Wooten's 10-yar scamper seals Rosewood victory
By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on August 22, 2010 1:51 AM
Rosewood's offense was clicking, its new uniforms looked sharp and at halftime everything seemed to be under control.
Then Wake Christian woke up.
The Bulldogs took a 15-14 lead near the end of the third quarter, but the Eagles used a late 80-yard touchdown drive in a come-from-behind 20-15, season-opening win at Branch Pope Field.
Rosewood took over on its own 20-yard line with 41/2 minutes left in the game. The Eagles needed nine plays to find the end zone and Jamie Wooten's 10-yard touchdown run with 80 seconds left gave Rosewood the lead for good.
Rosewood had four plays that covered 10 yards or more on the winning drive. Logan Waters converted a key third-and-four from the Wake Christian 37-yard line by picking up just enough yardage to move the chains.
"We've got kids that have a lot of time invested into the program and they just kind of sucked it up," said Eagles head coach Robert Britt. "Early in the game, defensively they gave us a 40 look and we had some success up the middle. Once they gave us a 50 look, we were able to run the ball outside."
Ronnie Hatfield's kickoff return gave Wake Christian the ball at the Rosewood 45-yard line with 74 seconds remaining and one timeout. The Bulldogs struggled to move the football and Tyler Renfroe's pass on fourth down fell incomplete.
"We didn't focus in practice like we should of and it showed," said Wake Christian head coach David Williams. "Practice is when you win games. Not on Friday night. You win games Monday through Thursday, and it shows on Friday."
Wake Christian took a 15-14 lead on Renfroe's 19-yard third-down touchdown pass to Timothy Bunn with less than a minute left in the third quarter.
After Waters intercepted Renfroe at the Eagles' 1-yard line late in the third quarter, Rosewood gave the football right back.
Eagles' quarterback Taylor McGill fumbled a hand-off and the Bulldogs recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. The two-point conversion failed and Rosewood led 14-9.
Rosewood took the game's opening possession and marched 62 yards in fewer than four minutes. Jyhkia Applewhite's 8-yard touchdown run capped the drive. Cody Harris' extra point gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
Wake Christian recovered a fumble deep in Rosewood territory and Storm Baker's 23-yard field goal pulled the Bulldogs to within 7-3.
Applewhite took the ensuing kickoff 90 yards to give the Eagles a 14-3 lead.
Waters rushed 13 times for 136 yards in the first half and finished with 144 yards on 20 carries. He also had two interceptions.
"Logan is a tough runner," said Britt. "Even if we don't block it right or the defense does a good job of defending it, Logan is going to run it up in there and get us one or two yards. When we hit things right he can bust some plays."
During preseason practices Britt stressed the importance of developing some confidence against Wake Christian before Rosewood entertains Charles B. Aycock next Friday. With a comeback victory that featured a full gambit of emotions, the Eagles have some positives to build upon.
"For the first game, we went through a lot of emotions," said Britt. "Not only we were blessed enough to get the win, but we got the experience of a tough game and having to come back and make some plays to get the win."