Goldsboro halted by Southwest Onslow
By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 5, 2009 11:56 PM
JACKSONVILLE -- The better team won.
Disciplined and efficient from the opening snap, unbeaten and top-seeded Southwest Onslow controlled the trenches and rolled past Goldsboro 42-6 on a rainy Friday evening at Stallions Stadium.
The Stallions (15-0 overall) earned a date against Western champion Albemarle in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-AA state championship next Saturday. Kickoff is 4 p.m. at BB&T Field in Winston-Salem.
For the first time since a mid-September loss against county rival Charles B. Aycock, the Cougars (12-3) failed to control the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball. Southwest held Goldsboro to a season- and playoff-low 39 yards rushing, and just 149 yards of total offense.
The heralded backfield of Andre Montgomery, Freddie Jones and Vontarius Kornegay combined for 47 yards on 19 totes. Montgomery emerged the area rushing champion in total yards (2,002), while Kornegay spent the evening sidelined with an ankle injury.
"We were real disappointed about that (our line play)," said Goldsboro head coach Eric Reid. "Our offensive and defensive linemen have really matured this season, but tonight I think we just saw a better ball club.
"That's what it boiled down to."
Southwest limited Goldsboro to one first down and 26 yards of total offense in the opening half. A Cougar fumble led to the Stallions' third touchdown early in the second quarter.
"We came out, played physical and just got after them because we knew they had a big football team," said Southwest head coach Phil Padgette. "We just smacked them in the mouth and worked real hard tonight. The defense was excellent."
The Stallions' offense wasn't bad, either.
Backfield mates Derrick Johnson and Chris Hairston combined for 252 of Southwest's 338 rushing yards -- the most allowed by the Cougars in the postseason. Johnson scored touchdowns on runs of 31 and 40 yards, while Hairston added a 56-yard scoring gallop midway through the third period.
Southwest converted its first six possessions into touchdowns.
"I hope we didn't use them all up," laughed Padgette after the game.
Goldsboro avoided the shutout on Corteiz Sprangle's 59-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Devon Deshields. Sprangle completed seven passes to five different receivers for a game-high 110 yards. Deshields finished with two receptions for a team-best 62 yards.
The Cougars had their 10-game win streak snapped and fell to 0-2 in regional championship contests since 2002. The season-ending loss marked the final contest for 11 seniors -- Kornegay, Chris Gray, Matthew Woodard, Demetrio Irby, Chris Suggs, Anthony Miller, Devon Williams, Levonte Langston, Wayne Hammonds, Obadiah Speight and Monte Holloman.