Prep football notebook

By Staff Reports
Published in Sports on August 20, 2012 1:49 PM

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SNOW HILL -- Youth.

Depth.

Confidence.

Greene Central built on all three of those characteristics Friday evening.

The Rams played solid in spurts and showed some fatigue in the fourth quarter against backyard rival North Lenoir. But they bounced back and scored in the final two minutes to turn back the Hawks, 21-19.

"I was so proud of how the offense and defense played together," Grantham said. "If the defense struggled, the offense came back and found a way to get a big play. If the offense struggled, the defense found a way to get a turnover or stop.

"Just seeing that kind of unity on our team, in years that we didn't have, means a lot to me."

Red-zone offense

North Lenoir head football coach Calvin Sutton had few white jerseys to put into the ballgame against Greene Central, especially when his team moved into the red zone Friday evening.

Just 21 players suited up for the Hawks, who converted three of four possessions inside the Rams' 20-yard line.

"I had some people out and we don't have a lot of depth right now," Sutton said. "I had people here and there, and we were working to get what we could. What these guys have to understand is that we have to play every down like it's our last down."

Tigers find themselves

DUDLEY -- There will be no midseason offensive changes this season for James Kenan.

The Tigers know the Wing-T and they are going to stick with it. The talented trio of Marcelias Sutton, Thomas Owens and Ja'Quan Williams combined for 289 yards rushing and two touchdowns against the Saints.

"We are what we are on offense for sure," Tigers head coach Ken Avent Jr. said. "We aren't going to try anything crazy. We just want to run our version of the Wing-T as efficiently as possible."

The Tigers started the 2011 season in the spread offense, but dumped the playbook when a quarterback injury shook up the team. Kenan played the Wing-T offense the rest of the season and won seven of its final nine games.

Building blocks

Rosewood orchestrated an 18-play drive that covered nearly 60 yards and spanned parts of the third and fourth quarters against Charles B. Aycock on Friday evening.

The Eagles converted twice on fourth down during the drive after being held to two yards of total offense and two first downs in the first half.

Unfortunately for Rosewood, the drive ended on quarterback Jacob Sasser's fumble on fourth down after he had scrambled to the Golden Falcons' 6-yard line. Despite the shutout, Eagles' head coach Robert Britt saw plenty to build on offensively.

"As the game went on we saw some maturity," Britt said. "I think capping off that drive with a touchdown would have helped us tremendously. The drive itself gives us confidence, but to have been able to finish it would have been better.

"But, our kids are tough and resilient and they are hard working. They won't let this one game make the season."