Thursday, October 29, 2009

Shrine Bowl Rosters

As I have previously stated, I started working at the Journal in 1992. And like many of us, I am prone to a foggy memory on some things.
But this is the first time I remember a North Carolina Shrine Bowl roster that didn’t have at least two or three football players from our main coverage area. I have wondered if the football in our area was slanted toward mediocrity this season, and this roster kind of backs that thought.

The only player on the roster who is even remotely from our coverage area is Quantre’z Stevenson, a defensive back from High Point Andrews.

No players from Forsyth County. It’s been a while since that has happened.

NORTH CAROLINA
Vince Allen, dl, New Hanover; Keenan Allen, db, North Guilford; David Amerson, db, James B. Dudley; Tyler Brosius, qb, Tuscola; Major Bryant, lb, James B. Dudley; Anthony Carrothers, qb, Independence; Nate Charest, db, David W. Butler; Patrick Clyburn, lb, West Iredell; Takoby Cofield, ol, Tarboro; Alex Coulthard, ol, Richmond Senior.
Robert Crisp, ol, Anthens Drive; Phillip Dobbins, ol, Southern Nash; Damario Eastmon, rb. E.E. Smith; Ethan Farmer, te, South Columbus; Graham Fisher, ol, Tuscola; Andrew Geathers, ol, East Bladen; Jamil Hawes, dl, Asheville; Lamar Ivey, ath, Eastern Alamance; Eric Johnson, rb, Jack Britt; Anthony Johnson, lb, Harnett Central.
Jermaine Kessler, dl, Lumberton; Kewitt Koonce, db, Kinston; Terrence Leifheit, dl, John T. Hoggard; Darius Lipford, lb, Hibriten; A.J. Marshall, db, Southern Durham; Kareem Martin, de, Roanoke Rapids; Clarence Montgomery, dl, West Charlotte; Devin Moore, te, East Mecklenburg; Anthony Parker, db, North Mecklenburg; Kevin Parks, rb, West Rowan.
Alex Polofsky, lb, David W. Butler; Kasey Redfern, l-p, Ragsdale; Corey Robinson, ol, Havelock; T.J. Ross, lb, Southern Durham; Trevor Sawyer, te, Asheville; Christopher Smith, de, West Rowan; Joshua Snead, rb, Smithfield-Selma; Johnathan Spain, lb, Page; Quantre’z Stevenson, db, T.W. Andrews; Tra Thomas, dl, Anson Senior.
Antonio Vaughan, db. Hertford County; Tamari White, rb, White Oak; Reggie Wilkins, wr, Crest; De’Tric Williams, wr, South Johnston.
Head coach: Jim Oddo, Charlotte Catholic. Assistants: Anthony Barbour, Smithfield-Selma; Steven Davis, James B. Dudley; Lenon Fisher, East Bladen; Robbie Harris, Eastern Alamance; Mike Newson, David W. Butler; Scott Young, West Rowan.
___
SOUTH CAROLINA
Matthew Ashley, ol, Belton-Honea Path; Andrew Bailey, dl, Dorman; James Barnes, dl, Keenan; Antuawn Blue, wr, Dillon; Bashaud Breeland, lb, Allendale-Fairfax; Martavis Bryant, wr, T.L. Hanna; Aaron Cann, ol, Bamberg-Ehrhardt; Ronald Canty, ol, Chester; Davious Chestnut, lb, Carvers Bay; James Costello, ol, Gaffney.
Cody Craig, qb, Timberland; Delarius Edwards, dl, Chesterfield; Bruce Ellington, wr, Berkeley; Max Elliott, rb, Clover; Johnovan Fulton, db, Manning; Keagen Funderburk, te, Pageland Central; Brandon Golson, lb, Calhoun County; Mustafa Greene, rb, Irmo; Chad Hamilton, ol, James Island; Charles Hazel, wr, North Augusta.
Justin Henderson DL Bamberg-Ehrhardt; DeAndre Hopkins, wr, Daniel; Malcolm Howard, lb, Goose Creek; Taylor Hudson, ol, Mauldin; Conelius Jones, wr, Spartanburg; Amos Latta, lb, Clover; Marcus Lattimore, rb, Byrnes; William Lucas, te, Hartsville; Airean McCree, lb, Chester; Xavier McFadden, db, Rock Hill.
Corey Miller, dl, Byrnes; Justin Parker, lb, Beaufort; Ruben Perez, k, Laurens; Kelcy Quarles, dl, Greenwood; Sheldon Robinson, db, Lake City; Brant Sally, db, Stratford; Logan Stewart, ol, Boiling Springs; Jatavius Stewart, db, Rock Hill; Devin Taylor, ol, Summerville; Thomas Teal, dl, Marlboro County.
Dylan Thompson, qb, Boiling Springs; Khiry Watts, db, Myrtle Beach; Brandon Williams, lb, Northwestern; Cephas Wilson, ol, Richland Northeast.
Head coach: Lewis Lineberger, Johnsonville. Assistants: Art Craig, Timberland; Denver Cromer, North Myrtle Beach; Mike Hawkins, Laurens; Rick Knight, Midland Valley; Nate Thompson, Carver’s Bay; Jet Turner, Clover.

