North Carolina Football Association (NCFA)

With Rocky Mount sitting at the Durham 14yd line down 24-17 with 3:34 left in the game LB James Cunningham blasted through to sack Jon Query and put Rocky Mount into a 4th down situation.  Well with  Durham having one of the worst defenses in the league and with plenty of time left the Leafs chose to kick the field goal and hope they would manage to get the ball back.  Their plan worked and with 1:28 left in the game Jon Query stepped under center at his own 10yd line.  He would throw 4 straight incomplete passes and Durham would be back with their first win since week 3 and Rocky Mount would continue their bad season.  Durham having lost in week 9 to Gastonia were out of the running for the wild card spot and so all they had to play for was their own pride and to spoil Rocky Mount's chances at winning the Coastal Division.  It was also a look for the Durham coaches at what was working on the team and what was not.  They went back to their Week 1 lineup for the most part and things did seem to click for them in ways they hadn't since they started losing in week 4.  Perhaps the biggest surprise was the solid running they got from veteran HB Jon Handley wo had 89yds and a TD on 22 carries.  He was the key to Durham's offense.  Mark Oates brought some spark back into the passing game going 17/30 for 230yds with 1Int but it was Handley and the revived defense that made the difference in this game.  S Lee Olson who had 2 tackles and 2 interceptions, 1 for a TD, said after the game, "When the Leafs got the ball back with that much time left I have to say I was scared.  We had been giving up so many yards passing over the past 6 weeks I never thought we'd stop them."  But the defense came through.  In fact when looking at the numbers after the game one realizes that the defense really did a solid job against the pass, holding QB Jon Query to 188yds and 1TD with 2 Ints.  Durham hosts Greensboro next week where they will look to spoil their playoff hopes and work themselves just that much closer to a .500 finish on the season.

 

 

HB Sam Achor was an angry man after the loss to Durham.  Rocky Mount's opening drive of the game looked like this.  Achor up the middle for 16yds.  Achor up the middle for 35yds.  Jon Query passes to Achor for 16yds.  Query passes to TE Ira Sturman for 6yds Touchdown!  Achor wouldn't see the ball again until the 2nd quarter, and would end the game with only 15 carries and 1 reception.  He had come into this game the surprising starter ahead of mid season pickup Bernie Hall and Achor wanted to show to everyone that he deserved that role.  "I was so ready for this game.  People know that Durham has the worst pass defense in the league because that gets a lot of attention.  They also have the worst run defense and I think I showed today that I could have taken it apart, if only I had gotten the chance."  Achor would finish the game with 94yds and 1TD, but not the win that he wanted.  Not the win that any of the Leafs wanted.  It's been a troubled season for Rocky Mount with much animosity between the coaching staff and players.  Chad Rutledge is in his fourth season as head coach of the Leafs and possibly his last unless the team can rally to win the last two weeks of the season.  Rocky Mount plays at Burlington next week and then hosts Wilson to close out the season.  It's troubled times for Rutledge, but it seems like it's been that way ever since he's been at Rocky Mount.  His first season was of course the great collapse where his team came out flying high and went to 6-0, then everything fell apart and they finished 6-6.  It's been a lot of that for Rutledge and the Leafs and no one seems to know if he'll ever be able to fix it.