FOOTBALL: Golden Falcons strike early, often

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on November 6, 2016 1:45 AM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

PIKEVILLE -- Steve Brooks has already cast his vote for Wayne County player-of-the-year.

Leander Oates didn't disagree.

Caleb Gough rushed for a game-high 206 yards and collected three touchdowns in Charles B. Aycock's resounding 57-26 senior night conquest of Eastern Wayne on Friday evening.

"(Caleb) has been in beast mode all year, he's absolutely carried us," said Brooks, who sounded like a politican stumping for his senior ball carrier.

"There's no reason that kid should not be player-of-the-year in the county. Just a phenomenal, phenomenal athlete."

Gough's initial touchdown -- a 36-yard romp -- capped Aycock's opening offensive series of the game. His low center of gravity required at least two or more EW defenders to wrap him up throughout the night.

One of 23 seniors recognized prior to kickoff, Gough averaged an efficient 8.24 yards per tote.

"They came out with a great ground attack," Oates, in his first head coaching campaign at EW, said.

"We call it the 'black' offense and they may call it the 'T-bone' set. They just pounded it. They hit the pockets, were able to get their hands on our guys and attacked the creases with Gough."

Gough wasn't the only factor.

The Golden Falcons (6-4 overall) turned in perhaps their best all-around performance of the season. Raekwon Coley's interception led to Mike Hemmingway's lone TD -- a 2-yard plunge.

Damien Darden stuck out one of his big paws and blocked an EW punt. One play later, Jordan Woodard slashed through the Warriors' defense for a 19-yard touchdown.

Aycock 22, EW 0.

Just 41/2 minutes had ticked off the clock.

"That's what I expected from my team," Brooks said. "We've had an unbelievable week of preparation. I thought we played well last week and it carried over into this week.

"Our whole team played well ... offensively, defensively, special teams. It was a true, total team win."

And a long-awaited triumph, too.

The Warriors had won three straight in the series and five of the last six overall. The 31-point margin was the largest in series history, surpassing CBA's 27-0 decision over EW during their first-ever meeting in 1967.

CBA's Tim Farmer rambled for two touchdowns, senior quarterback Jake Flowers tossed two TD passes and Tahj Thacker returned a kickoff 72 yards to the house.

The Golden Falcons logged 480 yards of total offense.

Eastern Wayne quarterback Zeke Best threw for 242 yards and two TDs -- a 18-yard pass to Tyler Davis and a career-best 98-yard bomb to Marcus Rouse.

"Just watching film, (other) teams have passed the ball good on them and we felt like we could do the same thing," Oates said.

Matt Askew led the Warriors with 109 yards rushing.

GAME IMPLICATIONS

* C.B. Aycock denied Eastern Wayne's bid for a fourth straight AQ playoff bid from the 3-A portion of the Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference. The Golden Falcons, however, must win at South Central next Thursday to advance to the postseason.

CLEAN IT UP

* The bitter county rivals combined to draw a total of 27 flags that covered 237 yards. Six yellow hankies were tossed due to either unsportsmanlike conduct, late hits or helmet-to-helmet contact. One UC infraction led to an ejection of a CBA player.

HIGH-FLYING FALCONS

* For the seventh time this season, the Golden Falcons scored 40-plus points in a game and topped the 50-point mark for the third time.

TURN IT AROUND

* Eastern Wayne endured its third loss in its last four outings and dipped to 1-4 in road games this season.