Traditional football factory awaits Spring Creek

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on November 14, 2014 1:48 PM

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SEVEN SPRINGS -- Aaron Sanders walked off the football field toward Spring Creek athletics director Heath Whitfield.

"I think we might have just gotten a date with James Kenan or Wallace-Rose Hill as a '16' seed," Sanders said after the Gators' 47-28 victory over North Duplin.

Rather than watch tape on Saturday, Sanders headed to Crossfit Goldsboro for a workout. Midway through, he took a break.

"I went to the guys at the gym and said I had to use their computers so I could check on something," Sanders said. "So that's how I pulled up the brackets. There was three and the first two had us against James Kenan and I was a little surprised at that, but then that last one came out and I wasn't as surprised."

Sanders intuition was right.

The Gators drew the No. 16 seed in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-AA playoffs. And, as expected, they'll face Wallace-Rose Hill tonight.

Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. at Thell B. Overman Field inside Legion Field.

"Any time you get an extra week of practice and preparation things are going well," said Sanders, who is taking a team to the postseason for the second straight year.

"It doesn't matter who we play we're looking forward to it, because we know we're on the right track."

Spring Creek (2-8 overall) faces a team that scores 42 points a game and allows just 12. The Bulldogs have had 11 different players score a touchdown in their run-heavy offense, and have attempted just 12 passes all year.

Keyshawn Canady leads Wallace-Rose Hill with 844 yards and 15 TDs on just 74 carries. Sanders, however, said his defense can't key on just Canady.

"They have athletes everywhere," Sanders said. "Everywhere you look there's someone who can make plays. It's one of those games where it's so important that everyone does their responsibility because the minute someone misses something it's magnified and ends in a touchdown or they get a turnover or anything like that."

The Gators will counter with 5-foot-8, 155-pounder Gary Williams, who rambled for a career-high 283 yards and four touchdowns against North Duplin. The undersized senior running back has 877 yards on the year.

"Gary's performance was surprising. I mean that's a great day for anybody," Sanders said. "So the performance was surprising, but the effort wasn't surprising. That's what you get from Gary every day, every game, every practice.

He's a guy who will give you 110 percent no matter what."

Spring Creek is playing its third state-ranked opponent of the season. Sanders team faced defending 1-AA state champ James Kenan and Princeton.

None of those games will be compared to the atmosphere awaiting the Gators tonight.

"Going there to the Dog Pound to play one of the best teams in the state, it's going to be an experience you won't get many other places," Sanders said. "It's one of the best atmospheres in high school football in North Carolina."