Getting the W: Cyclones survive ironman football, defeat Lawrence in season opener for first victory in 2 years
SHELDON VICK | SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
By Jimmy Lewis jlewis@wilsontimes.com | 265-7807
Three minutes into the 2020 season for the Community Christian School eight-player football team, Cyclones head coach Andy Jackson had his worst fear come to life.
With just 10 players on his roster and nine dressed for Friday’s opener with the combined program from Lawrence Academy and The Albemarle School, sophomore quarterback Noah Pierce was shaken up with an apparent knee injury on a fourth-down play.
A stretcher was wheeled onto the field, but Pierce ended up walking off under his own power. However, after being examined by medical personnel, Pierce deemed himself unable to return.
That left CCS with just the minimum of eight, handing the full-time quarterback controls to junior Landon Beamon.
The dual-threat athlete answered the challenge, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another as the Cyclones rebounded from a first-quarter deficit to put up 32 straight points en route to a 32-14 victory.
It was the first victory for the CCS program in 714 days after enduring a winless 2019 season at 0-8. The Cyclones knocked off Lawrence 47-0 for their last win Oct. 19, 2018. Even though the game was between two rivals in the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association Division II Colonial Carolina Conference, it did not count towards seeding for the playoffs. The second meeting between the teams, set for Nov. 6 in Merry Hill, will be the designated conference game.
CCS was also without junior Brandon Tyner, who did not pass a physical.
“At halftime, I told them if anyone gets hurt and you can stand to your feet, just stand to your feet,” Jackson said. “I’ll call timeout and we’ll just stand there. We had a chance to win the game and we’ll do whatever we can to try to win it.”
While CCS did do all it could to secure that elusive victory, Lawrence/Albemarle readily complied with the effort. The visitors put the football on the ground 11 times and lost six of those fumbles, including two on their first two possessions. That span was briefly interrupted by Waylon Clifton’s 51-yard dash to put Lawrence/Albemarle up 6-0 on its third touch. Taylor Powell added the two-point conversion as the CCS clock operator mistakenly set the first-quarter game clock to 10 minutes.
But past that, the Cyclones remained the beneficiaries of Lawrence/Albemarle generosity. Junior Graham Norville scored on a five-yard plunge to put CCS on the board one minute into the regulated second quarter, with Beamon adding the two-point conversion on the ground.
Capitalizing on successive fumbles, CCS went up 24-8 at halftime. Beamon, who finished 8 of 16 for 162 yards and two TDs, dropped back and found senior tight end Jacob Harper on a quick dump pass. Harper, at 6-foot-4 and 285 pounds, did the rest as he shrugged off a tackle attempt and bowled his way into the end zone. Beamon, also accounting for a trio of 2-point conversions on the ground, beat the defense to the corner to make it 16-8.
Senior wide receiver Trey Barnes took advantage of generous cushion after the Cyclones recovered another Lawrence/Albemarle fumble, catching the slant from Beamon and taking it 35 yards for a score. Beamon’s two-point run put CCS up 24-8.
“We just shot ourselves in the foot,” Lawrence/Albemarle head coach Lee Hoffman said. “That’s all it was. We had a lot of injuries from our last game and it just lived in their heads.”
The teams exchanged fumbles to open the second half, but CCS emerged with a 32-8 cushion following Beamon’s 52-yard scamper off a bootleg. Norville finished off the conversion.
On the ground, Beamon tallied 137 yards on 19 carries.
“I knew I had to do a lot of handling of the ball and more weight would be put on my shoulders to handle the ball and get it off,” Beamon said of the full-time move to quarterback. “I can’t want to get (Pierce) back. We need as many guys as we can get.”
The CCS defense, anchored by Harper, limited Lawrence/Albemarle to 151 total yards. Keeping that figure down was 47 yards lost on fumbles alone. Lawrence/Albemarle cut it to the final score on Clifton’s 21-yard dash with 7:36 left, but the two-point conversion was shut down after the play flowed into the arms of Harper.
“I think we played good,” Harper said of the CCS defense. “We have room to improve, but this was a really good start for us.”
CCS will play its first conference game next Friday, hosting Kinston Bethel Christian in the second of an opening three-game homestand, which may have the Cyclones suiting up with eight players again for more ironman football.
“They’ve been very resilient,” Jackson said. “We’ve had to be, knowing that we were coming out here to play with 10 and eight guys. They’ve had to have that mindset to them.”
