Eastern Wayne upsets No. 1-ranked Southern Guilford in OT

By Greensboro News & Record
Published in Sports on November 29, 2014 11:23 PM

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GREENSBORO -- With Southern Guilford down by a point in overtime, the ball at the 1 1/2-yard line and Reggie Gallaspy in the Wildcat, the Storm's dream season seemed all but destined to continue.

But the snap was high, Gallaspy had trouble handling it and was tackled before he could get going, ending Southern Guilford's football season with a 56-55 loss to Eastern Wayne in the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A eastern semifinals.

"We've got 1 1/2 yards to go, and we've got the best player in the state of North Carolina -- it's simple, it's easy," Southern Guiford coach Darryl Brown said. "They hadn't tackled him all night. He got 3 yards every time he touched. Tough way for these guys to end the season."

Gallaspy finished with 278 yards rushing and six touchdowns, but he knows it came down to execution on that last play.

"It was the time to execute, and we didn't execute," Gallaspy said. "Normally, we come out good in the second half. We just didn't play good football like we normally do,"

Southern Guilford (13-1 overall) led 29-14 going into the fourth quarter, but both defenses seemed to run out of gas. The teams traded touchdowns for most of the quarter until the ball bounced the wrong way for the Storm.

The Warriors had been squib kicking, pooch kicking and onside kicking all game to keep Gallaspy from breaking a return.

After Eastern had scored to cut the lead to 49-41, the onside kick bounced away from a Southern player and the Warriors recovered.

It took Eastern Wayne 10 plays, but on fourth-and-goal at the 5-yard line, quarterback KK Best hit a wide open Deshawn Boudy for the touchdown. The Warriors also got the two-point conversion on a pass.

"We didn't stop them the whole second half," Brown said. "We gave up a lot of big plays, didn't tackle real well. I give them a lot of credit. They have a lot of great players. We just didn't play real well defensively."

Gallaspy wasted little time making an impact. He took the handoff on the first play of the game, got stuffed inside, bounced it to the outside and went untouched down the sideline for a 57-yard touchdown and quick 7-0 lead.

Gallaspy scored again, taking the ball up the middle for a 5-yard touchdown.

Eastern Wayne was not intimidated and scored on its next two possessions. Dayshawn Pridgen ran one in from 7 yards out, then the quarterback Kamon Best hit Deshawn Boudy for a 6-yard touchdown pass, tying the score at 14.

Just before halftime, the Storm scored on a 17-yard pass from Stoner to Hunt. Gallaspy ran in the two-point conversion for a 22-14 halftime lead.