Prep football notebook
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on September 13, 2010 1:47 PM
County rival North Johnston dominated every aspect of the game during its 65-7 conquest of Princeton on Friday evening.
But there were some bright spots for the young Dawgs.
Sophomore quarterback Brad Williamson engineered a 15-play, 92-yard drive that eclipsed nine minutes during the second half. He completed one pass and handed the running duties to fellow sophomore Javontae Davis, who found some open real estate against the Panthers' base defense.
Davis' 2-yard plunge and Trevor Haines' PAT helped Princeton avoid its first shutout loss to North Johnston since 2005.
The 92-yard march accounted for most of the Dawgs' offensive output for the game. The Panthers limited their archrival to minus-56 yards of total offense in the opening half.
"We've just got to work every day and get better at what we're doing," said Princeton head coach Russell Williamson. "We can't hang our heads about it, we just have to get over it. We have to come back Monday, go to work and try to build on whatever successes we did have."
Dawgs get workout
North Johnston fed Princeton a steady diet of running plays throughout the opening half.
The backfield of Jacques Alston and Joe Price, along with the able legs of quarterback Boone Langley, kept the Dawgs busy in the trenches and on the outside.
Sophomore linebacker Andrew Wilmoth and senior defensive back Alan Cooke paced the Princeton defense with five stops apiece. Junior defensive back Matt Evans and senior linebacker Deric Copes each recorded three tackles.
Defensive manuever
Goldsboro head coach Eric Reid made a subtle change to his secondary before Friday night's contest against county rival Charles B. Aycock and the move turned out to play a major role in the Cougars' 35-13 victory.
Reid moved Michael Sykes from cornerback to his more natural position at safety and allowed Devon Deshields to play boundary corner. Reid also rolled double coverage over the top on almost every passing play toward talented Golden Falcon receiver Craig Murdock.
"We had to look at some things after our first two games and adjust our scheme," said Reid. "I think we put our secondary guys in some more comfortable spots and they performed much better."
Goldsboro had allowed over 400 yards passing during an 0-2 start that included losses to New Hanover and Eastern Wayne. Aycock quarterback Tyler Farmer completed 10 passes for 109 yards, but also threw two interceptions.