Prep football notebook: Sanders pleased with players' no-quit attitude

By Staff Reports
Published in Sports on August 27, 2012 1:48 PM

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SEVEN SPRINGS -- The most challenging part of Aaron Sanders' job doesn't come down to wins and losses on Friday night.

It comes down to self confidence.

Spring Creek flashed numerous signs of its inner faith, especially in the second half, during a home-opening 42-14 loss to Lejeune.

Despite trailing 26-7 at halftime, the Gators came within two yards of holding the Devilpups on their opening drive of the third quarter. Lejeune scored on a fourth-down play, but Sanders beamed with excitement over his players' no-quit demeanor.

"At times in the past I feel like we've dropped our heads and didn't play the second half," Sanders said. "I'm really happy with how hard the boys fought tonight."

Know when to throw

Rosewood is not going to fool any opponent with a surprise air attack.

Head coach Robert Britt just hopes the Eagles can throw the ball effectively when called upon to keep opposing defenses honest. The plan worked to perfection on Friday night against Wake Christian.

Rosewood quarterback Jacob Sasser attempted two passes. The first, an incompletion, forced the Bulldogs to drop their safeties and opened up a long run by Joshua Davis.

The second was a perfectly-placed 42-yard touchdown strike to Jamari McGowan.

"I think we have the ability on offense to move the ball," Britt said. "Obviously the running game is a big part of that, but if we can mix in a few passes it will force teams to react defensively."

Growing pains

The results may not show on the scoreboard, but Eastern Wayne's young football team is growing up through experience.

The Warriors' defense showed signs of improvement in Friday night's 48-26 loss at Goldsboro. Eastern Wayne held the Cougars to 184 yards of total offense and Goldsboro sustained just one long drive all night.

The Warriors' defense was constantly put into difficult positions by six Eastern Wayne turnovers. The Cougars started 10 of their 15 possessions inside Warriors' territory.

"The difference between this year and where we've been is we played hard until the end tonight," Eastern Wayne head coach Bubba Williams said. "We didn't quit and we didn't stop. That is a sign of good things to come. Defensively, we fought hard and played a decent game."

On the DL?

DeVante Faison and Tre Hammonds might be a little sore when they arrive to practice this afternoon.

Each took a hard lick against Lejeune on Friday evening.

Faison went down after getting drilled from behind on a quarterback sack. He sat out a couple of plays and Anthony Russo ran the offense in his absence.

The stadium grew silent when Hammonds went down. The sophomore do-everything player sustained a left-ankle injury and was helped off the field. The trainer taped Hammonds up tight, he put his helmet back on and when he returned to the game, he immediately added another solo tackle to his statsheet.

"We'll have to see how they are looking Monday," Sanders said.