Rosewood humbles East Carteret
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on September 26, 2009 11:12 PM
Brick by brick.
Rosewood's young football team keeps building.
The Eagles continued their construction process with a 21-6 non-conference win over East Carteret on Friday night at Branch Pope Field.
Behind a solid rushing attack the Eagles controlled the ball and the field position for much of the game. Sloppy conditions slowed down both squads and led to six turnovers.
"It was pretty messy, but I thought our guys did a good job of handling the conditions," said Rosewood head coach Robert Britt. "We played very good on defense and we did enough on offense to create some scoring chances."
The Eagles jumped in front in the opening minutes when the Mariners fumbled a punt at their own nine-yard line. Two plays later Jyhkia Applewhite found pay dirt around the left end of the offensive line.
Both teams turned stagnant for the remainder of the first half.
At the intermission the combatants tallied just 72 total yards of offense and six points.
Rosewood gained some offensive footing in the third quarter. On their second possession of the second half the Eagles turned to Kevin Lewis, who carried the ball on three consecutive plays before the Eagles employed Jamie Wooten for a nine-yard touchdown run.
Applewhite toted the two-point conversion.
After an East Carteret fumble with two minutes to play in the quarter, Eagles' quarterback Taylor McGill found Will Beasley for a 27-yard scoring strike. Cody Harris added the extra point.
"We keep growing within this offense and tonight was another step," said Britt. "We have to keep looking at where we can create positive matchups and where we can make plays. Our guys were able to set some things up by making a play in the rushing game."
Rosewood appeared to be headed for a shutout on defense until the Mariners got on the board with less than two minutes to play. Quarterback Mason Shady found Tyler Nolan with a 14-yard pass in the corner of the end zone.
On the night Rosewood out-gained East Carteret 163-128. Lewis accounted for 102 yards on the ground on 22 carries. McGill completed three passes for 46 yards.
The Eagles (2-4 overall) will have a bye next Friday night before taking on Carolina 1-A Conference foe Ayden-Grifton in two weeks.
"For the last couple years Ayden-Grifton has been at the top of our league," said Britt. "I think it is an advantage to play them first with two weeks to prepare. We will enjoy this win tonight and we will start getting ready for our next game on Monday."