Pinkowski: Golden Falcons will benefit from loss

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on August 28, 2005 2:10 AM

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CLAYTON -- Charles B. Aycock coach Randy Pinkowski was obviously pleased with a 40-0 win over West Carteret in the Golden Falcons' season opener at home.

Still, he believes his team can learn more in the long run from Friday night's 42-14 loss at Clayton, than they did from the lop-sided victory in week one.

"I think this will pay bigger dividends to us down the road. Playing Clayton will show you what you aren't doing well," said Aycock coach Randy Pinkowski, who was an 11-year assistant with the Comets before coming to Aycock. "We go from shutout football to giving up 42 points. There is a serious flaw there that needs to be corrected.

"Last week was not a good measuring stick, I said, 'this would be the measuring stick,' and you see where we came out on it."

The Comets' backfield trio of quarterback Chris Archer, running back Demeatrus Watson and fullback Athan Parker helped Clayton pile up 305 yards of rushing offense as Aycock (1-1) had difficulty containing the Comets' ground game -- on the outside and between the tackles.

On Clayton's first nine carries, Parker, Watson and Archer combined for 120 yards, six first downs and two touchdowns as the Comets took a 14-0 lead after one quarter. In the second quarter, Parker posted a 25-yard touchdown, while Archer rushed in for his second score three minutes before halftime to make it 28-0.

Clayton (1-1) was not flagged for any penalties in the first half and finished with only one penalty for 10 yards on the game. Conversely, Aycock had six penalties for more than 50 yards, including two controversial unsportsmanlike conduct flags that aided the Comets' final scoring drive of the half.

Meanwhile, Aycock's offense had only five first downs before halftime with two turnovers, two punts and one turnover on downs. The Falcons' best scoring chance came late in the half when quarterback Thomas Pilkington completed three passes of 10 or more yards -- two to Montez Ham and one to Dontay Taylor -- but, the drive ended as time expired.

"We were trying some different things in the first half, but we just never could get our feet on the ground. If the defense isn't playing well, you're offense better be moving it an holding on to the football," Pinkowski said. "When the defense isn't playing well and you go three-and-out on offense, that spells trouble for you."

Aycock came out of the gate improved after intermission. The Falcons stopped Clayton's first drive near midfield, then took only three plays to get on the scoreboard to make it 28-6 five minutes into the half. Spruce Lee had a 29-yard catch-and-run on a screen pass, and he finished off the quick drive with a 17-yard touchdown run around the left side.

Lee finished with a team-best 54 yards on 11 carries, while teammate Dontay Taylor had 42 yards on 14 rushes.

Clayton got back to work on its next chance, marching 68 yards on 11 plays as Watson rushed in from one-yard out for the second of his three touchdowns to push the Comets' margin up to 35-6.

Set up by a 24-yard pass from Pilkington to Tim Alton, who finished with four grabs for 51 yards, the Falcons posted their final score early in the fourth on a three-yard plunge by Lee. Alton made a leaping catch in the back, left corner of the end zone on a two-point conversion pass from Pilkington.

Each team turned it over on downs once more, before Clayton put the finishing touches on its first win of the season when Watson capped a stellar evening with a 41-yard scamper to the end zone.

"We did not play well offensively last week. We wanted to get better this week, and I think we did that," said Clayton offensive coordinator Randy Parker.

Pilkington finished 10-for-17 with 107 yards through the air with one interception in his second varsity start under center. Archer only passed six times for Clayton but was an efficient 5-for-6 for 57 yards.

From the safety position, Cortez Gilbert led the Aycock defense with 16 tackles and six assists with one sack. Travis Milligan added five tackles and one assist.

Aycock looks to bounce back on Friday at Greene Central (0-2).

Notes: Two players, one from each team, were ejected in the first half after a scuffle near midfield. The ejection was the first in Pinkowski's eight-year tenure at Aycock ... Pinkowski is now 0-3 against Clayton ... Lee now has four rushing touchdowns on the season for Aycock.

C.B. Aycock 0 0 6 8 -- 14

Clayton 14 14 7 7 -- 42

First quarter

CHS -- Archer 29 run (Mullins kick), 8:10

CHS -- Watson 36 run (Mullins kick), 5:52

Second quarter

CHS -- Parker 25 run (Mullins kick), 6:25

CHS -- Archer 8 run (Mullins kick), 2:55

Third quarter

CBA -- Lee 17 run (kick failed), 7:29

CHS -- Watson 1 run (Mullins kick), 1:49

Fourth quarter

CBA -- Lee 3 run (Alston pass from Pilkington), 11:22

CHS -- Watson 41 run (Mullins kick), 4:37

CBA CHS

First downs 11 21

Rushes-yds. 37-100 50-305

Passing yards 107 57

Total yards 207 362

Att.-Comp.-Int. 17-10-1 6-5-0

Penalties-yds. 6-57 1-10

Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-0

Punts-avg. 2-27.5 1-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- C.B. Aycock -- Dontay Taylor 14-42; Spruce Lee 11-54, 2 TD; Thomas Pilkington 5-(minus 15); Jake Garris 1-7; Carlos Dobbins 4-12; Aaron Allen 1-5. Clayton -- Athan Parker 14-115, TD; Demeatrus Watson 18-136, 3 TD; Chris Archer 13-37, TD; Jeff Zawicki 4-15; C.J. Adams 1-2.

PASSING -- C.B. Aycock -- Thomas Pilkington 10-17-1 107. Clayton -- Chris Archer 5-6-0 57.

RECEIVING -- C.B. Aycock -- Tim Alston 4-51; Spruce Lee 2-32; Dontay Taylor 2-9; Montez Ham 2-38. Clayton -- Trey Snide 2-16; Jeff Zawicki 3-41.