SALISBURY--One of Van Egger's best-ever games had put the Popes in position to hold home-field advantage throughout the NCFA playoffs. One of his worst leaves Salisbury suddenly in a scrum simply to advance to the postseason.
The Charlotte Clippers returned two Egger interceptions for touchdowns--one being a 99-yard James Merideth sprint as the first half expired--and Salisbury lost at home, 17-13, today to lose its grip on the Mountain Division. The Clippers and Popes are both 6-2, but Charlotte has swept the season series. Salisbury, which upset 7-1 Burlington just three weeks ago as Egger passed on every offensive down, is suddenly just a game up on 5-3 Rocky Mount for the NCFA's lone wild-card berth ....
RALEIGH--Today's 22-17 win over Rocky Mount, ending the visitor's four-game
win streak, improves Raleigh to 4-4 and ensures the 2012 Capitals an
improved record in Mike Bender's first season as head coach ...
May be the best game Raleigh has played in a few years. They looked good on defense and offense. The fact that Rocky Mount almost won the game shows just how dangerous they are as a team.
Raleigh
Jon Query 31/51 337yds 2TDs 1Int
John Alli 18car/63yds 1TD
Brian Long 10tt/5rec/63yds 1TD
James Anderson 16tt/12rec/110yds
Mark Scott 10tt/7rec/96yds 1TD
William Walker 6 tackles 1 sack
Sid Pagel 7 tackles 1 sack 2 knockdowns
Rocky Mount
Mike Ramsey 11/26 118yds 2TDs
Juan Elswick 14car/43yds
Nate Iverson 13tt/5rec/53yds 2TDs
Kile Lowery 8 tackles 1 knockdown
KINSTON--It's a tie at the top of the Coastal Division, and, at this point,
Rocky Mount--winner of an NCFA-best four straight--is definitely this race's
runner.
Long way to go, says Jimmy Gunn.
"All we can do is take care of our own business," said the Kinston
linebacker, who definitely did that (two tackles, two sacks and an
interception) in today's 16-13, hold-'em-off win over visiting Wilson. "As
long as we keep putting up the Ws, we probably won't have to worry about
Rocky Mount or anyone else."
The Eagles improved to 6-2. They've already split their season series with
their Coastal co-leaders, the Leafs ...
Despite their efforts the Kinston defense was just too much for the Tobs. They forced turnovers, shut down Wilson's running game, and time and again stopped drives. Robert Ramos also had a solid game keeping the offense moving and always forcing good field position. Still the Kinston offense struggled to score and this is problematic.
Kinston
Robert Ramos 15/22 118yds 1Int
Michael Dixon 23car/84yds
James Meier 5tt/4rec/38yds
James Gunn 2 tackles 2 sacks 1 Int
Duane Buckley 3 of 4 long of 45yds
Wilson
Jeff Gray 22/35 204yds 1TD 2Ints 1Fumble
Ken Haslip 10car/19yds
John Justice 12tt/5rec/69yds
Cyrus Darcy 5 tackles 1 sack
GREENSBORO--There are only 12 placekickers employed around the NCFA at any given point, and yet Earl Balzer still managed to rank 13th in field-goal percentage coming into today's game.
The Patriots' K1 had hit only two of six attempts on the season--a worst-in-the-NCFA 33.3 percent. To be fair, it should also be noted that he had tried only one from inside 40 yards, and he hit it. So maybe it should not be such a shocker that Balzer made his two attempts--both from inside 40, one from 36 as time expired--to lift Greensboro to a 13-12 victory over Winston-Salem. ...
The Twins scored to go ahead 12-10, then chose to go for two with under 30 seconds left in the game. They failed and it allowed the Patriots to hit a big pass and kick the game winning field goal with no time left on the clock. A very disappointing loss for a team which looked to have bounced back from a humiliating defeat last week agains the Bees.
Greensboro meanwhile are happy to get a win. In a game that looked like they should have lost they got quite a few big plays which secured them the win.
Greensboro
Derrick Smith 14/25 158yds 1Int
William Adams 24car/50yds 1TD
Carl Caldwell 5tt/4rec/70yds
Bernardo Cox 10 tackles 1 sack
Whitney Gadson 2 tackles 3 sacks
Winston-Salem
Alan Crossen 19/35 275yds 1TD
Brandon Brown 5car/23yds
Wortham Wainright 12tt/9rec/110yds 1TD
Larry Caplan 10 tackles 1 knockdown
Brad Willer 1 tackle 4 sacks
GASTONIA--It's not like Harold Brooks retired or even played himself out of the QB1 job with the Pirates. Coach Jacques Black simply decided this time was right to switch from one veteran to another, James Martin. Nothing like a visit from the Asheville Tourists to make a coach look pretty darned smart ...
A good win for the Pirates and a great game for James Martin, but their is some concern about the running game. James Carter has had multiple injuries and since returning from his latest does not look anything like the runner of a few years ago. They'll need Carter to improve if they hope to go further than the wild card game of the playoffs.
Asheville has looked better the last two weeks, but were simply out manned.
Gastonia
James Martin 23/38 360yds 1TD
James Carter 27car/80yds 1TD 1Fumble
Timothy Rodriguez 12tt/6rec/53yds 1TD
Robert Lee 10tt/6rec/188yds
Robert Blackwell 4 tackles 1 fumble recovery 1TD
Marco Quinlinn 1 of 4 long of 49yds
Asheville
Erik Waters 15/27 173yds 1TD 1Fumble
John Jackson 9car/24yds
Igor Walsh 8tt/7rec/92yds
Berkeley Walker 9 tackles 2 knockdowns
Courtney Pleasant 4 tackles 1 sack 1 fumble recovery