Big game

For those that have read, and hopefully enjoyed, my blog posts, apologies for not being prolific lately. This is a wild time of year with cross country, tennis, volleyball, etc. coming to a head, and football closing down the home stretch.

I have been asked to keep my posts short, and I’ll do my best with this one, but there are a couple of things to hit on, starting with…

REYNOLDS AT WEST FORSYTH

The last time I vividly remember two unbeaten county teams playing this late in the season was in (I think) 1993 when Reynolds and Mount Tabor met in the infamous Fog Bowl on the final night of the regular season, a game which Mount Tabor pulled out.
That’s based on my memory though, and things can get hazy. If I am wrong about that, feel free to point it out.
Truth is though, Friday’s game at West should generate as much fan interest as any game in recent years, with both teams being 9-0 overall, 3-0 in the Central Piedmont 4-A, and ranked in the Class 4-A poll by AP. The winner will lock down a share of the conference title.
West has the size, Reynolds has the speed. It’s often said that speed kills, and West’s field should be in good shape for the game. Reynolds has been charmed this season for a variety of reasons, and West has been rock solid, albeit a little shaky over the last month as compared to early in the season.
I would advise on getting there early. It will be interesting, at the very least.

Wish I had more opportunities to do retrospective stories such as the one I had in Wednesday’s paper on North Forsyth honoring their 1971 football state championship team. I didn’t possibly have room in the paper for all the material I came up with from talking to coaches and players, and the following piece is something I had to leave out, but wanted to get in the blog.
Boyce Shore, the man who kicked the winning field goal in that 10-7 victory over High Point Central in the 4-A state final, talked at length about how black and white players on the team bonded just one year after schools were integrated.
“Cleo Joyner, an offensive tackle, was African American, and he and I kidded with each other like brothers,” Shore said. “He called me ‘Marshmallow’ and I called him ‘Chocolate Drop’ and we had a friendship that went deeper than the field.”
I bet those former coaches and players are going to have a blast while reuniting at North on Friday.

Hopefully I can get back into a regular routine with this next week. As always, questions and suggestions are welcome. Back to the grind…

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Beware of the Demons

Earlier this season I watched Reynolds pick apart Parkland and wondered how good the Demons really were.

After watching them survive a horrific start, have their offense bottled up for a half, then come back and beat a tough Mount Tabor team anyway, 28-21, I have my answer.
This is the best Reynolds team since the mid-1990’s, when Dave McConnell was the coach.
Mike Propst and his staff are getting every ounce of effort out of their undersized, overly quick team, and that’s allowed them to be 8-0 overall and 2-0 in the Central Piedmont 4-A heading toward a showdown at West Forsyth (which is also 8-0, 2-0) on Oct. 30.

The Demons were penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct before the opening kickoff last week, gave up a 55-yard touchdown pass on the first play, and its offense manufactured only two first downs in the first half. Still, the score was tied at 14 at halftime because junior Jake Gainey blew through the Spartans like a cheetah on an 86-yard kick return, and safety Vance Matthews converted an interception into an entertaining 55-yard run up the right sideline for another score.
Mount Tabor (5-3, 1-1) is a scary team, and if the Spartans tighten a few things up, it wouldn’t be out of the question to see them make a long playoff run. What made Reynolds’ win so significant is, as Propst said, the Spartans seemed to have a perfect game plan for Reynolds, and for the most part, they executed it.

