Rocky Mount High advances to 3-A state championship

Telegram photo / Abbi O’Leary / Sports Writer
Rocky Mount High School holds the trophy for the NCHSAA 3A East Regional Championship Friday after their 42-21 win against undefeated Eastern Alamance High School. Rocky Mount will play for the state title next week.

Telegram photo / Abbi O’Leary / Sports Writer
Rocky Mountвs running back Nick Bynum rushes through the Eastern Alamance defense Friday during their NCHSAA 3A semi-final round of the playoffs at Eastern Alamance High School.

MEBANE – Rocky Mount High watched a movie of its entire season, from summer workouts all the way through last week’s dramatic win over Eden Morehead in the 3-A third round, on the charter bus ride to Eastern Alamance on Friday afternoon.

Turns out the Gryphons had plenty more to add to what already is a long highlight reel, and they will have one more week to give that movie an ending few could have imagined.

Rocky Mount High, seeded third in the 3-A East, went on the road at top-seeded and unbeaten Eastern Alamance and raced to a 28-0 halftime lead, then held off a late Eagles rally to win in its first Eastern Regional Final appearance since 2008 and reach the state championship game next Friday night at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill.

“I don’t think it’s really hit me yet,” Gryphons senior linebacker Alex Henderson said. “We really do try to treat every game like it’s just the next one on our schedule, but next week will be a little different, definitely.”

Gryphons (13-2) coach Jason Battle has been on his team in the playoffs for not starting games quickly, especially as Rocky Mount High kept winning and facing tougher opposition.

Rocky Mount High players couldn’t put their fingers on what changed on Friday, but the energy during the Gryphons’ warmups on a sub-40 degree night in Mebane took on a menacing feel. Battle’s team was quieter than usual, dialed in, attentive to what was at stake, and it showed.

Even after one offensive series – the Gryphons turned over the ball on downs in Eastern Alamance (14-1) territory – Rocky Mount High’s running backs left the field knowing they were tougher than the Eagles’ defense.

Rocky Mount High’s defense forced a three-and-out on Eastern Alamance’s first drive, and five plays later, the Gryphons were in the end zone on Tyrell Forbes’ slippery 12-yard run.

“They were kinda soft, and we fed off that,” Forbes said.

Eastern Alamance’s first-half troubles had only just begun. The Eagles mounted a long drive and had first-and-goal, but two short runs and a John Lamot incompletion on third down forced a field goal try that came out low and was blocked.

Rocky Mount High took over at its own 7, and on 3rd-and-6 from the 11, the first play of the second quarter, BJ Sanders sprinted off right tackle for a 59-yard gain. Forbes then bounced his way for a 24-yard touchdown run and a 14-0 Gryphons lead, silencing a sold-out Eastern Alamance crowd.

Again, Eastern Alamance drove – this time, more than 50 yards on seven plays – but Lamot, trying to do too much early on, cost his team dearly. Under pressure from Thomas Battle and a host of other Gryphons, Lamot tried to spin out of a sack and throw to a teammate in the flat while falling down, but Rocky Mount High linebacker Rodquan White stepped in front of Lamot’s weak throw and high-stepped 85 yards for a touchdown.

“We came ready to go, ready to hit (Friday),” Henderson said. “The thing all year has been confidence. So even when they moved the ball on us, we still made a play.”

Nick Bynum added to a hardly-believable Rocky Mount High lead at the 4:44 mark of the second quarter, darting 48 yards up the middle for a touchdown on the first play after an Eastern Alamance punt and a nice return from Detrell Revis.

Eastern Alamance looked poised to at least end the shutout just before the intermission and had first-and-goal from the Gryphons’ 5. After Lamot ran for two yards on first down, Kendall Walker lost one on second down.

Lamot got three of those back on third down. But on fourth-and-goal from the one, Sherrod Greene and a bevy of Gryphons tacklers spun Lamot down short of the goal line, preserving a 28-0 lead.

The Eagles scored on their second possession of the second half on a 15-yard pass from Lamot to Tyler Bryant on 4th-and-10, but BJ Sanders answered with a two-yard touchdown run to push the Gryphons’ lead to 35-7 after three quarters.

Eastern Alamance got as close as 35-21 with two quick scores – thanks, in part, to Rocky Mount High players slipping on two separate fourth down attempts, coming up a yard shy both times – but the Gryphons’ defense was up to the task.

With Eastern Alamance at the Rocky Mount High 30 and poised to cut the deficit to seven with less than five minutes left, Lamot’s desperation to make a play was his downfall. The Elon commit tried to spin away from pressure by Artavious Richardson and flung a blind pass in front of him, but Henderson intercepted the ball and ran 66 yards for a game-sealing touchdown.

Detrell Revis intercepted Lamot on the Eagles’ next offensive snap, and the Gryphons ran out the clock to seal a berth in the 3-A state championship game against Belmont South Point next Friday night at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill. Kickoff is set for 7:35 p.m.

Battle had one message for his team as the Gryphons waited for the presentation of their 3-A East Regional championship trophy on Friday night.

“We got this trophy, and that’s great,” he said. “But we want that ring.”

Rocky Mount High players let out a long “Yeaaaah,” then asked to return to the bus to escape the cold. There was more work left to be done.

By FOSTER LANDER

Sports Writer for Rocky Mount Telegram

Saturday, December 5, 2015