Aycock earns rematch with Hunt

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on October 21, 2008 1:46 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- Charles B. Aycock got the rematch it wanted.

What it does with it remains to be seen.

The Golden Falcons brushed off a shaky first half en route to an 8-3 victory over Southern Wayne in the semifinals of the Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference tournament on Monday evening.

Ranked No. 9 in the state, C.B. Aycock earned a berth in the tournament finals against No. 13 Wilson Hunt at 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening in Pikeville. The Golden Falcons (18-1 overall) and Warriors (16-3-1) split a pair of meetings during the regular season, with each club winning at home.

"I think our kids looked over Southern Wayne tonight for the Hunt rematch, and who wouldn't?," said Aycock co-head coach Byron Adkins. "It's going to be a great game, there's going to be a lot of people here. I'm glad Southern Wayne is out of the way and we can concentrate on hunt."

C.P. Cranford scored on a header off a corner kick in the 12th minute, putting the Golden Falcons in front. Moments later, Ryan Martin slipped through the Southern Wayne defense and past the Saints keeper before finishing all alone to extend the lead to 2-0.

Southern Wayne (4-10) got on the board in the 21st minute thanks to a gift from Aycock keeper Brandon Davis. Davis misplayed a ball in front of his own goal that rolled by him and into the open net.

Chase Thompson added to the Golden Falcons' cushion just before halftime when he collected his own rebound on a shot that clanged off the post, and followed with a second shot that found the post before ricocheting into the goal.

"Southern Wayne came to play tonight," said Adkins. "Our kids tried to ram the ball through instead of bringing it around. I pulled them off and we talked about it and it got better."

Martin, Gavin Forrest and Tucker Pearson each scored in the first 15 minutes of the second half as Aycock's lead swelled to 6-1. Cranford and Thompson both tacked on goals for the Golden Falcons.

The Saints didn't fold in the second half. Miguel Torres and Jesus Rodriguez each scored on Golden Falcons backup keeper Charlie Howell.

"I'm proud of all these guys for all their hard work, especially the four seniors," said Southern Wayne head coach Scott Underhill. "The record doesn't show it, but we should have won more games than we did during the season and they know it. They were much, much better than what they started out with at the beginning of the season."