SHELDON VICK | SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
By Jimmy Lewis jlewis@wilsontimes.com | 265-7807
Three minutes into the 2020 season for the Community Christian School eight-player football team, Cyclones head coach Andy Jackson had his worst fear come to life.
With just 10 players on his roster and nine dressed for Friday’s opener with the combined program from Lawrence Academy and The Albemarle School, sophomore quarterback Noah Pierce was shaken up with an apparent knee injury on a fourth-down play.
A stretcher was wheeled onto the field, but Pierce ended up walking off under his own power. However, after being examined by medical personnel, Pierce deemed himself unable to return.
That left CCS with just the minimum of eight, handing the full-time quarterback controls to junior Landon Beamon.
The dual-threat athlete answered the challenge, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another as the Cyclones rebounded from a first-quarter deficit to put up 32 straight points en route to a 32-14 victory.
It was the first victory for the CCS program in 714 days after enduring a winless 2019 season at 0-8. The Cyclones knocked off Lawrence 47-0 for their last win Oct. 19, 2018. Even though the game was between two rivals in the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association Division II Colonial Carolina Conference, it did not count towards seeding for the playoffs. The second meeting between the teams, set for Nov. 6 in Merry Hill, will be the designated conference game.
CCS was also without junior Brandon Tyner, who did not pass a physical.
“At halftime, I told them if anyone gets hurt and you can stand to your feet, just stand to your feet,” Jackson said. “I’ll call timeout and we’ll just stand there. We had a chance to win the game and we’ll do whatever we can to try to win it.”
While CCS did do all it could to secure that elusive victory, Lawrence/Albemarle readily complied with the effort. The visitors put the football on the ground 11 times and lost six of those fumbles, including two on their first two possessions. That span was briefly interrupted by Waylon Clifton’s 51-yard dash to put Lawrence/Albemarle up 6-0 on its third touch. Taylor Powell added the two-point conversion as the CCS clock operator mistakenly set the first-quarter game clock to 10 minutes.
But past that, the Cyclones remained the beneficiaries of Lawrence/Albemarle generosity. Junior Graham Norville scored on a five-yard plunge to put CCS on the board one minute into the regulated second quarter, with Beamon adding the two-point conversion on the ground.
Capitalizing on successive fumbles, CCS went up 24-8 at halftime. Beamon, who finished 8 of 16 for 162 yards and two TDs, dropped back and found senior tight end Jacob Harper on a quick dump pass. Harper, at 6-foot-4 and 285 pounds, did the rest as he shrugged off a tackle attempt and bowled his way into the end zone. Beamon, also accounting for a trio of 2-point conversions on the ground, beat the defense to the corner to make it 16-8.
Senior wide receiver Trey Barnes took advantage of generous cushion after the Cyclones recovered another Lawrence/Albemarle fumble, catching the slant from Beamon and taking it 35 yards for a score. Beamon’s two-point run put CCS up 24-8.
“We just shot ourselves in the foot,” Lawrence/Albemarle head coach Lee Hoffman said. “That’s all it was. We had a lot of injuries from our last game and it just lived in their heads.”
The teams exchanged fumbles to open the second half, but CCS emerged with a 32-8 cushion following Beamon’s 52-yard scamper off a bootleg. Norville finished off the conversion.
On the ground, Beamon tallied 137 yards on 19 carries.
“I knew I had to do a lot of handling of the ball and more weight would be put on my shoulders to handle the ball and get it off,” Beamon said of the full-time move to quarterback. “I can’t want to get (Pierce) back. We need as many guys as we can get.”
The CCS defense, anchored by Harper, limited Lawrence/Albemarle to 151 total yards. Keeping that figure down was 47 yards lost on fumbles alone. Lawrence/Albemarle cut it to the final score on Clifton’s 21-yard dash with 7:36 left, but the two-point conversion was shut down after the play flowed into the arms of Harper.
“I think we played good,” Harper said of the CCS defense. “We have room to improve, but this was a really good start for us.”
CCS will play its first conference game next Friday, hosting Kinston Bethel Christian in the second of an opening three-game homestand, which may have the Cyclones suiting up with eight players again for more ironman football.
“They’ve been very resilient,” Jackson said. “We’ve had to be, knowing that we were coming out here to play with 10 and eight guys. They’ve had to have that mindset to them.”