Before heading off to West for a matchup of unbeatens, Reynolds will have to beat much-improved North Davidson this Friday. I would be surprised if Reynolds is looking ahead — after all, North beat the Demons last year.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Girls golf and Alfred Poe

Erica Clinard of Reynolds sat under a shade tree Wednesday afternoon at Pinebrook Country Club, nursing what she said was a bad headache. Behind her, and 50 yards to her right, girls from high schools in the Central Piedmont 4-A Conference practiced on the putting green or were tuning their swings on the range while warming up for the conference tournament.
Not sure if Clinard ever kicked the headache, but as it turned out, the malady didn’t keep her from winning the championship because she fired a 36, beating Reagan freshman Hannah Craver by two shots and junior Kristi Ingram of Mount Tabor — normally the CPC’s top golfer — by three.
Girls golf in Forsyth County, which got its meager beginnings when Dennis Ring started a team at Mount Tabor in the 1990’s, has never been better. There are at least five players from schools in the CPC who could be factors when the regionals are held next week. Are these players ready to tackle the big-time players around the state? They will know in the next couple of weeks.
I am working on a story highlighting some of these players that’s scheduled to run next week.

I was at Carver this morning to interview the well-rounded football player Michael Lawrence. As Michael and I left the office, I saw the familiar face of Alfred Poe.
Poe, who retired in June as a teacher and athletics director at Carver, was stopping by the school to drop something off for his daughter. I walked outside with him and talked basketball — Poe was the longtime boys coach at Carver, and spent his last 10 or so years as either the head coach or assistant coach with the varsity girls team, which won two state championships in that span.
I asked Poe what he was doing, and he said he was getting ready for basketball. That surprised me. To make a long story short, Poe took my cell phone number and said he was going to decide today where he would be this year, presumably as a coach. He said I would be surprised by the where.
I’m sure I will be. I was surprised enough to hear that he hadn’t yet gotten basketball out of his system.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Tidbits

Sort of a bummer knowing I won’t be covering a game Friday night, but it’s probably just as well — there are so many good ones it would have made picking ONE a difficult call.
Later today, the N.C. High School Athletic Association is expected to announce the hiring of Davis Whitfield as its new executive director. He will replace longtime director Charlie Adams, whose retirement will take effect on Feb. 1.
Don’t know a lot about Davis at this point, other than he is an assistant commissioner of the ACC. He also spent four years (1998-2002) working as an assistant athletics director at Wake Forest and he is a 1993 graduate of North Carolina.
It will be interesting to see how his young blood meshes with the seasoned staffers at the NCHSAA office in Chapel Hill.
Next week, I am looking forward to — for the first time — watching some girls golf! I am going to the Central Piedmont 4-A championship Monday afternoon, where I plan to talk to some of the best golfers around for a story next week. Also, weather and newspaper space permitting, I plan to cover my first soccer match of the year Monday night when Mount Tabor plays at West Forsyth, which is having its best season in years.

Monday, October 05, 2009

Getting out

In days gone by, especially when there were only eight public high schools in Forsyth County, The Journal was able to venture outside of the county often to cover games. And those trips to Surry, Wilkes, Stokes, Yadkin, Davidson and other outlying counties from our nerve center here in downtown Winston were always worth it to me.
Because we have so many teams here now, it’s tough to get out. But having most Forsyth County teams off last week gave me the opportunity to get out of town, and being able to go back to Starmount — where I have covered many games — was something I really looked forward to, especially since they were playing Elkin. What an awesome rivalry.

While the atmosphere at some places in Forsyth County is really nice, it’s a lot different — in a really good way — at most of the places in the Foothills. You can’t beat the smaller stadiums, packed houses and excitement at places like East Surry, Mount Airy, Elkin, Starmount, etc. And my game, a 42-12 win by Starmount over Elkin, didn’t disappoint.
The people up there love their teams, and for good reason. The teams hit hard, are led by wonderful coaches, and what a perfect fall night it was last Friday. It was great see the folks at Starmount I don’t often get to see, like David Norman and Deana King, who by the way in addition to being the No. 1 Starmount fan and statistician, is probably as big a fan of high-school sports you can find anywhere in the state.

