Cyclones stay positive in winless campaign
CCS falls 54-20 to Halifax Academy in finale
By Jack Frederick jfrederick@wilsontimes.com | 265-7824 | Twitter: @_jackfrederick
A winless season can be a tough pill to swallow, but the Community Christian School eight-player football team is trying to see the positive in a season full of losses.
Plagued by inexperience and injury, the Cyclones (0-8, 0-4) were outmatched all season, which ended Friday night with a 54-20 loss at home to North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A Division II Colonial Carolina Conference foe Halifax Academy that saw a rolling clock for most of the game.
But the loss — the eighth overall for CCS and fourth in conference play — didn’t leave only a sour taste for the team. After starting the season learning the very basics, like lining up for punt and making sure to keep five players at the line of scrimmage, the standard for eight-man football, the team came a long way by the end of the season.
“I felt like tonight, I know there’s no good losses, but we did some good things offensively that we hadn’t done all year,” head coach Andy Jackson said. “I’m just proud, and I hope that it carries over and that they have a desire.”
The high-powered offense of Halifax put up 38 points the first quarter, leaving the Cyclones with little chance to keep up from the start. The first two scores of the game came back-to-back, with a rushing touchdown on the opening drive, then a 40-yard scamper for a score right after the Vikings recovered an onside kick. After two converted two-point tries, the team leapt out to a 16-0 lead in a minute of game play.
After the early explosion the opening quarter the visitors pulled most of its starters, but before the team did, Community Christian answered on a 15-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Noah Pierece to senior Austin Bissette.
“It felt good to help the team out,” Pierce said after the game.
The connection from a young player to an outgoing teammate in his final game was the first of two scores that sent out the team’s two seniors with one final touchdown before their careers came to a close.
On the night, Pierce completed 3-of-10 passes for 56 yards, including two to Bissette and another to Trey Barnes.
But the score with 4:06 left in the first quarter was his only touchdown pass of the night, and the Cyclones’ lone score of the first half.
By halftime, Halifax Academy was done scoring, taking a 54-6 lead. In between the first and second half, Jackson pulled his players together. He knew this was their chance to do something for the first time all season in the second half.
“It was the first half of football we at least scored more than the other team,” Jackson said. “I know that they played some second-tier guys, but we won the second half. That’s one thing we talked about at halftime.”
Two touchdowns in the second half made the score much closer than it actually was.
One of those two scores came from senior Michael Piccolo, who capped off his first season on the team with a 29-yard touchdown run with time expiring in the third quarter.
“It feels great,” Piccolo said. “It was a great experience playing on the team. It’s my first year playing football, so I’m still trying to learn everything, but I’m learning fast.”
The score marked a night when Piccolo ran for a team-high 60 yards, while Pierce added 34.
Piccolo’s coach was pleased to see him run the ball well in his final game, scoring after a long season of learning how to play the game.
“I was so tickled, because Michael had a hard time learning exactly what to do,” Jackson said. “I was just real pleased to see him get out there...his experience level was very low in football, but he’s starting to understand a little here at the end.”
The final Community Christian score of the night came with two minutes left to be played. On the Cyclones’ final drive, Pierce ran 19 yards for the score. Pierce was not the starter, but stepped in midway through the season when sophomore quarterback Landon Beaman broke his collar bone.
With 11 players returning, the progression of players like Pierce encourages Jackson for the improvements that could come next season.
I think the last couple weeks our younger guys have shown some improvement and you just hope — we’ve got 10 of them back — you just hope they get in the weight room and have some fire,” Jackson said.
A winless season isn’t the kind of experience any of the Cyclones had hoped for. But maybe the hard lesson will motivate the team to not let it happen again.
“I’m looking forward to getting in the weight room and getting a little stronger, the rest of the team getting a little stronger and coming back out here and getting a few more wins,” Pierce said.
CCS falls 54-20 to Halifax Academy in finale
By Jack Frederick jfrederick@wilsontimes.com | 265-7824 | Twitter: @_jackfrederick
A winless season can be a tough pill to swallow, but the Community Christian School eight-player football team is trying to see the positive in a season full of losses.
Plagued by inexperience and injury, the Cyclones (0-8, 0-4) were outmatched all season, which ended Friday night with a 54-20 loss at home to North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A Division II Colonial Carolina Conference foe Halifax Academy that saw a rolling clock for most of the game.
But the loss — the eighth overall for CCS and fourth in conference play — didn’t leave only a sour taste for the team. After starting the season learning the very basics, like lining up for punt and making sure to keep five players at the line of scrimmage, the standard for eight-man football, the team came a long way by the end of the season.
“I felt like tonight, I know there’s no good losses, but we did some good things offensively that we hadn’t done all year,” head coach Andy Jackson said. “I’m just proud, and I hope that it carries over and that they have a desire.”
The high-powered offense of Halifax put up 38 points the first quarter, leaving the Cyclones with little chance to keep up from the start. The first two scores of the game came back-to-back, with a rushing touchdown on the opening drive, then a 40-yard scamper for a score right after the Vikings recovered an onside kick. After two converted two-point tries, the team leapt out to a 16-0 lead in a minute of game play.
After the early explosion the opening quarter the visitors pulled most of its starters, but before the team did, Community Christian answered on a 15-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Noah Pierece to senior Austin Bissette.
“It felt good to help the team out,” Pierce said after the game.
The connection from a young player to an outgoing teammate in his final game was the first of two scores that sent out the team’s two seniors with one final touchdown before their careers came to a close.
On the night, Pierce completed 3-of-10 passes for 56 yards, including two to Bissette and another to Trey Barnes.
But the score with 4:06 left in the first quarter was his only touchdown pass of the night, and the Cyclones’ lone score of the first half.
By halftime, Halifax Academy was done scoring, taking a 54-6 lead. In between the first and second half, Jackson pulled his players together. He knew this was their chance to do something for the first time all season in the second half.
“It was the first half of football we at least scored more than the other team,” Jackson said. “I know that they played some second-tier guys, but we won the second half. That’s one thing we talked about at halftime.”
Two touchdowns in the second half made the score much closer than it actually was.
One of those two scores came from senior Michael Piccolo, who capped off his first season on the team with a 29-yard touchdown run with time expiring in the third quarter.
“It feels great,” Piccolo said. “It was a great experience playing on the team. It’s my first year playing football, so I’m still trying to learn everything, but I’m learning fast.”
The score marked a night when Piccolo ran for a team-high 60 yards, while Pierce added 34.
Piccolo’s coach was pleased to see him run the ball well in his final game, scoring after a long season of learning how to play the game.
“I was so tickled, because Michael had a hard time learning exactly what to do,” Jackson said. “I was just real pleased to see him get out there...his experience level was very low in football, but he’s starting to understand a little here at the end.”
The final Community Christian score of the night came with two minutes left to be played. On the Cyclones’ final drive, Pierce ran 19 yards for the score. Pierce was not the starter, but stepped in midway through the season when sophomore quarterback Landon Beaman broke his collar bone.
With 11 players returning, the progression of players like Pierce encourages Jackson for the improvements that could come next season.
I think the last couple weeks our younger guys have shown some improvement and you just hope — we’ve got 10 of them back — you just hope they get in the weight room and have some fire,” Jackson said.
A winless season isn’t the kind of experience any of the Cyclones had hoped for. But maybe the hard lesson will motivate the team to not let it happen again.
“I’m looking forward to getting in the weight room and getting a little stronger, the rest of the team getting a little stronger and coming back out here and getting a few more wins,” Pierce said.
