Golden Falcon offense too much for young Rosewood

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on September 3, 2008 1:10 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- The ideal season-opener for a young Class 1-A squad wouldn't be a trip to state-ranked 3-A Charles B. Aycock.

A couple of rainouts placed Rosewood into that precarious situation on Tuesday and the end result was an 8-0 loss that should serve as an opportunity to grow up fast.

"In our starting group we had six players that this was their first varsity game," said Eagles head coach Daniel Mitchell. "We're young, we're inexperienced and we played an outstanding team. Hopefully we just need some time against opponents to try to get people in positions."

The Golden Falcons needed less than six minutes to get on the board as Alex Rodriguez had the ball inadvertently played to his feet by a Rosewood defender. Rodriguez caught Eagles keeper Will Grantham off his line and his blast put Aycock ahead 1-0.

Tucker Pearson beat Grantham in the right corner less than three minutes later. Tyson Pearson headed home David Burke's throw-in in the 17th minute to give the Golden Falcons a 3-0 advantage.

Aycock (6-0 overall) dominated possession in the first half, keeping constant pressure on the Eagles' defense. The Golden Falcons registered 16 shots on goal in the opening 40 minutes while Rosewood failed to get a shot off.

Travis Musselman's cross through the box in the 27th minute landed squarely at the feet of Chase Thompson. Thompson's sliding goal increased Aycock's cushion to 4-0. Thompson tallied a goal off a Rodriguez throw-in before adding his third score of the half just before intermission.

"Right now we're just working on our passing and moving the ball," said Golden Falcons assistant Scott Summers. "This really helped us."

The Golden Falcons focused more on polishing their passing in the second half and less on scoring. Tyler Lynch and C.P. Cranford found the back of the net to cap the scoring.

Rosewood managed to get a shot on goal in the second half. Grantham made several noteworthy saves and the Eagles gained some valuable experience in the process.

"We knew it was going to be tough coming in and what type of team that they had," said Mitchell. "The main thing for us is to try to learn from it and try to improve and get ready and just try to get better each game."

Rosewood entertains Hobbton at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

Up to fifth in the latest state 3-A rankings, Aycock will have a final tune-up at North Lenoir on Wednesday before hosting previously ranked Wilson Fike on Monday. The Golden Falcons earned a 1-0 victory at Fike earlier this season.

"We try to tell them to take it one day at a time, one game at a time," said Summers. "We definitely have some big games coming up and we do plan on playing hard in that (Fike) game. We're still working up to playing to our full potential because these guys have a lot of potential."