Two things I discovered while there — Starmount has one of the best concession stands you’ll come across, and also, the Rams have one of the best players I have seen this season in Jake Barr, a junior quarterback and defensive back. One of the coaches told the 6-1, 205-pounder is receiving a lot of recruiting mail from LSU. He is a whale of a player.
It was also great to see Coach Scott Johnson of Starmount get a big win, one that will probably propel the Rams to the Mountain-Valley 2-A/1-A Conference title when it’s all said and done. But on the flip side, I hated to see Elkin lose like that. Richard Grissom, the Elks coach, is one of the best in the business, and his team is way better than that. I bet they’ll prove it from here on out.
And one last note — Scott Carter (Starmount’s athletics director and longtime assistant football coach) — thanks for the hospitality!

Well, back to local business this week with a nearly full schedule of Forsyth County games. Because of scheduling here at work, I won’t be able to cover a game this week, but we will have stringers at four or five games. Wish I could get up to Pilot Mountain, where unbeaten East Surry will take on unbeaten Bishop McGuinness. That’s going to be a good one, and in one of the best places around to see a game.

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Less is better

This is totally my opinion — although I know it is shared by others — but something good just might come out of the down economy our country is going through: the North Carolina High School Athletic Association is considering cutting back on playoff berths in all sports, potentially even in basketball and football.

As a means of cutting costs, the NCHSAA’s board of directors recommended earlier this year that schools voluntarily reduce the number of regular-season games in non-revenue sports. But at regional meetings over the past week, NCHSAA staff members have also discussed reducing the number of playoff teams in basketball and football.

This would be a great idea not only in a struggling economy, but also in times of prosperity. When 256 of 386 teams qualify for the playoffs in those sports, it creates many marginal, and many bad matchups in the early rounds of the playoffs, and it also forces teams — especially in the smaller classifications — to play an extra game that in some cases they might not want to play.

I will be in touch with Rick Strunk of the NCHSAA soon to do a story for the paper, but he has been out of the office this week attending regional meetings.

Less is better. The period when every team making the postseason really earned their way in has been gone for a long time, and shaving the number of participants wouldn’t bring it all the way back. But it sure would make it better.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Mediocre football?

While West Forsyth and Reynolds continued to roll, each moving to 5-0 with victories last Friday, I am starting to wonder if high school football in Forsyth County is, as a whole, much closer to mediocre than good this season.
One football coach I respect and spoke to last week said: “It’s bad.”
This is not to throw water on West or Reynolds, two programs that are busy earning all these wins, but the truth is, everyone will know the answer to the question once the playoffs start, and in some cases, before then.
There are signs — Carver is having an unexpectedly rocky go of their nonconference schedule, and Parkland has seen much better days. Mount Tabor, which seems to be a county juggernaut most every season, even has two losses.
Mount Tabor still has a chance to join West, Reynolds, and 4-1 Glenn at the top of the Forsyth County pecking order. The Spartans got some key players back in their lineup for the first time in last week’s 34-7 win over North Forsyth — Matt Turner, Hunter Somerville, Taylor King, and Corey Parker, Jr. — and players like that can make a dramatic difference in any game.
“We can’t say we are a young team anymore, now that we are halfway through the season, but those are guys we really count on,” Coach Laymarr Marshall of Mount Tabor said.
I think people will look at North Forsyth’s 1-4 record and get the wrong idea. North is a better team than last year — maybe a step behind defensively, but much better offensively with Krishawn Coleman, a junior quarterback who is going to make a name for himself before he is finished.
North had Mount Tabor on the ropes early last week, leading 7-0 and driving in for another score. But the Vikings turned it over, one of seven turnovers they would commit, and that’s no way to beat any team, much less Mount Tabor.
I did hear one interesting thing that happened during Reynolds’ 14-7 win over hard-luck East Forsyth last week. From what I was told, a Reynolds’ defensive player took a wrist band from one of East’s offensive players, and was in possession of the band for part of the third quarter.
The wrist bands, used by some high school teams, have offensive plays and are mainly used by teams that use a No-Huddle Offense.
I have sketchy details on what transpired, but I am positive it did happen. Never heard of that before. Wonder how much it would help?

