Prep football -- CBA defense halts Rams

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on September 5, 2004 2:01 AM

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PIKEVILLE -- Create turnovers.

Set-up your offense with a short field.

Those defensive and special teams' goals are often easier said than done, but Charles B. Aycock made them seem routine in a 35-7 win at home against Greene Central at home on Friday night.

Three of the Golden Falcons' five scores on the game followed a Ram miscue as Aycock jumped out to a 20-0 lead after the first quarter keyed by a stout defensive effort.

Greene Central picked up only one first down in the first quarter and fumbled after the 17-yard run. The Falcon defense forced three consecutive three-and-outs to start the game -- setting the tone.

The Rams finished with just 46 yards rushing on 19 tries -- less than 2.5 yards per carry.

Dontay Taylor paced Aycock's defense with six tackles and one assist. Cortez Gilbert added five tackles and two assists, while Turner Wood posted four tackles and three assists.

"Coach Fidler and our defense had a great defensive plan for them," Aycock coach Randy Pinkowski said. "We were not going to run up the field against them. We wanted to try to make his quarterback make the throws. We put a little bit of pressure on them on defense."

The lack of success on the ground forced the Rams and quarterback Travis Rouse to go to the air 32 times. Rouse completed half of his passes for just 89 yards as the Falcon secondary limited Greene Central's quick-strike capability.

"They have an outstanding football team. Tonight we didn't have everything clicking and they did," Greene Central coach Jim Bob Bryant said. "Getting down early got us away from the run game. I probably should have stayed with the run game a little bit more.

"We can't line up and throw it on every play, and we will adjust that on Monday."

Aycock stopped Greene Central quickly on its first drive, and a high snap on a Greene Central punt was eventually recovered by the Rams inside their own five. The Falcons scored on their first play from scrimmage for the second time in as many games when quarterback Wesley Whitley scored around the right side from four yards out.

Taylor had a key fumble recovery and picked up enough yardage to keep his offense on the field on the Falcons' next possession. Shonte Barnes, who had a game-high 84 yards on 19 carries, eventually capped the short-field drive with the first of his two rushing scores to make it 14-0.

Late in the first, a 29-yard pass on a fake punt from Whitley to Taylor keyed Barnes' second touchdown as his score from 25 yards around the left side gave him seven touchdowns in the first three games.

Trailing 20-0, the Rams blocked an Aycock punt with 6:50 left in the third and converted it into a score when Rouse hit Dreyan Willis underneath for a 22-yard strike to pull Greene Central to within two scores. Willis finished with 74 yards receiving on nine catches.

Aycock answered quickly and impressively when Gilbert brought the ensuing kick-off back 91 yards for a touchdown -- dodging tacklers down the left sideline. The Falcons' Thomas Artis sprinted downfield to make a tackle on the next kick-off as Jon Burke pinned the Rams inside the 10.

"We spend an absurd amount of time on special teams," Pinkowski said. "That was real big right there. It took the wind out of their sails and put the wind back in us. Special teams is a big part of our game."

The Falcons' Chris Byrd recovered a fumble by Greene Central on a pitch on the first play of the drive -- setting up Aycock for its fifth and final score -- another from a short field.

"With the exception of four or five plays, Greene Central stoned us all night long," Pinkowski said.

The Falcons out-gained the Rams 246-135. Whitley was 7-for-11 for 67 yards with one touchdown pass and two interceptions, neither of which Greene Central turned into points.

Aycock hosts Goldsboro in its Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference opener on Friday, while the Rams host Ayden-Grifton in a non-conference affair.

Greene Central 0 0 7 0 -- 7

C.B. Aycock 20 0 15 0 -- 35

First quarter

CBA -- Whitley 1 run (Burke kick), 10:55

CBA -- Barnes 3 run (Burke kick), 6:13

CBA -- Barnes 23 run (kick failed), 6.3

Third quarter

GC -- Willis 22 pass from Rouse (Fernandez kick), 4:58

CBA -- Gilbert 91 kick return (Cobb run), 4:43

CBA -- Lee 3 pass from Whitley (Burke kick), 4:23

GC CBA

First downs 9 13

Rushes-yards 19-46 46-179

Passing yards 89 67

Total yards 135 246

Att.-Comp.-Int. 32-16-0 11-7-2

Fumbles-lost 4-2 4-1

Punts-avg. 5-22.2 4-21.5

Penalties 2-30 8-60

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Greene Central -- Chris Hodges 9-38; Kelsey Baker 1-(-15); Travis Rouse 4-(-6); Kyle Judd 1-7; Billy Teston 1-2; Mike Sims 2-11; Dreyan Willis 1-9. C.B. Aycock -- Shonte Barnes 19-84, 2 TD; Wesley Whitley 8-3; Dontay Taylor 6-21; Carlos Dobbins 1-2; Keith Cobb 5-29; Greg Davis 4-11; Chris Byrd 2-24.

PASSING -- Greene Central -- Travis Rouse 16-32-0 135, TD. C.B. Aycock -- Wesley Whitley 7-11-2 67, TD.

RECEIVING -- Greene Central -- Dreyan Willis 9-74, TD; Chris Hodges 2-14; Mike Sims 2-(-8); Kyle Judd 2-2. C.B. Aycock -- Thomas Artis 2-21; Dontay Taylor 2-29; Shonte Barnes 1-12; Spruce Lee 1-3, TD; Cortez Gilbert 1-1.