71st High School plays Hoke County High School on Friday, August 31, 2012. Staff Photo by Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez
Sep 1, 2012
Visiting Hoke County made sure that a young Seventy-First team showed its age Friday night.
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In the long run for the Falcons, however, that may not be a bad thing.
Grabbing the momentum early, the Bucks stayed undefeated, posting a 35-20 non-conference victory against a Falcons team that leans heavily on players with scant high school experience.
But after a disastrous start, the Falcons (0-3) found some encouraging signs.
"We're a young football team," coach Bob Paroli said. ". But sometimes, being a young football team, (adversity) doesn't bother them nearly as much as when they're going to be veterans."
In the best of circumstances, the Falcons feature 17 sophomores and a pair of freshmen starters. But on Friday night, a rash of leg cramps and the loss of starting quarterback Jamel Jolliffe to a second half wrist injury left Seventy-First even thinner.
But Paroli praised the Falcons' progress in the running game - they racked up 211 yards on the ground - and a fourth-quarter scoring drive during which Brandon Fife saw his first action at quarterback.
"It was encouraging to see us at the end," Paroli said. ". I thought that was a great thing to have happen for us. Maybe we can build on it."
It didn't look like there would be many positive developments early as the Bucks capitalized on the Falcons' shaky start.
Seventy-First's opening possession went haywire when Jolliffe was stripped by the Bucks' Tyrdre Daniels. Hoke County linebacker Treqwon Covington scooped up the ball and raced 12 yards to the end zone.
"When you get a turnover and score right away, it's very good," Bucks running back Detrez Newsome said. "It motivates us more."
Seventy-First answered with an 11-play, 68-yard drive that led to a Jonathon McNeil touchdown from two yards out. But a 37-yard touchdown run by Geoffrey Thompson and a 41-yard scoring run from Newsome left the Bucks in control with a 21-6 halftime edge.
Jolliffe connected with Fife on a third-quarter touchdown pass that gave the Falcons life.
After Newsome found the end zone again to put the Bucks ahead 28-14, the Falcons threatened, driving past midfield with less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter. But Hoke County's Shaikeim McGougan snatched the ball from a Seventy-First running back and carried it to the Falcons' 12. Newsome scored two plays later to give the Bucks a cushion that not even Fife's late scoring drive could erase.
"I wasn't surprised at all (that Seventy-First didn't go away)," Hoke County coach Milton Butts said. "What we wanted to see was, when we got down, how we fought back. We were able to fight them off."
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