North Johnston rallies past Rosewood in second half

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on October 14, 2007 2:16 AM

• Print
• Email

Senior quarterback Cliff Holloman threw three touchdowns -- two in the fourth quarter -- and ran for another to lead North Johnston to a 29-26 come-from-behind victory at Rosewood in Class 1-A Carolina Conference game on Friday night.

The Panthers (5-3, 1-1 Carolina) were without top rusher E.J. Knight and a handful of other players. North Johnston sputtered on offense, gaining only 37 yards on 22 carries and recording only nine first downs to Rosewood's 20.

"We're the walking wounded right now," Panthers head coach Tom Nelson said. "We hung in there and we scraped, and I'm proud of them tonight."

Holloman fired touchdown passes of 30 yards to both Pierre Dickerson and Travis Pope in second half. The latter throw to Dickerson cut the lead to 26-21 with 8:35 left in the game.

"The quarterback made a great pass and their kid made a great catch," said Rosewood head coach Robert Britt.

After stopping Rosewood on the ensuing drive, Holloman marched the Panthers back down the field and completed a 10-yard touchdown to Jonathan Wood with 2:40 left, and Holloman ran in the two-point conversion to make it a three-point advantage and give the Panthers the win.

"Cliff played well and we had some other guys step up and come up big for us tonight," Nelson said.

Holloman completed 11-of-20 attempts for 174 yards.

"They were able to find the holes in our zone pass coverage and able to get the ball down on our side of the field," said Britt.

The Eagles (2-6, 0-2 Carolina) took the ensuing possession and drove into the Panthers' red zone. The game ended on a fourth-down incompletion inside North Johnston's 10-yard line.

"I thought the kids played hard and with a lot of heart. We just couldn't keep them from scoring those last two drives."

Joseph Willis snagged two touchdown passes in the absence of starter Stephen McIntyre, who suffered an injury early in the week.

"He stepped up big for us," said Britt.

Quarterback Sean Cornman tallied a 7-yard touchdown run before halftime. Eric Martel added a fourth-quarter touchdown before the Panthers started their comeback.

Editor's note: The Wilson Daily Times contributed to this story.