Barnes' late TD secures win for Aycock

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 17, 2004 2:01 AM

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PIKEVILLE -- Shonte Barnes watched the play develop.

Thomas Artis assumed lead-blocking duties and helped stretched the West Carteret defense out near the Charles B. Aycock sideline. Artis cleanly stopped the one defender between Barnes and the end zone.

Barnes never flinched.

Artis sealed the defender inside and Barnes bounced toward the outside for a 38-yard insurance touchdown. The fourth-quarter score clinched Charles B. Aycock's 13-3 victory before a standing-room-only Homecoming crowd Friday evening.

"Once I got the football, Thomas laid a key block and I knew it was a touchdown from there," Barnes said. "That's our option play which is designed to run like that. They (offensive line) executed well on that play."

Veteran Golden Falcons coach Randy Pinkowski followed Barnes from inside the coach's box and stopped at the 25-yard line. Barnes eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark on the touchdown and Pinkowski immediately asked for the football.

He walked toward the bench, shook Barnes' hand and told him to take the ball to his mother -- Retha Applewhite.

"It was nice," a grinning Barnes said.

Barnes toted the pigskin 18 times for 116 yards -- his fourth straight 100-yard performance and fifth overall in eight contests. He raised his touchdown total to a county-leading 13 with three games remaining in the regular season.

Neither team generated much offense in the opening half.

Aycock (5-3, 3-2 ECC) collected two first downs on its first two possessions, but stalled each time after running four plays. Two other possessions resulted in punts as the teams battled to a scoreless tie through 12 minutes of play.

West Carteret (2-6, 0-5) threatened to post the game's first score early in the second quarter. A questionable roughing the kicker infraction extended a 16-play drive as the Patriots moved inside the Golden Falcons' five-yard line. But the defense bowed its neck and broke up a fourth-down pass on the three-yard line.

The Patriots, 1-3 on the road this season, never ventured inside the Golden Falcons' red zone after squandering that possession.

"The defense really kept us in this thing the whole night long," Pinkowski said. "They really just banged and banged and banged. We slipped up here and there, and let some yardage go in a couple of situations.

"That's how we play. We are a defensive-oriented team and we try to get our offense in position for a short drive to win the game."

Aycock sputtered on offense until the final two minutes of the opening half.

Wesley Whitley completed a pair of first-down passes to Dontay Taylor, which moved the ball to the Patriots' 25-yard line. Taylor busted loose for a 23-yard gain, giving the Golden Falcons a first-and-goal at the two.

Barnes plunged in from the two with 19 seconds to go on the clock.

"We kind of had a sense of urgency and we opened up the playbook a little bit," Whitley said. "We knew we had to score before halftime. We went down and got it done."

The Golden Falcons punted away two second-half possessions before Barnes' game-winning stroll late in the final quarter. Barnes accounted for nearly two-thirds of Aycock's offense, which ran 41 plays compared to 59 for the Patriots.

Senior linebacker Turner Wood led the defense with 13 tackles, while junior defensive back Cortez Gilbert added 11. Senior outside linebacker John Hewitt collected nine stops.

Aycock continues Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference play next week at South Central. The Patriots entertain three-time defending league champion West Craven.

West Carteret 0 3 0 0 -- 0

C.B. Aycock 0 6 0 7 -- 13

Second quarter

WC -- Dodge 42 FG, 5:40

CBA -- Barnes 2 run (kick failed), 0:19.0

Fourth quarter

CBA -- Barnes 38 run (Burke kick), 4:22

W. Carteret CBA

First downs 12 12

Rushes-yds 34-59 32-155

Passing yds 173 32

Total yards 232 187

Att.-Comp.-Int. 25-10-0 9-2-0

Fumbles-lost 2-0 0-0

Punts-avg 5-38.6 7-37.4

Penalties-yds 6-45 4-44

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- C.B. Aycock -- Wes Whitley 3-1; Shonte Barnes 18-116, 2 TDs; Dontay Taylor 6-25; Turner Wood 1-4; Chris Byrd 2-5; Rashawn Allen 1-0; Spruce Lee 1-4. West Carteret -- Frankie Dennis 2-(-1); Jake Anfinson 11-17; Corey Desteunder 12-16; Brad Campen 7-21; James Fox 2-5.

PASSING -- C.B. Aycock -- Wes Whitley 2-9-0 32. West Carteret -- Corey Desteunder 8-22-0 107; James Fox 2-3-0 66.

RECEIVING -- C.B. Aycock -- Dontay Taylor 2-32. West Carteret -- James Fox 5-89; Brad Campen 2-10; Jake Anfinson 1-8; Kris Destefano 1-25; Frankie Dennis 1-45.