Jun 13, 2009
Josh Stanley, sophomore quarterback at Leesville Road during 2008 season.
GREENVILLE — The Leesville Road Pride went 6-0 Saturday at East Carolina's Beast of the East high school football 7-on-7 tournament on their way to winning the championship.
The Pride defeated Southern Durham 41-38 in the championship game.
After getting the ball on the 40-yard line with about one minute left, Leesville Road junior quarterback Josh Stanley connected with sophomore Austin Berrios to score the game winning touchdown.
"He didn't make long throws, he just stepped up and led the team down the field," Leesville Road head coach David Green said after returning to Raleigh.
Green said Stanley is the leader to be the team's starting quarterback, but added that a final decision has not been made.
"That won't be sealed until it's time to play, but I was very impressed with him today," Green said.
Stanley didn't play under center at the varsity level last season, but in six games on Saturday he threw just two interceptions, and Green said, "We scored a lot of points."
Berrios could be one of the team's leading receivers with his quick foot speed. Gordon Martin, the leading returning receiver for the Pride, did not play Saturday after he suffered an injury on Friday. Martin caught 18 passes for 334-yards and one touchdown last season, picking up more than 20-percent of the team's total receiving yards.
"We're going to spread it around a little bit more this year," Green said.
It can be difficult to tell how good a defense is in a 7-on-7 tournament, but Green said he liked what he saw Saturday from his defense.
"The defense wasn't bad," he said. "We gave up fewer points today than any other team."
Of the seven starters Saturday, only two of them started last season for the Pride. Leesville Road gave up 13-points per game last season.
Green said Thurston Cox played well on both sides of the ball Saturday. Cox plays in the offensive backfield, and also plays at the cornerback position for the Pride.
According to Green, this is the most athletic team he has had in his time at Leesville Road.
"Usually we're not athletic at all," said Green. "We're still not as athletic as Southern Durham, but we should at least be able to play with those athletic teams this year."
The Leesville Road linemen were supposed to go to Greensboro on Saturday for the Hawg Tuff Linemen Camp, but the Pride had to pull out of the event after the event sponsor had to drop it.
Green said he expects to host a similar event for local schools at Leesville Road on July 11. He also said Leesville Road won't be making the trip to Wake Forest Unviersity's 7-on-7.
"It was a good day for us, but we still have a long way to go," Green said.
Leesville Road will open up their season on Aug. 21, when they host Panther Creek. Green said he got to see the Catamounts play some on Saturday and he was impressed with what he saw.
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