Prep football notebook: Eastern Wayne keeps it simple in victory over South Lenoir

By Staff Reports
Published in Sports on September 3, 2012 1:48 PM

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Eastern Wayne did not try to trick South Lenoir with a bunch of wild formations or gadget plays on Friday night.

The Warriors, instead, lined up in the same formation almost every down and focused on executing their base plays. The result was a turnover-free, 22-14 victory over the Blue Devils.

"We would love to add things to the offense and I think we will do that going forward," Eastern Wayne head coach Guy Williams said. "But, in order to do that, we have to be able to run the basic things well and not make a bunch of drive-killing mistakes."

The Warriors finished with 226 yards of total offense and scored on two of their first three possessions in the win at Little Big Horn.

Go, Johnny, Go!

Princeton's PA announcer needs more soundbites.

While his infamous "First down, Bulldogs!" hung in the humid air on several occasions after Princeton logged a first down Friday evening, he really needed a button to push after each time Johnny Frazier ran the football against Dixon.

How about 10 seconds from Chuck Berry's 1958 classic hit "Johnny Be Goode"?

Frazier rambled for a game-high 175 yards and two touchdowns on 21 totes. Seven of his carries resulted in first downs -- all in the first half.

"He didn't turn the ball over, which is great and we focused on that all week," first-year PHS head coach Derrick Minor said. "He's a workhorse. He's going to give us all he's got. We've just got to get behind him and make sure we are highlighting him ... get our blocks on their blocks and let him do his thing."

Frazier boosted his season totals to 479 yards and seven touchdowns through three games for Princeton, which fell to 0-3 overall.

Couldn't get it done

Princeton batted 1.000 in the opening half when it converted three red-zone possessions into 20 points.

The overall percentage dropped to .500 after an 0-for-3 second half.

Dixon's defense stiffened and recorded two key fourth-down stops -- a tackle for a loss and a zero yardage gain. Princeton's third red-zone march ended on a missed field goal from 37 yards out.

"We've got to be able to put our heads down and bull forward, and we just didn't do that," said Minor, whose team misfired on five of six third-down conversions in the second half.

Princeton had 11 second-half rushing plays that resulted in either zero or lost yardage.

Feeling right at home

Senior cornerback Devin Graves quickly realized Pikeville and Charles B. Aycock were not like the life he once knew in Texas.

A member of an Air Force family, Graves and his family moved to Wayne County from Texas. Accustomed to the bright lights and packed stadiums of Texas high school football, Graves has quickly embraced being a member of the Golden Falcons. His pair of interceptions in Friday night's 36-7 win over Greene Central helped endear Graves to his teammates and Aycock fans.

"Devin is a quality kid and we are so fortunate to have him," Golden Falcons' head coach Randy Pinkowski said. "He made a comment to me and he said, 'Coach I just want to tell you I was down in Texas and there were 100 guys on the football team and I was lucky if I got to speak to the head coach.

"I can walk up to you and talk to you about anything, and we are eating dinner together like a big family. This may be small school football but this is what football is all about.'"