Get your own Free Home PageA tasty gridiron appetizer was consumed by Golden Eagle supporters as Smith split with E.E. Smith of Fayetteville and Page in last Saturday’s football jamboree at Southeast Guilford.
All indications were favorable following Smith’s split against the 4-A schools.
“I have a better feeling now than I did last year at this time,” said Smith coach Tony McKee.
BLS defeated E.E. Smith 21-14 with an offensive attack that featured the arm of senior quarterback Duane Taylor. He found senior wideout Brandon Free for two touchdown passes, while sophomore fullback J.J. Thompson pounded his way into the endzone on a 1-yard run.
Taylor was sacked twice by E.E. Smith, but afterward the offensive line held like the Hoover, and the rushing game fell into place.
“If we’re gonna win, it’s gonna be up to the offensive line,” said Thompson. “I have to trust them for me to get my yards.”
“The offensive line did a better job than I anticipated,” remarked McKee, who lost such OL stalwarts from last year's 7-4 team as Jesse Louis, Dwayne Wilson and Adam Johnson. "We may not have as much leadership there as we did last season, but we are bigger."
BLS may have lost the second scrimmage to Page by the score of 21-14, but the Eagles duplicated the physical play that they showed against E.E. Smith.
“We know they have a reputation for being physical and we were physical too,” McKee said.
“With Page we just wanted to show them that we were a better team than we were last year,” said linebacker Shamaree Brown.
Against the Pirates Free caught another touchdown pass from Taylor, and the defense was anchored by linebacker Wesley Tyler, who had already turned in a sack in the previous game. Tyler ran an interception all the way back against Page.
“I feel more confident in the defense because we have more skilled players,” explained senior defensive back Jeremy Strayhorn.
“In order for us to be in the game our defense is going to have to play hard,” said Brown.
Coming into the jamboree, coaches and players alike approached the games as if there was something to be proved, especially against two 4-A teams.
“Yeah, because everybody was doubting us, even the coaches, but we showed two top 4-A teams that we could play with them,” commented Strayhorn.
Smith, which is 3-A, plays in the Piedmont Triad Conference. Page plays in the Metro 4-A. E.E. Smith plays in a Fayetteville-area 4-A conference.
“We showed tonight that we could play with anybody,” said McKee.
Battle seemed to be the appropriate like to last Saturday’s games.
“And when you’re in battle you’ve either got to step up or get left behind,” McKee said. “A game like football is definitely a battle.
Perhaps the jamboree was an appetizer to an entree that will be yet another memorable year. After going 3-30 its previous three seasons, Smith posted a 7-4 record last season.
The Golden Eagles open the season Friday night at Northeast Guilford, which edged BLS 19-13 last season. Friday's game is a NCHSAA endowment game. Part of the profits will go to each school; part to the NCHSAA endowment fund.
Playing so early has left little room for error in preseason workouts, but McKee believes his team is ready for the Rams' potent option attack.
"We're a good football team and we are only going to get better by playing," McKee said. "This is our first test, then we build from there."
Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.
Extra points -- Smith is ranked 17th in the first Greensboro News & Record regional poll of the season. Last season BLS was not ranked at the beginning of the season, but it climbed as high as third ... The Golden Eagles have no injuries going into the first game ... The main focus of practice this week has been Northeast's wishbone offense ... Thursday will mark the final practice in preparation for Northeast and the emphasis will be on special teams' play. Punter Duane Taylor returns and first-year placekicker Brian Woodward is the school's single-season record holder in goals in soccer.
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