Rosewood football moves into third round

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on November 10, 2012 11:35 PM

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Josh Davis thought his high school football career might be over after an ejection and one-game suspension put his future in jeopardy just three weeks ago.

Davis is back on the field and doing everything within his power to make sure Rosewood's season doesn't end any time soon. The senior running back accounted for three touchdowns during a 42-17 victory over Jones Senior in the second round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-A (small-school) playoffs Friday evening.

The Eagles (5-7 overall) entertain archrival Princeton this week.

Jamari McGowan returned the opening kickoff 94 yards to give Rosewood a 7-0 lead 12 seconds into the game.

"That set the tone," Eagles' head coach Robert Britt said. "Right now, we've got three guys back there that if you kick it to them and they catch it clean and our front guys are doing a great job of setting a wall and that really set the tone for us."

Following a Trojans' fumble, Rosewood established its running game behind its veteran offensive line. Davis cashed the turnover into points with a 29-yard touchdown run.

Jones answered with a 12-play, 69-yard drive that ended with Glen White's 10-yard touchdown run. The Trojans trailed 13-7.

The Eagles continued their dominance on the ground and Davis found the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the Jones' 4-yard line. Davis tacked on the two-point conversion to extend Rosewood's lead to 21-7 midway through the second quarter.

Davis returned Parrish Bryant's missed field goal 98 yards for a touchdown late in the first half. Jacob Sasser connected with Jordan Lynn on the two-point conversion as the lead grew to 29-7.

"I'm thankful for this opportunity to play a home playoff game, I was real pumped up," Davis said. "The field goal return came as a shock. Everybody was telling me to pick it up and it sort of turned into a kick return at that point. It is just great to be out here with my boys again."

The Trojans showed signs of life early in the third quarter as White raced 76 yards to the end zone. Jaiquan Jones added the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 29-15. Jones benefited from an Eagles' mistake as an errant snap got past Sasser and rolled into the end zone before Sasser fell on it for a safety midway through the third quarter.

Spencer Garrison's 1-yard score midway through the fourth capped a long drive and pushed Rosewood's lead to 35-17. Davis capped his night by recovering a Trojans' fumble and returning it to the Jones' 10-yard line.

McGowan converted the turnover into points with a 6-yard touchdown run. The Eagles recovered two Jones Senior fumbles and also picked off a pair of passes.