Prep notebook: CBA's Eutsey pivotal on both sides of the ball

By Staff Reports
Published in Sports on August 26, 2013 1:47 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- Charles B. Aycock defensive end and wide receiver Michael Eutsey made his presence felt throughout the Golden Falcons' 35-21 win over Rosewood on Friday night.

Eutsey caught four passes for 48 yards and a touchdown. His willingness to block played a key role in Aycock racking up 352 rushing yards.

The senior was also a disruptive force defensively. He was a frequent visitor to the Eagles' backfield and harassed quarterback Jacob Sasser on multiple occasions. Eutsey finished with five tackles.

"Have you seen a receiver that blocks as well as he does?" first-year Golden Falcons' head coach Steve Brooks said. "You can get a guy that will jack you up for a second or two but Eutsey will block for a good eight seconds. He blocks until the whistle and that's what we ask of him."

Even Steven

SEVEN SPRINGS -- How's this for a final stat?

Spring Creek and Dixon each racked up 225 yards of total offense during their season-opening game at "The Swamp" on Friday evening.

The Gators owned a 196-182 edge in rushing and the teams combined to run 108 offensive plays in a contest delayed 71 minutes due to lightning.

One of those days

PIKEVILLE -- Practice may not be much fun this afternoon at C.B. Aycock.

The Golden Falcons were whistled for 11 penalties for 80 yards on Friday night. Brooks plans to send a clear message to his players on the importance of cleaning up those mistakes.

"Run the fire out of them on Monday, that's the key," Brooks said. "It's all new for these guys. They don't know and they've probably never had to pay punishment for penalties where they're going to have to do it now. They're going to learn to be accountable.

"The real answer is we've got to be smarter and play smarter."

Living on the edge

PIKEVILLE -- Rosewood finally began to sustain some drives offensively in the second half on Friday night against C.B. Aycock.

The Eagles found some success on the perimeter and had 211 of their 358 yards of total offense after halftime.

Jamari McGown's 97-yard touchdown run that tied the game at 21-21 with nine minutes left came on a play designed to get to the outside.

"In the first half we just couldn't get the timing down," Eagles' head coach Robert Britt said. "Our offense is all about timing. Once the kids settled down and focused harder we were able to get the timing down. The play with Jamari was meant to go wide and we have a couple of guys that if we can get them the edge they can run a little bit."

More efficiency

SEVEN SPRINGS -- Spring Creek successfully moved the chains on first- and second-down plays Friday evening.

Third down was a different story. The Gators converted just one of nine chances, and two resulted in turnovers which eventually led to Dixon touchdowns.

Playing consistent and efficient on offense is one factor head coach Aaron Sanders and his staff stresed in the offseason. After looking at game film, they'll place more emphasis this week heading into their non-conference game Friday at Lejeune.

No-so special teams

WARSAW -- James Kenan looked strong on offense in the first game of the season against Southern Wayne on Friday night.

The Tigers' defense was solid as well.

The one facet of the game where the home team struggled was on special teams.

Southern Wayne started four drives, including both of its scoring drives, on the James Kenan side of the 50-yard line. The Saints put 13 points on the board despite tallying less than 100 yards of total ofense. The biggest reason was poor kick coverage and special teams penalties by the Tigers.

"That is something we deifinitely need to get fixed by next week," James Kenan head coach Ken Avent Jr. said. "We need to see it on film and adjust. It's hard the first week when you haven't been doing much full-speed special teams in practice. We will work on it and get better."

James Kenan also had two bad snaps, one that led to a missed extra point and another that produced a very short rugby-style punt.