Smith headed to Havelock for 3-A playoffs

Too bad Camden and Murphy are 1-A.

For the NCHSAA did Ben L. Smith's football team no favors by seeding the 8-3 Golden Eagles ninth in the 3-A Eastern regional playoffs. Perhaps next year Smith can ask to be in the West and travel to Sylva to play Smoky Mountain.

Now Smith must travel to eight-seeded Havelock (8-2) for the opening-round playoff game this Friday. Havelock is located on U.S. 70 East about a half hour from Morehead City.

The NCHSAA could have paired Havelock with Bertie, the 10th seed, and Smith with Western Harnett, the seventh seed, without too much trouble, but instead the Golden Eagles have to make the longest journey in the first weekend of the 3-A playoffs.

But the Golden Eagles have nobody to blame but themselves. They played Carver (6-0, 9-2) tough last Friday night, but could not make the necessary big plays to come away with their first conference title in 25 years. Instead, the Yellowjackets won their third straight Piedmont Triad 3-A crown and will host Goldsboro (7-3) in Friday night's first round. Carver is the defendings state 3-A titlist.

The difference in this game was the running of senior tailback Tavaris Gregg, who finished with 168 yards on 30 carries. Gregg scored all three Carver touchdowns, all three-yard runs.

Smith countered with a pair of Duane Taylor touchdown strikes to sophomore wideout JoJo McLaughlin, but it was not enough to offset a 281-yard rushing night by the Yellowjackets. Carver basically played smashmouth football and the Golden Eagle secondary spent most of the night chasing down Gregg and wingback Lashun Peoples, who had 72 yards on 15 carries.

Peoples, who is the top all-around player in the conference, was the biggest difference-maker at key moments in the contest. No play was bigger than a fourth-and-three at the Eagle 24 late in the third quarter. Smith appeared to have Peoples stopped for a six-yard loss -- not once, but twice -- on the left side of the field, but People was able to reverse his direction and gained five yards for the first down. In effect, that -- and Smith's inability to recover an onside kick with 3:41 left after McLaughlin's second TD reception -- ended any dreams of a BLS championship.

And, unfortunately, put the Golden Eagles on the bus for much of this coming Friday. It will take approximately six hours to get to Havelock. The one thing going Smith's way is that the Guilford County Schools take this Thursday off to celebrate Veteran's Day.

Smith coach Tony McKee said Havelock is an impressive opponent.

"Havelock is a cross between Glenn and Parkland," the BLS mentor said. "They play aggressively and react to the ball well on defense. They have a good power-I running game. We will have to play very well to win."

Smith is in the playoffs for the first time since 1988 -- and for the first time ever in 3-A. In all of its previous playoff outings, BLS was 4-A.

© 1999 bls@oocities.com

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