CBA takes fourth straight from EW

By Steve Roush
Published in Sports on October 30, 2005 2:13 AM

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PIKEVILLE -- Cortez Gilbert and Dontay Taylor scored two touchdowns each and Thomas Pilkington threw for three scores and ran for another as Charles B. Aycock beat cross-county rival Eastern Wayne 44-27 on Friday night.

It was the Golden Falcons' (6-4, 2-2 Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference) fourth straight victory over the Warriors (4-5-1, 0-4 ECC).

"This was a big win against a big rival," said Pilkington, who finished his night 15-of-24 passing for 288 yards. "We had a great week of practice and our offense was clicking."

Aycock took advantage of three first-half turnovers and took a 18-0 lead into halftime as the Falcons defense held Eastern Wayne to 53 yards of total offense and just four first downs in the first two quarters.

The second half, however, was a much different story as the Warriors erupted for 20 points in the third quarter and outscored the Falcons by a point in the final two frames. Tailback Andrew Blevins, who didn't get a carry in the first half, ran wild after halftime -- rolling up a whopping 174 yards for Eastern Wayne on just nine carries as QB Tyler Ham threw for three touchdowns and ran for another.

Ham was 12-of-22 passing for 129 yards and an interception. Clint Rouse was his favorite receiver, hauling in six passes for 71 yards and two touchdowns

"We just couldn't overcome those three turnovers in the first half," Warriors coach Jeff Price said. "I really don't know what happened, it's a mystery. If I could solve it, I would. In the first half, our defense played well, but we couldn't do anything offensively. Then in the second half, our offense came to life but our defense went belly-up."

After the Falcons recovered a fumble at the Eastern Wayne 32, it took just three plays for Aycock to get into the end zone as Pilkington capped off the drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Thomas Artis to make the score 6-0 midway through the opening quarter.

Artis finished with a team-high six receptions for 88 yards and the score.

Aycock recovered another fumble at the EW 13, converted on a fourth-and-1, and Taylor finished the five-play drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to up the Falcons lead to 13-0 early in the second quarter.

On their next drive, Pilkington found Artis for 25 yards and hooked up with Taylor for a 36-yard pass play to drive the Falcons to the Warrior 10, where Gilbert finished the drive with his first touchdown of the night, a 10-yard TD reception from Pilkington.

"We had a pretty good first half," Falcons coach Randy Pinkowski said. "Defensively, we let down in the second half and I wasn't happy with the way they played during those final two quarters, but our offense was moving the ball well tonight and stepped it up. Our defense has carried us a good bit this season, but it was our offense that carried us in the second half."

Eastern Wayne drove 57 yards for a touchdown on the opening possession of the third quarter as Ham finished the drive with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Rouse to cut Aycock's lead to 18-6.

The Falcons, however, answered right back as Gilbert made a nifty move and outran five Warriors for a 53-yard score to push the lead to 24-6.

"I made the first man miss, then the second man took my feet out from under me," said Gilbert, who ran for a team-high 81 yards on seven attempts. "I put my hand down to keep my balance and took off. The line did a good job for us with their downfield blocking and gave us some good running room."

A 61-yard run by Blevins took the ball inside the Aycock 1, where Ham sneaked it in to answer the Falcons score, but Pilkington went deep two plays later and hit Tim Alston for a 58-yard touchdown to expand the home team's advantage to 30-13.

Eastern Wayne, however, wouldn't quit and pulled with 10 as Ham threw a 13-yard strike to Riley Wilkins as Aycock took a 30-20 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Golden Falcons, however, put the game out of reach as rushing touchdowns by Taylor and Pilkington made the score 44-20.

Falcons defensive back Montez Ham intercepted a Tyler Ham pass in the end zone to thwart a potential Eastern Wayne score early in the fourth quarter, but the senior QB got his third TD pass late in the contest as he hit Rouse for an 8-yard touchdown to round out the scoring.

Charles B. Aycock will finish off the season this Friday as the Golden Falcons host Southern Wayne (6-4, 2-2 ECC). Eastern Wayne will host Kinston (0-10) in its regular season finale on Friday.

"It was a big win for us here tonight, but we still have a lot to work on," Pilkington said. "We've got another big game ahead of us."

"(Southern Wayne is) a pretty darn good football team," Pinkowski said. "They're well-coached and they have that big running back, the (Anthony) Council kid."