STORY -- Goldsboro @ C.B. Aycock

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 11, 2016 1:48 AM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

PIKEVILLE -- Clean up the offense.

Get a few defensive stops.

Once Charles B. Aycock cleared up those issues, it was smooth soaring through the night-time sky over Hardy Talton Stadium on Friday evening.

Caleb Gough rushed for three touchdowns and Jake Flowers tossed TD passes to three different receivers during a 43-20 conquest of county rival Goldsboro. The duo combined for 389 of the team's 426 yards of total offense.

Aycock grounded itself early.

A holding infraction, an illegal lineman downfield and a false start flag turned a promising first drive into a Golden Falcons' punt.

And the Cougars looked unstoppable -- especially on their first two offensive possessions. Their first series lasted 15 plays and consumed 61/2 minutes off the clock. KJ Alston's 11-yard, fourth-down pass to Ronnie Tookes put GHS on the board first.

CBA answered with a TD.

Alston responded with a 50-yard gallop barely two minutes into the second quarter.

"I honestly think we've improved offensively by the week," GHS head coach Bennett Johnson said. "I thought all of our kids played extremely hard tonight. I told them this is as proud as I've been of them yet.

"Regardless of the score, I saw some fight and some competitiveness in our guys that we can absolutely build off this."

Down 14-7, Aycock fed the Goldsboro defense a steady diet of Gough. Working behind an experienced offensive line, Gough punched in three first-half touchdowns on runs of 24, 8 and 6 yards. He fumbled on his third score, but recovered it in the end zone.

"I was hungry, had to come back strong for sure," said Gough, who served a one-game suspension last week. "The O-line gave me a push and I just gave them the extra effort to help them. It was a team effort."

The run success woke up the passing game.

Flowers hit Damien Darden on a fourth-down, nine-yard strike midway through the third quarter. Then he connected with Luke Frederick for a 90-yard TD bomb -- the longest pass in his career and longest reception in Frederick's career.

Flowers capped his 191-yard night with a 33-yard scoring pass to Chandler Matthews. The senior quarterback ended the night an efficient 10 of 14 with no picks.

"(Great) offensive balance, great work ethic by our kids all week," CBA head coach Steve Brooks said. "Goldsboro's got kids that work so hard. God all mighty, they're so tough to play against. We had to have balance to beat them.

"Caleb was hungry after being out a week. Jake, I think, is starting to finally feel like himself again from last year. That's how we need it to be this year."

Here are some game notes:

OFFENSIVE RHYTHM

* Flowers directed five consecutive scoring drives after Aycock fell behind 14-7 on Alston's long touchdown jaunt.

"When we got it going, it was one (touchdown) right after another," Flowers said. "Our O-line was getting after it, Caleb was running the ball great."

DAFFODILS A-BLOOMING

* Goldsboro and CBA combined for 27 penalties.

An illegal forward pass negated a brilliant first-down call by the Golden Falcons in the third quarter. Flowers threw the ball to Damien Darden, who tossed it back to Flowers, who -- in turn -- caught Matthews in stride for a 71-yard touchdown.

After another flag, Flowers hit Frederick with their record-setting 90-yard bomb.

RUNNING COUGARS

* Alston led Goldsboro's rushing attack with 118 yards on 11 carries and Zxavior Bowden contributed 90 yards on 20 totes. In all, Johnson's club collected 297 yards and reached the 20-point plateau for the second straight week.

"With the athletes they have, they're capable of beating anybody on their schedule regardless of the record," Flowers said. "Give them a lot of credit. They have some crazy athletes."

NEXT

* C.B. Aycock hits the road Friday for a contest at Corinth-Holders, which has won all three meetings in the series. Goldsboro returns home to face Big East 3-A member Northern Nash.