PREP FOOTBALL: Matthews' catch lifts Golden Falcons road

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on October 3, 2016 8:27 AM

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By BEN COLEY

bcoley@newsargus.com

DUDLEY -- C.B. Aycock and Southern Wayne spent their Friday night exchanging haymakers.

In the back-and-forth affair, neither team scored consecutively.

Each touchdown was met with a gutsy response by the opposing squad.  

But after eight lead changes, CBA -- the apparent heavyweight of the area -- was the team left standing.

A 27-yard TD pass from Jake Flowers to Chandler Matthews with 1:48 remaining sealed a 30-28 victory at the Doyle Whitfield Complex. It was the Golden Falcons' fourth consecutive win.

"The kids didn't quit," said CBA head coach Steve Brooks. "They finished the fight. They're starting to believe that they're never out of it. I wish it wouldn't have been this close, but you have to give credit to Southern Wayne. They played their guts out. Manny Walker is the truth."

It did not take long for Walker to make his presence known.  

With the Saints facing third and 29 early in the second quarter, Walker took the handoff and zoomed through the Golden Falcons' defense. Once in open field, he sprinted 70 yards down the left sideline to give SW a 7-3 lead.

The lead would change two more times before the Saints grabbed a 14-10 halftime lead. Flowers -- who had not thrown an interception all season -- threw two picks in the first 24 minutes.

"I think (Flowers) was just pressing a little bit," Brooks said. "Trying to force some things. When we thought (SW) was going to blitz, they dropped. So they just did a good job of disguising coverage, and he just made two poor throws."

The senior signal caller responded in the second half. In the fourth quarter, Flowers capped a 14-play drive by punching it in from 1 yard out. The TD gave the Golden Falcons a 24-21 advantage.

It took SW just six plays to respond with a TD of its own -- a 13-yard run by Quentin Carlton.

Led by composed senior players, C.B. Aycock (5-1 overall, 1-0 Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference) punched back in only five plays. The drive included three rushes by Caleb Gough, one catch by Damien Darden, and of course, the game-winning TD catch by Matthews.

"I think we made some progress," said SW head coach Ronnie McClary Jr., regarding his defense. "But our word of the day was 'finish', and we just didn't do it. We became complacent on certain plays."

Gough, the usual workhorse for the Golden Falcons, rushed for 189 yards on 32 carries. Walker wasn't too far behind with 176 yards on 14 carries. Flowers finished with 168 yards through the air.

Brooks said he is extremely confident in his team as they hit the halfway point in the season.

With the win over one 3-A conference opponent, he now believes the battle for the 3-A crown will run through Pikeville this season.  

"We have to continue to go to work," Brooks said. "We can't sit back on anything right now. EW has held the title for the three years I've been a head coach. But they have to come to us to win it this year. We have to keep working though."

ONE-SIDED SERIES

• C.B. Aycock claimed its fifth straight win over Southern Wayne. In those five games, the Golden Falcons have outscored the Saints 198-82.

POTENT OFFENSE

• The Golden Falcons scored at least 30 points in each of its six games this season. They're averaging 41.8 points per game, which leads the area by a wide margin.

WATCH NO. 8

• Southern Wayne's Walker now has 961 rushing yards on the season. He is averaging 160 yards per game and 10.2 yards per carry. He's also scored 12 touchdowns on the ground.

PASS IT AROUND

• Carlton threw seven passes for 79 yards among six different receivers. No one had more than 20 receiving yards.