Huge 4th quarter magic vs Rosewood
October 13th, 2007 Posted in High School Football
By Greg Baker:
In a game that was beginning to look eerily similar to last weeks showing at North Duplin, the Panthers of North Johnston pulled off an emotional 29-26 come from behind victory over the Eagles of Rosewood.
Tonight’s game had all the trappings of a sure loss. North Johnston took the field missing nine members of its original team. Injuries, along with a few discipline issues grounded several high profile starters. Defensive starter Michael Creech is out for the remainder of the season with a bad knee, and Mr. Sophomore everything EJ Knight was dressed out for the game but never graced the turf with his presence. Although a valiant effort was made, I just couldn’t get to the bottom of what was going on there. Nevertheless, through grit and a refuse to lose attitude, North Johnston was able to pull out a close one.
Down by eleven points to begin the final period of play and with no EJ to give the ball to, Panthers quarterback Cliff Holloman, was forced to go to the air. Although he would end up being picked off a couple of times during the night, Holloman turned in a good performance by passing for approximately 178 yards. He threw two touchdowns, one of which was a thirty-yard plus strike to #5 Pierre Dickerson, midway through the fourth.
After going up 29-26 with less than three minutes to play, the Panther defense had to make a stand. Beginning the drive from the their own 22, the Rosewood Eagles got as close as the NJ 30 before they failed on a 4th and 4 and turned the ball over on downs to NJ with less than a minute to go. The gut check was a success and the Panthers moved to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
Next up is a heated cross-county rivalry game with the Bulldogs of Princeton. Speaking for several NJ team members whom I know closely, the shame of losing to Princeton would haunt these boys for eternity. The words winning and Princeton just don’t sound right in the same sentence structure. Ok Ok, I’ll back off, but I think you get the point.
Until next week…
