FOOTBALL PREVIEW: CBA must keep emotions on even keel against EW

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on November 4, 2016 9:57 AM

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PIKEVILLE -- Rivalry games are usually the most fun and usually the most gut wrenching at the same time.

Friendships are cast aside.

Emotions -- some good, some bad -- boil to the surface.

Expect a few hard knocks.

There might be an extra shove here or there when someone isn't looking.

And don't rule out the ever-present trash talking that occurs just out of earshot from the men in stripes.

Yep, it's just a good old-fashioned backyard brawl when Eastern Wayne and Charles B. Aycock meet on the gridiron each season.

Then again, should it be any different?

The automatic playoff bid -- and an extra home game -- from the 3-A portion of the bruising and brutal Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference is on the line. A loss leads to an unwelcomed result with one week remaining in regular-season play.

Not to mention, it's senior night for CBA.

"I think that could be a huge key," Golden Falcons head coach Steve Brooks said. "Can we all keep our emotions in check and remember why we are there? It's a big week for our kids."

And Brooks' philosophy hasn't changed -- try to play to win and be 1-0 at the end of the week.

That's been easier said than done in this series. The Warriors (4-4 overall, 2-2 ECC) have won three straight meetings and five of the last six overall.

EW still has athletes.

Yet, first-year head coach Leander Oates has experienced a roller-coaster season and toiled to find consistent working pieces on a weekly basis. Junious Tyson joined the backfield last Friday, and rambled for 118 yards and two touchdowns against pesky Southern Wayne.

But the boot of Brennan Dove proved to be the difference. She calmly split the uprights on a 27-yard field goal that provided the eventual winning margin in a 23-20 conquest of the Saints.

"At times, they look like they get in a good rhythm on offense and there's times where they don't look like they're in rhythm at all ... kind of helter skelter," Brooks said. "Defense has been their strong point against us the last three years. They add a wrinkle or do something different that we haven't seen on film. With this group, there's nothing different as far as alignment.

"It's how hard they come off the ball at times."

So, the challenge is this -- establish the running game behind 1,000-yard rusher Caleb Gough. Succeed in that endeavor and let field general Jake Flowers begin his relentless air strike with an array of sure-handed receivers -- N.C. State commit Damien Darden, Chandler Matthews, Luke Frederick and Jordan Woodard.

Flowers is approaching 2,000 yards passing. Matthews and Frederick rank one and two, respectively, among the area's top receivers.

"Jake's got to continue to have trust in his guys, get the football in their hands and let them go make plays," Brooks said. "If we run the ball like we've been running, we'll be OK."