Oct 6, 2008
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Cap 7 shake-up
Pacing the Broughton sideline just before the second half kickoff Friday, a Broughton assistant coach, after learning that Wakefield was up 33-24 on Millbrook, said, “No one’s going to run the table [in the Cap 7].”
The Caps and Wolverines did their part to ensure that two teams — Leesville Road and Millbrook — were removed from the equation Friday. Broughton beat undefeated Leesville Road, the No. 4 4-A team in the state, 35-14. Wakefield beat Millbrook, ranked No. 3, 33-31.
After two weeks of Cap 7 play, only two teams still have a chance to win the league outright — Wakefield and Wake Forest-Rolesville. And if each team wins this week, then only one of them will have a chance to claim the league for themselves. Wakefield and WF-R go head to head on Oct. 17 at Wolverines Stadium.
Break up the Bengals
There might be a new coach at Fuquay-Varina, but the results are the same.
Ryan Habich’s Bengals have quietly started 5-1 (2-0 in the Tri-Eight), and they’re doing it with defense. After Friday’s 20-0 win — its fourth in a row — over Lee County, Fuquay has three straight shutouts and it's allowing only 10.6 points per game.
This shouldn’t come as a total surprise. Habich was the Bengals’ defensive coordinator the last three years, when Fuquay won the 2006 Tri-Eight title outright and shared a piece of it in 2005 and 2007. Habich’s unit a year ago logged five shutouts and allowed 9.7 points per game.
Drew does it again
During a brief preseason conversation, Wakefield coach J.D. Dinwiddie pointed to his quarterback, Drew Wilkinson, and said watch out for him, he’s going to be special.
How prescient.
Wilkinson has been electrifying this season, a key component to the Wolverines’ surprising 6-1 record (2-0 in the Cap 7). He has rushed 97 times for 532 yards and four touchdowns, and he’s completed 58 percent of his passes for 1,711 yards and 17 touchdowns. At this rate, he’s going to flirt with 1,000 yards rushing, 2,500 yards passing and 40 total TDs.
Wilkinson had his best performance to date on Friday, when he piled up 509 yards of total offense (407 passing, 102 rushing) and five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing) to lead the Wolverines to the win over Millbrook.
Just for the fun of it, consider this: Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch won the Heisman Trophy in 2001 by rushing for 1,115 yards and 18 touchdowns and passing for 1,510 yards and seven touchdowns.
Southern closing in on PAC 6
The following sentence will likely make Adrian Jones cringe, but what the heck. The PAC 6 is Southern Durham’s to lose.
Jones’ Spartans have already beat Hillside and Northern, and if they get by Jordan this week, it’s smooth sailing to their first outright league title since 2005. After this week, Southern’s remaining schedule is: at Chapel Hill (4-2), vs Person (2-4), vs East Chapel Hill (0-6) and at Riverside (1-5).
Stats of the week
In Athens Drives’ first six games, all losses, the Jaguars were outscored a combined 159-25 in the second and third quarters. In Friday’s 37-27 win over Cary, the Jaguars outscored the Imps 17-14 in the middle quarters.
Entering Friday’s game at Broughton, Leesville Road had allowed 39 points all season and had not allowed a touchdown in 18 quarters. The Caps found the end zone in the first and second quarters, then three times in the fourth to score 35 points on the Pride.
Most teams strive for offensive balance. Not many teams have achieved it quite like Southeast Raleigh. The Bulldogs this season have rushed for 1,173 yards and passed for 1,188. Of their 20 offensive touchdowns, 10 have come on the ground and 10 have come through the air.
There were two games Friday where the game’s opening kickoff was returned for a touchdown. At Wakefield, Millbrook’s Malik Fair had a 95-yard return to start the game, while at Northern Durham, Southern’s Reese Wiggins did the same from 87 yards away.
What happened to Millbrook's defense? The Wildcats have allowed 33 points in consecutive weeks after allowing a total of 40 in the first five.
Game Balls
Ravenscroft defense: The Ravens shut out Fayetteville Chrisitan, forced five turnovers and allowed just 24 yards of total offense in their 60-0 win.
Apex defense: The Cougars had five interceptions and held Middle Creek to 79 total yards in their 28-6 win over the Mustangs.
Wake Forest-Rolesville defense: The Cougars held Enloe scoreless for three quarters and limited the Eagles to 145 yards of total offense in their 48-7 win. The Eagles managed a meager 2.9 yards per rush on their 44 attempts.
Emery Young: The Broughton running back carried 26 times for 165 yards and two touchdowns in the Caps’ 35-14 win over Leesville Road.
Reese Wiggins: The Southern Durham wide receiver had seven catches for 79 yards and a touchdown and an 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the Spartans’ 35-28 win over the Northern.
Trea Jones: The Wake Forest-Rolesville running back rushed seven times for 171 yards and three touchdowns in the Cougars’ 48-7 win over Enloe.
Torrey White: The Wake Forest-Rolesville wide receiver had four catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns in the Cougars’ win at Enloe. White, also the team’s placekicker, was 6-for-6 on PATs and he made field goals from 34 and 41 yards.
Hayden Maples: The Ravenscroft quarterback was 8-of-14 for 138 yards and three touchdowns to go along with five carries for 103 yards in the Ravens’ 60-0 win over Fayetteville Christian.
Gabe Henderson: The Southeast Raleigh quarterback was 12-of-23 for 253 yards and two touchdowns and he ran nine times for 57 yards and three TDs in the Bulldogs’ 41-13 win at Smithfield-Selma.
Wakefield offensive line: The big fellas up front paved the way for the Wolverines to compile 516 total yards and score 33 points in Wakefield's two-point win over Millbrook.
Teams of the week
Props to Apex, which beat Middle Creek for the first time in six tries, and Panther Creek and Athens Drive, who both earned their first wins of the season. But this week’s honor has to be split between Wakefield and Broughton.
You knock off a team ranked in the state’s top five, you get praise.
Wakefield could’ve wilted before the game even got going. But after Millbrook’s Fair returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, the Wolverines responded on the next play from scrimmage. Wilkinson hit Nigel King for an 80-yard touchdown pass. The game was shaping up to be a shootout — Millbrook led 24-20 at the end of the first quarter — but turned into a defensive battle late. The Wildcats logged the game’s only points in the second half when Brian Kass scored on a six-yard run at the 7:04 mark of the third quarter. With the win, Wakefield is in first place in the Cap 7.
Broughton’s win was more thorough. They scored three offensive touchdowns and one each on offense and special teams. Like Wakefield, when they found themselves trailing, the Caps didn’t blink. After going down 7-0, Rob Foster returned the ensuing kickoff all the way to tie the game. Young’s 70-yard touchdown run in the second quarter put the Caps up for good. But the story of the night is what Broughton did defensively. The Caps held Leesville Road to 54 yards rushing — 175 yards less then the Pride’s average through their first six games.
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