Aug. 15 2002

Box Score

By Guy Loranger
The Herald-Sun

DURHAM, NC Vince Armstrong stepped onto the field sporting a dress shirt and a tie Friday night for his first game as Hillside's head football coach, but it didn't exactly turn out to be a dapper debut.

Northeast Guilford, one of the top 3-A programs in the state for the last decade, made it look downright ugly, steamrolling the Hornets 54-0 on a muggy, uncomfortable night at Blunt Stadium.

"It wasn't good at all," Armstrong said.

Northeast Guilford (1-0) used 10 backs to roll up 355 rushing yards against Hillside (0-1) and dominated upfront defensively with a line led by 6-4, 275-pound Maryland recruit Dennis Marsh.

The Hornets were held to 30 yards in the first half while falling behind 28-0 and finished the game with 116 yards thanks to a couple of big plays in the final minute against the Rams' second team.

"We executed perfectly," Marsh said. "Everybody was going hard. I think we've got one of the best defensive lines in the state. When the A team's in, it's over."

Hillside entered the game with several key figures from last year's 8-5 squad, such as graduated middle linebacker Keith Webster, watching from the stands. Robert Massey, who left Hillside, also popped in for a peek.

They saw the Hornets come out pumped up for their coach's first game before turning as flat as an old Lionel Richie soft-pop tune after the Rams exploded for three touchdowns in the second quarter.

"We felt like we'd have to ride out their adrenaline," Northeast Guilford coach Tommy Pursley said. "They got a couple of first downs on us, then we started playing our game."

Big, 244-pound senior fullback Matt Deese rushed for 92 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries to lead the Rams, while Nathan Cockman added 10 carries for 65 yards and a touchdown.

Deese's 20-yard scoring rumble capped Northeast Guilford's 11-play opening drive, and after that, Hillside caught one of its only breaks of the game.

After quarterback Jordan Davis was sacked and fumbled deep in Hillside territory, the Hornets got the ball back three plays later, as Cedric Powell pounced on Cockman's fumble at the 19-yard line.

It was downhill from there.

The Rams' Morry Smith nailed punter Ryan Shaffer when a bad snap rolled back to him at the 7. Deese turned it into a 3-yard touchdown run with 9:05 left in the first half.

Then Jay Smith intercepted a Davis pass on Hillside's next drive, and William Waddell converted it with a 5-yard run over the left side of the line.

After Hillside went nowhere on its next series, the Rams made it 28-0 with a nine-play, 59-yard drive topped by Cockman going through the middle of the line from 9 yards out.

"We pride ourselves on running the ball," said Pursley, whose triple-option churned out three more rushing TDs in the second half -- the last two by the ninth and 10th backs used in the Rams' backfield.

Hillside lost fullback William Speed to an injury early in the first half, and its running game had just 18 yards by halftime. Davis threw more in the second half, but he finished just 5 for 24 for 49 yards.

Speedy Brandon Alston accounted for 27 of those yards by catching a bomb on a late pride drive.

"That's a good football team over there," Armstrong said, pointing to the Rams. "They weren't bigger than us, but they were more polished.

"We've got to come together and play. Plain and simple. That's how it goes."