Prep football notebook: Aycock finds the 'man in the middle'

By Staff Reports
Published in Sports on September 24, 2012 1:48 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- With Charles B. Aycock's offense needing a spark in the second half against North Lenoir on Friday night, tight end AJ Mundle delivered just what the Golden Falcons needed.

Mundle caught a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Austin Snowden, including the game-tying score in overtime. The senior also provided pivotal blocking on the edge of the offensive line that allowed tailback Jeremy Hooks to rush for 126 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

"The defense started to blitz their linebackers and it shut down our running game," Snowden said. "We had to spread the defense and start to find AJ over the middle."

View from the balcony

DUDLEY -- Southern Wayne head coach David Lee traded in his view from the bench for a view from the press box on Friday night against Triton.

The move allowed for Lee's assistant coaches to work with their respective units on the sidelines and gave Lee the chance to see both sides of the football and critique the team's mistakes.

"It was something that we wanted to try and I really think it worked for us as a staff," Lee said. "I think I was able to see some things and I know that Glen (Gardner) and Jeremy (Joyner) enjoyed being with their guys."

Textbook drive

Goldsboro's first touchdown drive against Red Springs was poetry in motion Friday evening.

Backed up at their own 3-yard line, the Cougars used a mixture of the run and pass to keep the Red Devils on their heels. They needed just five plays to get out of trouble and open up the field for their offense.

Rasheed Malette and Karon Alston shared the running duties, and found the seams created by the offensive line. Quarterback Julius Murphy connected with three different receivers -- Joseph Baker, Toric Best and Jaekon Rhodes.

Alston converted a third down by the nose of the football.

Best's eight-yard snag gave Goldsboro first-and-goal at the Red Springs 8. One play later, Malette capped the 97-yard, 6 1/2-minute possession with his first touchdown run of the evening.

"Shocked me," Goldsboro head coach Eric Reid said. "That's something we're going to have to keep in the archives. It was a nice mixture of plays, really built up our confidence. Every guy on the squad trusted each other on that drive and it showed."

Lethal weapon

PIKEVILLE -- North Lenoir kicker Caleb Baird made his presence felt for four quarters against Charles B. Aycock on Friday night.

Baird connected on field goals from 39 and 37 yards that had plenty of distance to spare, and booted multiple kickoffs out of the end zone. He also made a tackle as the last man to beat on a Golden Falcons' kickoff return.

"Caleb is a big talent," Hawks' head coach Calvin Sutton said. "He is a big part of what we do."

What are you doing?

Tied at 7-7 with 27.9 remaining before halftime, Goldsboro took over at its own 25-yard line. A bad snap led to an incomplete pass.

Would the Cougars take a knee?

Murphy and Alston viewed the defense, found a chink and hooked up for a 75-yard touchdown pass down the middle of the field. Alston had a 10-yard advantage on his defender and caught the ball in stride as he crossed the goal line.

"I had nothing to do with it," first-year GHS offensive coordinator Bennett Johnson said. "The guys are starting to get familiar with the offense that they can check and do their own thing. When the ball went in the air I was thinking 'what are you doing?' and then Karon came out of nowhere."

Murphy and Alston assured Johnson they checked at the line of scrimmage before they called the play.