PREP FOOTBALL: Eagles, Gators searching for respective identities

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on August 31, 2018 5:51 AM

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By RUDY COGGINS

rcoggins@newsargus.com

SEVEN SPRINGS -- Former conference foes Rosewood and Spring Creek continue to search for an identity on the football field three weeks into the season.

And each is starting to discover a little more about itself.

Defense is the Eagles' battle cry. Nine starters lead a unit that hasn't allowed a rushing touchdown in eight quarters, and has held opponents to 60 yards or less on the ground in both outings.

"Game speed" is the catch phrase in the swamp these days.

The Gators learned they have to go all out for four days before they take the field under the lights on Friday night. The offensive unit picked up the pace last week in preparation for Lejeune (a 45-14 win) and saw the benefits of not "half-tailing it through practice, which just doesn't cut it," according to second-year head coach Daniel Robinson.

The Eagles and Gators are both 1-1 heading into tonight's late-summer encounter.

"They're a complete football team at this stage in the season," Robinson said of RHS.

The county rivals appear equal on the statsheet.

Rosewood averages 313.5 yards of total offense and scores 24 points a game.

Dihmani Fenty leads the Eagles' ground game with 272 yards and two TDs in five quarters of action. He ran roughshod over North Johnston, racking up 223 yards on 20 totes.

"We've always known that he has talent ... is a big kid who can run," RHS head coach Robert Britt said. "He's done well. He's proven that he deserves time in the backfield."

Fenty's emergence creates even more depth in Rosewood's backfield that includes returning starter Michael Reid, Davien Thompson, Amrei Atwell and Avante George. Offensive coordinator Josh Smith has to figure out ways to get the ball into different players' hands so they can be successful. Britt said the team is still learning what it could do, but the offensive eruption against NoJo gave him a glimpse of just how good his team can be this season.

Spring Creek averages 312 yards and 24.5 points an outing in its Wing-T scheme.

The Gators piled up 359 yards rushing and 477 yards of total offense against Lejeune. Dominique Morse paced the running game, while first-year starting quarterback Lucas Barfield was accurate on 3 of 5 passes for 88 yards and a score.

They'll work against Rosewood's 3-3 stack defense, a system Britt and his coaching staff put in place last fall. The experienced group is a little quicker and more comfortable this season.

"We've got to sustain our blocks and we've got to start fast," Robinson said. "We can't turn the ball over like we did against North Duplin because Rosewood is a really good team this year. They've got size all over the place and it's going to be tough for us to defend."

Britt said SC has shown a significant improvement from the first two weeks.

He also applauded Robinson for his decision to implement the misdirection offense into the Gators' playbook.

"The biggest thing going in is that we know we're going to face a Spring Creek team that's going to be better this Friday night than they were last Friday night," Britt said. "They're a running team. That's what they want to do. Our defense this week is going to have to do well against the run if we want to be successful."

The teams have split their last two regular-season meetings, but Rosewood leads the all-time series 14-3.