|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|||||||||||
|
Sports |
|||||||||||
|
Lincolnton edges Cavs, travel to Reidsville Friday Staff Reports Nov. 12 - FOREST CITY — One play defined Lincolnton's defensive effort in the second half of Friday's regular season finale against East Rutherford. The score was 21-20 in favor of East Rutherford midway through the third quarter, and the Cavaliers had the ball deep in their own territory. The handoff went to 250-pound tailback Kevin Logan, who had punished the Wolves for 119 yards rushing in the first half. No one in a yellow uniform had put a solid hit on Logan all night. But that all changed as Logan took off to the left side. He was met at the line of scrimmage by 5-7, 235-pound defensive tackle Joey Beal. Logan was thrown backward by the fierce collison and went down immediately. The Wolves used the momentum of that hit to rally past the Cavaliers 28-21 and clinch second place in the Midwest 2A Conference final standings. The win greatly enchance the Wolves' seeding for the state 2A playoffs. In the bracket released Saturday morning, Lincolnton (8-3, 6-1) was seeded ninth in the 16-team western bracket. On the other hand, East Rutherford (7-4, 5-2) wound up as the No. 16 seed in the bracket and will have to play at No. 1 seed Brevard this Friday in the first round. Lincolnton opens the playoffs at No. 8 Reidsville (10-1) Friday night. A win there will send the Wolves into the second round to play the East Rutherford-Brevard winner. Beal's defensive play sparked a Lincolnton defense that limited Logan to only 17 yards on five carries in the second half. After dominating time of possession in the first half (38 plays to Lincolnton's 10), the Cavaliers punted twice, lost a fumble and suffered two pass interceptions in the second half. Another key was Lincolnton's ability to move the ball on the first series of the second half. The Wolves stormed 62 yards in six plays to cut a 21-14 halftime deficit to 21-20. Damien Forney, who became the Wolves' first 1,000-yard rusher in seven years, carried three times for 31 yards in the drive. But it was fullback Bradley Armstrong who got the touchdown, going 23 yards straight up the middle with 9:19 left in the third period. The Wolves failed to convert the extra point attempt, but the tone for the second half had been set. Only 4:25 remained in the game when Lincolnton took the lead for good. It came on a 6-yard run by Forney, who bounced off a defender at the line of scrimmage and ran into the end zone to make it 26-21. Forney then ran for the 2-point conversion after scooping up his own fumble on a toss sweep. After that, the Lincolnton defense made two stands to keep East Rutherford out of the end zone. Derrick Nixon intercepted East Rutheford QB Stencil Robinson with just over four minutes left, and it looked as if the Wolves would run out the clock. However, Lincolnton could not take advantage of excellent field position at the East Rutherford 29. The Cavaliers got the ball back and moved down the field into scoring position. Robinson hit Jarvis Twitty with a 33-yard pass to the Wolves' 10-yard line with no timeouts remaining. Yet Andre Nixon saved the game for the Wolves with an interception in the end zone with 25 seconds remaining. Lincolnton then ran out the clock to preserve the comeback victory. "We went in at halftime and talked about our goals," Lincolnton coach Scott Cloninger said. "We went out in the second half and played. They left nothing on the field." Cloninger singled out Beal's momentum-changing play. "Joey did not have a good first half, but he stopped (Logan) cold on that play. It was a big play, no doubt," Cloninger said. The Wolves' two first-half touchdowns came on a 3-yard run by quarterback Willian Lineberger and a 76-yard kickoff return by Andre Nixon. Robinson figured in all three first-half scores by East Rutherford, running for two touchdowns (12 and 1 yards) and completing a 7-yard strike to Josh Bridges with only 16 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Friday's playoff opponent is the No. 2 playoff seed from the North State 2A Conference. Cloninger offered his assessment of Reidsville Saturday after viewing tape: "They are a wide-open team which spreads the ball all over the field. Speed-wise, they fly all over and around the ball. Their team speed and the way they throw the ball are my major concerns. "The best defense we can have on them is ball control. We need to keep the ball away from them. We are going to play a very good team, but our kids will be ready. They are looking forward to it," Cloninger said. Notes: Cloninger said advance tickets for the first round game will be available on Tuesday at the high school office. Directions to Reidsville, an estimated three-hour drive, will be published in Wednesday's Times-News. ... Lincolnton defensive end Junior Smith fell hard on his shoulder but did not sustain serious injury, according to Cloninger... Forney picked up 127 yards on 14 carries to go over the 1,000-yard mark. The 5-10, 195-pound senior had 935 yards going into the game. He is the first LHS back since Goo Wyatt in 1994 to reach the 1,000-yard plateau... The longest run from scrimmage was Junior Bailey's 44-yard sprint on a reverse in the first quarter.... East Rutherford put together a 15-play, 93-yard touchdown drive in the first half....Friday's game was the first meeting between the schools since 1992, when East Rutherford beat the Wolves 14-12 in the quarterfinals of the N.C. 3A playoffs.
|
|||||||||||
|
© 2001 Lincoln Times-News |
|||||||||||
|
||||||
|
