Defending 1-A state champ Mt. Airy shuts out Rosewood

By Phil Goble Jr.
Published in Sports on November 14, 2009 11:05 PM

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MOUNT AIRY -- Rosewood High coach Robert Britt just wanted his team to play well and see what championship football is all about Friday night.

The Eagles got his wish against Mount Airy, the reigning N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A (small-school) state champion. The No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Granite Bears rushed for more than 300 yards and rolled to a 52-0 win in the opening-round, western playoff game Friday evening.

"When you look at the score, it's never what you want it to be," said Britt. "But, they've beaten a lot of teams that way. We weren't the first team they beat like that and we won't be the last. The thing we can get out of this is that we know we still have a lot of work to do."

Rosewood did a lot of work at halftime -- work on its pride.

After a first half that produced zero first downs and four total yards of offense, the Eagles took the opening kickoff and needed just three plays to get their initial first down.

In their second offensive series, junior Jamie Wooten reeled off a 50-yard run -- Rosewood's longest play of the game. Unfortunately, he got stripped of the ball and the Bears recovered.

"We talked to the kids a lot about pride," said Britt about the halftime discussion. "We told the seniors this was their last half of football to give it all they had."

The last two quarters, Rosewood racked up 80 yards of offense and made its only trip inside Mount Airy territory.

"We just didn't do enough on offense the first half to know what we could do the second half," said Britt.

And the Granite Bears were just too strong.

Andy Temoney rushed for 193 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries to lead a ground game that gained 331 yards spread among nine ball carriers.

Mount Airy quarterback Ben Hinson completed 4-of-9 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns -- all in the first half -- and was picked off once by Logan Waters.

The Granite Bears (12-0 overall) extended their win streak to 28 games and have won 41 of their last 42 overall. The Eagles concluded the season 3-9.