Shamaree Brown (5), Antonio Williamson (40) and JoJo McLaughlin try to break down Northeast's punt blocking scheme. -- Staff photo
Smith had high hopes for its season-opening football game last Friday night at Northeast Guilford.
But the fourth-ranked Northeast Guilford Rams had other ideas. The Rams (1-0) sprinted to a 21-0 first-half lead and held off a third-quarter Golden Eagle rally en route to a 35-6 NCHSAA football win.
"We just got beat by a better football team tonight," Smith coach Tony McKee said. "We came out and played real lethargic. These guys at Northeast take football seriously. I take football seriously, but I'm not sure we as a team take it seriously. That has to change. This group has to decide that it wants to play."
The one-two wishbone punch of halfback Terrell Timmons and fullback Michael Sanders was just too much for BLS. Timmons, usually on counter plays, finished with 106 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries to pace a 254-yard Ram attack. Sanders, going right up the middle on dives, added 83 yards and a TD. Quarterback Brandon Apple added five carries for 35 yards and a two-point conversion.
One of the few bright spots for Smith was wideout Brandon Free, who caught seven passes for 136 yards, including a 21-yard TD pass from Duane Taylor with 9:12 left in the third quarter that cut the Northeast lead to 21-6.
On their next possession, the Golden Eagles (0-1) drove deep into Ram territory behind the passing of Taylor. However, a 77-yard pass to Free was called back because of a clipping penalty. That effectively ended Smith's hopes for a comeback.
Taylor finished with seven completions in 21 attempts for 167 yards. He was intercepted once, by Northeast's Devon Chatman, who returned the ball 59 yards for a touchdown. The Smith senior was harassed all night long, getting sacked five times.
"We've got to do a better job with our assignments," Taylor said. "Northeast didn't do anything tonight we weren't prepared for, but we failed to do our assignments too often.
"We've got a young offensive line. Half of these guys didn't play last year. They have to get some experience."
Eagle linebacker Shamaree Brown had 17 tackles and a fumble recovery. Fellow linebacker P.J. Southerland had 11 tackles and a fumble recovery.
Northeast finished with 289 total yards and 16 first downs. Smith totaled 179 yards and eight first downs. The Golden Eagles could never get their running game untracked and finished with just 11 yards on 27 carries.
Smith, ranked 17th by the Greensboro News & Record, plays at High Point Andrews this Friday night at 7:30 (EDT) at Simeon Stadium.
© 1999 bls@oocities.com
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