Eagles notch first win since Aug. 24

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on October 13, 2012 11:05 PM

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SEVEN SPRINGS -- With helmets held high in the air and the school fight song echoing into the night, Rosewood spent a few moments savoring its first win in seven weeks.

The Eagles knew a pair of victories over the final two weeks of the regular season would greatly enhance their hopes of reaching the postseason. Joshua Davis rushed for 176 yards and a touchdown in a 33-6 win at Carolina 1-A Conference rival Spring Creek on Friday evening.

It was Rosewood's first victory since Aug. 24.

"We're in a position with this win to try and play for third place in the conference," Eagles' head coach Robert Britt said. "The third seed is a whole lot better than the fourth seed. It is going to be a challenge to get the kids who don't have any playoff experience to understand that third place is what we're playing for."

Jordan Lynn's interception helped set up Davis' 27-yard touchdown run. Jacob Sasser's two-point conversion put Rosewood ahead 8-0 with 5:39 left in the first quarter.

Following a Gators' punt, Rosewood took over on its own 34-yard line and Bronton Woodard's 26-yard run and Davis' 20-yard carry led to Brett Jones' 7-yard score. Marquail Almontser's extra point extended the Eagles' lead to 15-0. Davis, Jones and Woodard combined to rush for 283 yards and three touchdowns.

"For our offense to work well we have to take advantage of all three backs in the backfield," Britt said. "When we're able to do that then it keeps the defense guessing. Josh is our speed guy we try to keep him on the perimeter.

"With Bronton, he does a good job of the play we run with him in the 'C' gap and Brett Jones is a hard runner, and he does a good job running up the middle."

Rosewood outgained Spring Creek 157-19 in the first half.

The Eagles marched 65 yards on the opening drive of the third quarter and Jones' 1-yard score increased the margin to 21-0. Andrew Henn hauled in an 18-yard touchdown pass from Sasser early in the fourth quarter.

Spring Creek strung together its best drive of the night midway through the fourth quarter and covered 76 yards in nine plays. Anthony Russo's 13-yard touchdown run cut the deficit to 27-6.

Gary Williams led the Gators with 39 yards rushing.

"That was the best drive we've had in probably three weeks," Spring Creek head coach Aaron Sanders said. "That is something positive you can build off of. We hurt ourselves at times with penalties or a big play here or there where we really needed to get a first down to get ourselves a first down. That's really kind of the story of the game."

Sasser added a touchdown run for Rosewood in the closing seconds. Davis finished with a game-high 176 yards on 16 carries.

The Eagles (2-6 overall, 1-2 CC) play host to North Duplin next Friday, while the Gators (0-8, 0-3) entertain Goldsboro.