasser dished out one.

Davis put Aycock (1-0) on the board with a header off of a corner kick from Derwitz with eight minutes and forty seconds left in the first half. Both teams missed a couple of close opportunities in the first half as the score remained 1-0 going into intermission.

Eagle goalie Antell Richards was active through the game, especially in the first half. Richards had 12 of his 15 saves in the first frame. Most of the saves came on long throw-ins by Davis, who consistently tossed deep throws into the goal box.

"He saved us a few goals. He read the game well and came out and got the ball when he needed to," Mitchell said. "Those throws are probably more difficult to stop than shots because of all the bodies around."

Richards added a tough save on an Aycock breakaway opportunity in the 26th minute before the Golden Falcons tacked on the first of two insurance goals. Derwitz served an indirect kick deep into the box and right of the goal. Sasser ran onto the ball, trapped it, then passed to Taylor Mills, who knocked it in from close range near the 22-minute mark.

"They put a lot of pressure on us with the deep runs and probably got us a little fatigued," Mitchell said.

Davis provided his second goal with just over five minutes left.

Rosewood's offense never seemed to find its rhythm against Aycock's defense that features three juniors to go with junior goalie Jake Bunn.

Aycock sweeper Bennett Jeffreys, who played fullback last year, has been a pleasant surprise to Adkins in his new position.

"We switched him to the middle and he comes out and he's solid," Adkins said. "He's very vocal and tells the kids what he wants them to do."

Without leading scorer last season Shawn Young, who graduated, and Dustin Overman, who opted to play football, Mitchell believes it may take a few games for the Eagles to consistently produce offensively.

The Falcons travel to face Spring Creek tonight at 7 p.m., while the Eagles host East Duplin at 5 p.m.

Rosewood 0 0 -- 0

C.B. Aycock 1 2 -- 3

First half

Davis (Derwitz assist) 8:40

Second half

T. Mills (Sasser assist) 22:30

Davis (Derwitz assist)

RW CBA

Shots 4 13

Saves 15 2

Corner kicks 1 5

Penalties 13 11

Offsides 1 2

Saves -- Richards (Rosewood) 15; Bunn (CBA) 2.