Monday, September 14, 2009

The stomp is gone—4-A girls xc wide open

Margaret Leak, a junior runner at Mount Tabor who I profiled last week, is exactly the kind of athlete any coach would love to have. Smart, bubbly, driven, and needless to say, also talented.
During my interview with her, she reminded me of the most impressive girls cross country runner I have seen over the last 20 years — Kimberly Spano of North Mecklenburg, who graduated last spring after winning the Class 4-A state championship in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Spano’s form was unusual — she had a powerful, machine-like gait that was almost male in form. It looked unorthodox, and I remember writing that she “stomped the field,” in 2006, not only because of her 30-second margin of victory but also because, well, she appeared to stomp when she ran.
Her form made her appear larger than she really is, and frankly, I think she was intimidating to the other runners.
Leak, who finished ninth in 2007 and 19th in 2008 in the state meet, said as much about Spano.
“The one runner who I really feared, Kim Spano, is gone, so…,” Leak started.
So with Spano on to Syracuse to start her college career, some fortunate runner out there is going to win their first Class 4-A state championship when the state meets are held at Tanglewood in November.
Coach Patrick Cromwell of Mount Tabor said it’s a title that’s up for grabs.
“I think this is one of the deepest years in a long time in North Carolina,” Cromwell said. “There are lots of them. Lots of them. In Forsyth County it’s (Margaret Leak) and Kristen Henson (of Reagan) are at the elite level, but there are 20-30 girls out there on a given day can run with each other. It’s a very, very deep field.
“It’s exciting because if you finish in the top-10 this year you have accomplished a lot, I think.”

Football wise, I got to see West Forsyth and East Forsyth for the first time last Friday, and I was impressed . One thing is obvious — both are extremely well-coached.
West is 4-0, and it was easy to see why. The Titans don’t make many mistakes and they are blessed with two wonderful security blankets in wideouts Ric Thompson and Ricky Brown, a pair of tall receivers that give quarterback Patrick Midkiff the chance to throw sideline routes any time he wants with little fear of a negative play.
I was equally impressed with East. While Coach Todd Willert isn’t the kind to embrace moral victories, Willert and his staff have done a heck of a job keeping East competitive after their breakout run to the Class 4-AA semifinals last fall. East is 2-2, but could easily be 4-0 after narrowly losing to Mount Tabor and West over the past two weeks.
My hat is off to Willert and Coach Adrian Snow of West. They know what they are doing, and the players are benefitting.

Kudos to Mount Airy and Reynolds, two teams that by preseason prognostication, wouldn’t have been 4-0 if I were a betting man. Mount Airy has run a gauntlet of an early season schedule and dismantled Class 3-A Monroe Parkwood 47-22 on the road last week to move to 4-0. Reynolds move to 4-0 last Friday was equally impressive. The Demons hammered Carver 49-14, AT CARVER! It’s been a long time since Carver has been treated like that in Lash Stadium (aka, The Hive).

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

The punishment fits the crime

Reynolds was leading Parkland 41-6 in the fourth quarter last week when a skirmish broke out at the end of a play. When the dust settled, David Hooper, a senior linebacker, found himself heading to the sideline after being ejected. Mike Propst, Reynolds head coach and himself a former linebacker, said that Hooper was ejected for throwing a punch at a Parkland player, a move that Propst verified from the game tape.

As a result, Hooper was suspended for Reynolds’ next two games (against Carver and East Forsyth) by the NCHSAA, and Propst tossed in an extra two games (against Southwest Guilford and against Davie County in Reynolds’ conference opener on Oct. 9). Hooper will be eligible to play when Reynolds takes the field against Mount Tabor on Oct. 16.

Why the hard line?

“I have never in 18 years of coaching had a kid ejected, and I had to let him know that I can’t tolerate it,” Propst said. When asked how Hooper took the news, Propst said: “He didn’t have a choice.”