Greene Central collects 2nd victory of season

Published in Sports on September 18, 2005 2:08 AM

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KINSTON -- Too much emotion is rarely a negative thing in your typical high school football game.

But Friday night's first-ever meeting between Kinston and Greene Central was anything but typical.

A scary injury to Kinston's Terry Locust stirred a fiery Kinston comeback, but that same energy came back to haunt the Vikings in the form of four defensive personal foul penalties as the Rams held on for a 26-19 victory at Viking Field.

The loss keeps Kinston winless at 0-5, while Greene Central is now 2-3.

But won-loss records weren't on anyone's mind when Locust took a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit late in the third quarter.

With his team trailing 18-6 and facing a second-and-eight from its own 16, Locust and Greene Central defender Mike Sims collided in mid-air while chasing an errant Antonio Whitfield pass.

Locust was briefly knocked unconscious, and as a precaution was carted off the field in an ambulance and taken to Lenoir Memorial Hospital.

He was treated and released with a possible pinched nerve, Kinston Athletics Director Wells Gulledge said.

After an approximate 30-minute delay, play was resumed with 36.3 seconds left in the third quarter.

The fired-up Vikings immediately connected on a 66-yard pass from Whitfield to Terrance Graham, and two plays later Michael Thompson rambled in from five yards out to cut the deficit to 18-13.

The emotion carried over to the ensuing kickoff, as a solid hit on the Rams' Harrison Walston knocked the ball loose and Kinston's Quinton Coles recovered at the 13.

Thompson scored his third touchdown of the game on the next snap and Kinston led 19-18 with 11:35 to play.

Unfortunately, the same emotion that helped the Vikings take the lead ended up costing them the game.

The Rams returned the kickoff to their own 17, but successive personal foul penalties moved the ball to the 47.

A 27-yard pass completion from Cameron Shelton to Walston was then followed by two more personal fouls on the Vikings, giving Greene Central a first and goal on the five.

Two plays later, Damien Phillips plowed in from the two for the eventual game-winning touchdown.

In an attempt to jump start his struggling offense, Greene Central coach Jim Bob Bryant spent the game in the press box, while defensive coordinator and assistant head coach Andre Quinerly ran the show on the sidelines.

The moved paid off as the Rams churned out 283 total yards, including 162 through the air.

"Our offensive line did a good job and we moved the ball very well at times," Bryant said. "I feel much better about the offense tonight than I did last week."

The only negative for Bryant was his team's five turnovers.

"We can't do that and expect to win many games," Bryant said. "But it's a good sign that we were able to overcome it."

Dreyan Willis finished with 11 tackles, while Brandon Sutton added 10 tackles to lead the Greene Central defense. Damian Moye contributed nine tackles and one sack as Charles Gamble (seven tackles) and Curtis Wright (six tackles) notched one sack each. Reggie Johnson intercepted once pass for the Rams.

The Vikings' road doesn't get any easier this week as they host Class 3-A power Rocky Mount. The Rams will try to even their record when they entertain James Kenan, of the Super-Six 1-A Conference.

Greene Central 6 0 12 8 26

Kinston 6 0 0 13 19

First quarter

KHS -- No. 1 15 run (kick failed), 9:04

GC -- Phillips 2 run (kick failed), 3:22

Third quarter

GC -- Willis 19 pass from Shelton (kick failed), 9:37

GC -- McNair 35 pass from Shelton (conversion failed), 2:51

Fourth quarter

KHS -- No. 1 5 run (kick good), 11:56

KHS -- No. 1 13 run (conversion failed), 11:35

GC -- Phillips 3 run (Willis pass from Shelton), 10:07

GC KHS

First downs 14 16

Rushes-yds. 28-124 38-151

Passing yds. 206 119

Total yds.

Att.-Comp.-Int. 17-10-2 25-6-1

Fumbles-lost 3-3 4-2

Penalties-yds. 2-14 10-125

Punts-avg. 4-30 7-36

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Greene Central -- Mario Brown 4-23; Damian Phillips 16-46; Dreyan Willis 3-49.

PASSING -- Greene Central -- Cameron Shelton 10-17-2 206, 2 TD.

RECEIVING -- Greene Central -- Tim McNair 2-45, TD; Dreyan Willis 4-67, TD; Harrison Walston 3-51; Damian Phillips 1-45.