Football -- Penalties, turnovers haunt Goldsboro

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 26, 2004 2:02 AM

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Goldsboro High football coach Maurice Jackson unplugged the headset from the receiver on his belt, wrapped the cords around the earphones and wiped the sweat from his brow.

He briefly looked toward the end zone and saw the scoreboard operator had already cleared the final result -- Washington 28, Goldsboro 12.

Jackson adjusted his hat and sighed. His facial expression, a combination of disappointment and frustration, certainly told the story. Old mistakes haunted the Cougars again and led to a second-half collapse in a matchup against two winless teams.

Goldsboro dropped its seventh consecutive game dating back to last season's road playoff loss at West Craven. The Cougars (0-6) dipped to 0-3 in Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference play heading into next week's contest at West Carteret.

Three statistics helped defined Goldsboro's evening:

* The Cougars ran 27 offensive plays in the second half with 11 resulting in loss yardage;

* The Pam Pack defense limited Jackson's team to minus-21 yards total offense in the second half;

* Goldsboro amassed more penalty yardage (106) than total offense (94) for the 48-minute battle.

But one particular play stood out in Jackson's mind and had the second-year coach steaming. Backed into the shadow of its own end zone, Goldsboro gained a crucial first down to give it some breathing room. However, the Cougars relinquished the field position on an intentional grounding penalty and never seemed to recover from the mistake.

"My kids have to know that when we've got the ball deep in our own territory and we pick up a key first down with the lead, we can't afford to make stupid, foolish penalties," Jackson said.

The lack of offensive execution pressured the Cougar defense.

Washington (1-5, 1-2) seized the lead for good at 14-12 early in the final period. Antwone Parker, who toted the pigskin 27 times for 110 yards, collected the first of his three touchdowns -- a two-yard dive.

Fumbles set up the Pam Pack's next two touchdowns -- runs of 11 and nine yards by Parker.

"The fourth quarter had seemed to be our Achilles heel, but tonight it wasn't," Sawyer said. "Tonight, we were strong, made things happen and it showed on the scoreboard. Sometimes the luck goes that way," Sawyer said of the turnovers. "We've been having it against us and tonight it was on our side. It feels good. The guys deserved this."

Goldsboro recorded negative yardage on nine of its final 12 offensive plays of the game. The bulk of the offensive output occurred on the Cougars' first possession -- a seven-minute drive that covered 76 yards. Q.T. Battle capped it with a one-yard plunge off right tackle.

The Cougars have scored just 44 points in six games.

"We were satisfied (with the early score) and we didn't come out to do what we wanted, which was push people off the ball," Jackson said. "Once we put the points, we relaxed, began to run through holes, and not hit people.

"We can't be satisfied with one or two touchdowns. We have to go out and we have to hit each and every time like we're trying to score on every series. But, unfortunately, we're satisfied with the things that we do and that just can't happen."

Washington 0 8 0 20 -- 28

Goldsboro 6 0 6 0 -- 12

First quarter

G -- Battle 1 run (kick blocked), 0:40.2

Second quarter

W -- Rodgers 16 pass from Tanner (Rodgers pass from Tanner), 7:10

Third quarter

G -- Thompson 35 fumble return (pass failed), 10:14

Fourth quarter

W -- Parker 2 run (pass failed), 9:40

W -- Parker 11 run (run failed), 6:06

W -- Parker 9 run (Parker run), 4:11

Wash GHS

First downs 10 7

Rushes-yds 42-116 41-79

Passing yds 76 15

Total yards 192 94

Att.-Comp.-Int. 10-7-0 12-3-0

Fumbles-lost 4-2 4-3

Punts-avg. 3-28.7 4-29.3

Penalties-yds 5-35 12-106

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Washington -- Nigel Rodgers 3-13; Calvin Daniels 5-7; Antwone Parker 23-110, 3 TDs; Lee Watkins 3-1; Mat Tanner 7-(-15). Goldsboro -- Kelvin Ingram 12-38; Treme Boone 12-4; Q.T. Battle 12-47; Aaron Phifer 2-4; Jacob Sykes 1-5; Charles Grantham 1-(-9); Adrian Lewis 1-(-10).

PASSING -- Washington -- Mat Tanner 7-10-0 76. Goldsboro -- Treme Boone 3-11-0 15; Adrian Lewis 0-1-0 0.

RECEIVING -- Washington -- Calvin Daniels 3-24; Harry Arthur 1-15; Nigel Rodgers 2-31, TD. Goldsboro -- Tyshon Lofton 1-10; Aaron Phifer 2-5.