No. 2-ranked Rocky Mount silences Saints

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on September 23, 2007 2:20 AM

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DUDLEY -- Southern Wayne rebounded from an 0-3 start.

Now the Saints have two weeks to handle another setback.

No. 2-ranked Rocky Mount presented head coach B.W. Holt with career win No. 300 in its 49-7, non-conference victory at the Doyle Whitfield Athletic Complex on Friday evening. The loss snapped the Saints' modest two-game win streak.

Brian Goodwin's 65-yard punt return for a touchdown midway through the first quarter put the Gryphons on top 7-0, and opened the floodgates on what proved to be a long night for Southern Wayne.

Offensively, the Saints struggled to find a rhythm. Three-and-outs and turnovers only worsened the situation, forcing the Saints' defense to spend the majority of the evening on the field. Christopher Pittman's fumble recovery and 30-yard return for a touchdown late in the first quarter put Rocky Mount on top 14-0.

"We expected to play them a lot tougher than what we did," Southern Wayne head coach Bob Warren said. "The first half I felt like we gave some easy points up. They're a great team and they caused those things to happen. Getting behind early I felt like that hurt us."

The Gryphons (6-0 overall) kept the Saints off-balance using a bevy of misdirection plays and short passes. Marquavis Alston added a pair of touchdown runs in the second quarter, extending the lead to 28-0.

Southern Wayne stifled its offense with penalties and turnovers. The Gryphons recovered three fumbles and forced the Saints to hand over the ball on downs twice.

Bruising fullback Kelvin Flow managed to rush for 140 yards on 19 carries, but he also saw a steady diet of Rocky Mount's second-team defense in the second half.

"We had some good success offensively in spurts," Warren said. "We just could not be consistent. We were sort of limited to what plays we could be successful with. I credit their defense, too. It's tough to be consistent.

"We're a ball-control offense, and when we aren't consistently able to make first downs, it makes it a little more difficult on us."

Jordan William's 45-yard touchdown pass to Kendrick Thompson late in the fourth quarter helped Southern Wayne (2-4) avoid the shutout.

Now, Warren and his coaching staff will look to use a week off to once again try and pick up the pieces.

"We're just going to keep going and keep working to get better," Warren said. "I'm proud of our kids for getting out there and giving the effort that they gave. We're going to bounce back there's no doubt about it. Our kids will respond. The one thing we have to learn is when things get tough we have to work to make something positive happen. You have to respond to adversity, and if you don't things get away from you sometimes."

The Saints will host archrival Eastern Wayne on Oct. 5 in the Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference opener for both teams.

Rocky Mount 14 14 7 14 -- 49

Southern Wayne 0 0 0 7 -- 7

First quarter

RM -- Goodwin 65 punt return (Hahula kick), 7:00

RM -- Pittman 30 fumble return (Hahula kick), 1:02

Second quarter

RM -- Alston 7 run (Hahula kick), 8:28

RM -- Alston 18 run (Bunn run), :42

Third quarter

RM -- Jenkins 2 pass from Bunn (Hahula kick), 5:17

Fourth quarter

RM -- Boulware 1 run (Hahula kick), 11:28

RM -- Marshall 30 run (Hahula kick), 8:24

SW -- Thompson 45 pass from Williams (Flow kick); 5:54

RM SW

First downs 18 15

Rushes-yds 32-239 43-255

Passing yds 91 65

Total yards 330 320

C-A-I 8-16-0 2-7-0

Fumbles-lost 2-0 4-3

Penalties-yds 7-65 5-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Rocky Mount -- Marquavis Alston 10-99, 2 TDs; Derek Hagans 6-59; T.J. Marshall 3-46, TD; Jordan Ford 3-26; Kendrick Boulware 2-12; Brian Goodwin 1-3; Hiawatha Bunn 1-4; Matthew Coburn 2 - (-10). Southern Wayne -- Kelvin Flow 19-140; Tristan Bass 13-68; James Jones 6-57; Kendrick Thompson 1-7; Eric Hinton 1- (-2); Jordan Williams 3-(-15).

PASSING -- Rocky Mount -- Hiawatha Bunn 5-10-0 59, TD; Chris Berry 3-6-0 33. Southern Wayne -- Jordan Williams 2-7-0 65, TD.

RECEIVING -- Rocky Mount -- Keith Strickland 3-49; Jacobi Jenkins 2-24, TD; Jordan Ford 1-16; Derek Hagans 1-6; Quinson Hartzog 1-6. Southern Wayne -- Kendrick Thompson 2-65, TD.