Falcons drive to victory over Goldsboro

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 10, 2006 2:22 AM

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PIKEVILLE --Senior quarterback Thomas Pilkington orchestrated a methodical time-consuming series Friday evening that will undoubtedly become part of the Charles B. Aycock football folklore.

Fans will remember it as "The Drive."

Clinging to a precarious six-point lead, Pilkington calmly marched the Golden Falcons 95 yards to paydirt late in the fourth quarter. Dontay Taylor's 1-yard plunge capped the phenomenal 17-play, 10-minute possession which preserved Aycock's 38-32 conquest of county foe Goldsboro High at Hardy Talton Stadium.

"That's the kind of drive you've been hearing the Wilson Hunts and Claytons bragging about through the years," said a beaming Aycock coach Randy Pinkowski. "They always say that's what good football teams do."

The Golden Falcons (3-0) seized their ninth consecutive home win and 13th overall in their last 14 outings since 2004. Goldsboro suffered its fourth straight loss and remained winless in its last nine contests against county opposition since 2003.

The Cougars pulled within 32-26 on Tim Kornegay's 3-yard bootleg run toward the end of the third period. Goldsboro kicked off and Aycock's Joseph Toler back-pedaled to pick up the rolling ball.

Toler got dropped at the 5-yard line.

"I thought 'this will tell me right now where we're at'", said Pinkowski, who wondered if his team could sustain a long drive. "When it's time to go, it's time to go and that's what they did tonight."

Goldsboro nearly stopped the Golden Falcons twice, but committed two crucial penalties. Officials flagged the Cougars for 12 men on the field on a 4th-and-2 play inside the Aycock 15-yard line. Two plays later, the Golden Falcons benefited from a defensive pass interference penalty which put the ball near the midfield stripe.

"If I had called timeout, it would have never happened," said Goldsboro coach Maurice Jackson of the 12-man infraction. "I thought we had 11 (on the field). We took the penalty when we didn't need to take the penalty.

"We had them pinned deep in their own territory and momentum was rolling with us."

Aycock moved into Goldsboro territory and appeared to stall on 3rd-and-19 at the Cougars' 42-yard line. Pilkington took the snap, stepped back and fired a screen pass to Taylor.

Taylor turned upfield and trotted 31 yards down the sideline.

"Coach (Jay) Westbrook made a heckuva call on that screen pass," said Pinkowski. "He had saved it all night. It was a beautiful throw; great catch and the kids executed it to a 'T'".

Four plays after the reception, Taylor collected his third touchdown of the night and seventh overall in three games. The 5-foot-10, 181-pound senior finished with 152 yards rushing on 35 totes.

Goldsboro answered with a 13-yard touchdown from Tim Kornegay to Jamar Branch for the six-point finale.

"There were people all around who had doubts that we would come in here and give a good showing," said Jackson. "We came in to win this ball game. We asked our kids to have fun and fly around, and that's what they did."

The two teams combined for four touchdowns within a six-minute stretch in the opening quarter. Goldsboro's Hykeen Coley, who rushed for 116 yards in the first half, scored on runs of 6 and 76 yards. Pilkington threw a 58-yard strike to Montez Ham and Taylor provided a 1-yard TD run.

An interception and fumble aided Aycock's cause in the second quarter. The Golden Falcons converted the miscues into 13 points and led 26-12 at halftime. Taylor's 1-yard run early in the third period boosted the lead to 32-12 before Goldsboro responded with back-to-back touchdowns.

"We needed this game," said Pinkowski. "Goldsboro came here and played a physical game. It was banging, banging, banging and we needed to see that.

"Goldsboro is the most-physical football team we've faced yet."

Aycock returns to action next Friday at Wilson Fike, while Goldsboro continues its five-game road swing with a trip to Southern Wayne. Each game kicks off at 7:30 p.m.

Notes: Inside linebacker Travis Milligan and free safety Jacob Pendleton each had six tackles and one assist for Aycock. ... Ham had four stops and three assists. ... LB Dan Bryant paced Goldsboro's defense with eight solo tackles. ... Fellow LB Andrew Phifer posted seven tackles and five assists. ... Pilkington finished with 152 yards passing on eight completions. ... Kornegay completed all three passes for 85 yards to Branch -- a first-year varsity starter. ... The two teams combined to run 104 offensive plays, including 62 by Aycock. ... Officials penalized both teams a combined 252 yards on 29 flags.