North Johnston Panthers remember fallen teammate with drubbing of Princeton
October 22nd, 2007 Posted in High School Football
By Greg Baker:
The North Johnston Panthers stopped at nothing on this night to make a special memory for their home fans as well as a fallen teammate’s family. January 21st, 2007 was a day that most people around the northern tip of Johnston County will never forget. Two of North Johnston’s finest lost their lives in a auto accident leaving gaping holes in the hearts of friends, family, and fellow students. Reece Richardson and Nick Creech were best of friends and each stood out in their favorite sport. For Reece it was soccer and for Nick it was always football. Earlier in the month, North Johnston honored Reece by having his family out to a home soccer match where they received a framed version of Reece’s home and away jersey. Likewise tonight, was a chosen time to show support and remembrance of Nick in the same manner.
Instead of the usual red jerseys with silver helmet and pants, the Panthers came out wearing black jerseys with the initials NC emblazoned on the left front shoulder. Instead of the usual mad dash through the cheerleaders sign, it was a slow purposeful walk to mid field. Among the group of players, Nick’s father, Greg Creech walked as a member of the team from the end zone sporting Nick’s #61 jersey. On a personal note, that’s when this big ol’boy got a little misty. With that sort of start to the game, there was no way on earth that Princeton could be allowed to survive the evening.
Last week, #25 EJ Knight was held out of the game at Rosewood due to disciplinary reasons. That hole in the backfield forced NJ to seek offensive firepower from alternative sources. If you remember, it did take a while but the passing game eventually showed up and the Panthers were able to sneak out of town after a 11 point fourth quarter comeback victory. It appeared tonight that last week paid off. Yes, Knight was back and up to his old tricks. 155 yards on 22 carries after being jerked midway through the third quarter. Knight rushed for a total of 4 touch downs and left a enough bruises on the bunch from Princeton to keep the school nurse busy for a few days. The passing game from #14 Holloman was quite good as well. The short pass was there a lot of the time and few strikes were delivered on the run as well. On one fourth quarter touchdown, Holloman hit #82 Kyle Sanders on a almost immediate dump pass over the middle for a 22 yard stroll. In all honesty, there was no one on him at all and he just stood up on the other side of the line to catch the ball. It’s bad enough losing 35-7 to your closest county rival but that was a slap in the face.
Those were basically the high points of the game. Princeton was done in by personal foul calls on several instances and a holding call that negated a 75 yard touchdown run. Can you say Oooooch boys and girls?
Next up is Spring Creek on Friday evening. Game time is 7:30pm and hopefully they won’t postpone another game because there MIGHT be some storms. I know, I know….I don’t have the whole story on that call but I’m just sayin’…..
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