Parrott wears down CCS in 2nd half, 72-40
By Jimmy Lewis Staff Writer
In the thoroughbred horse race that typically defines high school eight-player football, a slew of lost fumbles and deep balls were the bane of Community Christian School on Friday night.
Arendell Parrott Academy sophomore quarterback Connor Bright threw for five touchdown passes, and the Patriots gradually wore down the Cyclones in the second half en route to a 72-40 Colonial Carolina Conference victory.
CCS, a 1-A member of the split league, suffered its first loss in three games. Parrott, a 2-A member that reached the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 8-player championship game last season, improved to 3-1. This year will be the first that the NCISAA will have a 1-A and 2-A champion, and the CCC is the only league that sponsors 8-man football in the NCISAA.
“We just bit on play action,” CCS head coach Andy Jackson lamented. “We’ve been over it. We knew they did, but we just kind of bit on it pretty bad.”
Despite the lopsided final score, the Cyclones defense did not do a bad job in stopping the run in the first half. But when the Patriots were put behind the chains on third- and fourth-down situations, Parrott’s skill players on the outside cashed in.
Bright tossed his first TD pass after the first CCS fumble, throwing a 21-yard strike to senior Charlie kick. The PAT failed, and CCS trailed 6-0.
Once CCS failed to recover the pending onside kick —part of five lost fumbles and six Cyclone turnovers —Parrott began hurting the hosts with the deep ball. On a third-and-21 from the Parrott 40, Bright dropped back and found senior Davis Basden on a 60-yard strike to make it 12-0.
CCS brought it back down the field, capping its drive on a 2-yard plunge by junior running back Ricky Fuller. Junior Grant Webb tacked on the 2-point conversion to make it 12-8 with 5:41 left in the first quarter.
However, Parrott went on a bit of a scoring run, using a 67-yard TD pass from Bright to King on third-and-10. The next drive saw CCS get Parrott into a fourth-and-9, but a halfback toss pass from Basden to King sent Parrott up 26-8.
“Like I told our guys at halftime, they dominated us up front the first half,” Parrott head coach Matt Beaman reviewed. “We had to be finesse, and luckily, our passing game was clicking and we were able to get a lead and just kind of hang on from there.”
Parrott’s lead became 32-8 on a 92-yard scamper from Basden in the second quarter.
Yet CCS made its closest encroachment as the first half wound down. Webb finished a drive with a 2-yard plunge and tossed the 2-point conversion to sophomore tight end Austin Conway. After CCS stopped Parrott on consecutive possessions, Webb found Fuller for a 61-yard score. Webb tacked on the 2-point conversion, and the Cyclones trailed just 32-24 with 1:41 left until halftime.
Parrott reestablished a two-possession lead before halftime, capping its drive with a Basden 3-yard run. The Patriots led 38-24 at the half.
In the second half, the Cyclones wore down against a deeper Parrott squad. The Patriots scored on four consecutive possessions to open the second half to open up a commanding 64-32 lead early in the fourth quarter. CCS’s only response during that deluge was a 24-yard pass from Webb to senior Spensir Heath.
Fuller, who battled painful leg cramps throughout the night, got loose on an 81-yard run to chop the deficit to 64-40. Webb found Conway on a 2-point pass with 4:19 to go, and Parrott capped the scoring with Phillip Johnson’s 25-yard run with one second to play. Johnson added the final 2-point conversion.
“They were doing a good job of getting matchups on us and they got a little better matchups,” Jackson said of Parrott. “Their speed outside was a little bit better than what we thought. We thought we’d stay with them in man coverage instead of going into a zone. We did a little bit of zone there for a little bit and it helped out a little, but then they saw that and started running the ball.”
Fuller finished with 163 yards on 15 carries.
CCS remains home for the third straight game next week when it hosts Raleigh Saint David’s School.
“I think we played pretty good in the first half,” Webb assessed. “I just think in the second half, they outwinded us. I think we just need to go harder at practice to get better.”
By Jimmy Lewis Staff Writer
In the thoroughbred horse race that typically defines high school eight-player football, a slew of lost fumbles and deep balls were the bane of Community Christian School on Friday night.
Arendell Parrott Academy sophomore quarterback Connor Bright threw for five touchdown passes, and the Patriots gradually wore down the Cyclones in the second half en route to a 72-40 Colonial Carolina Conference victory.
CCS, a 1-A member of the split league, suffered its first loss in three games. Parrott, a 2-A member that reached the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 8-player championship game last season, improved to 3-1. This year will be the first that the NCISAA will have a 1-A and 2-A champion, and the CCC is the only league that sponsors 8-man football in the NCISAA.
“We just bit on play action,” CCS head coach Andy Jackson lamented. “We’ve been over it. We knew they did, but we just kind of bit on it pretty bad.”
Despite the lopsided final score, the Cyclones defense did not do a bad job in stopping the run in the first half. But when the Patriots were put behind the chains on third- and fourth-down situations, Parrott’s skill players on the outside cashed in.
Bright tossed his first TD pass after the first CCS fumble, throwing a 21-yard strike to senior Charlie kick. The PAT failed, and CCS trailed 6-0.
Once CCS failed to recover the pending onside kick —part of five lost fumbles and six Cyclone turnovers —Parrott began hurting the hosts with the deep ball. On a third-and-21 from the Parrott 40, Bright dropped back and found senior Davis Basden on a 60-yard strike to make it 12-0.
CCS brought it back down the field, capping its drive on a 2-yard plunge by junior running back Ricky Fuller. Junior Grant Webb tacked on the 2-point conversion to make it 12-8 with 5:41 left in the first quarter.
However, Parrott went on a bit of a scoring run, using a 67-yard TD pass from Bright to King on third-and-10. The next drive saw CCS get Parrott into a fourth-and-9, but a halfback toss pass from Basden to King sent Parrott up 26-8.
“Like I told our guys at halftime, they dominated us up front the first half,” Parrott head coach Matt Beaman reviewed. “We had to be finesse, and luckily, our passing game was clicking and we were able to get a lead and just kind of hang on from there.”
Parrott’s lead became 32-8 on a 92-yard scamper from Basden in the second quarter.
Yet CCS made its closest encroachment as the first half wound down. Webb finished a drive with a 2-yard plunge and tossed the 2-point conversion to sophomore tight end Austin Conway. After CCS stopped Parrott on consecutive possessions, Webb found Fuller for a 61-yard score. Webb tacked on the 2-point conversion, and the Cyclones trailed just 32-24 with 1:41 left until halftime.
Parrott reestablished a two-possession lead before halftime, capping its drive with a Basden 3-yard run. The Patriots led 38-24 at the half.
In the second half, the Cyclones wore down against a deeper Parrott squad. The Patriots scored on four consecutive possessions to open the second half to open up a commanding 64-32 lead early in the fourth quarter. CCS’s only response during that deluge was a 24-yard pass from Webb to senior Spensir Heath.
Fuller, who battled painful leg cramps throughout the night, got loose on an 81-yard run to chop the deficit to 64-40. Webb found Conway on a 2-point pass with 4:19 to go, and Parrott capped the scoring with Phillip Johnson’s 25-yard run with one second to play. Johnson added the final 2-point conversion.
“They were doing a good job of getting matchups on us and they got a little better matchups,” Jackson said of Parrott. “Their speed outside was a little bit better than what we thought. We thought we’d stay with them in man coverage instead of going into a zone. We did a little bit of zone there for a little bit and it helped out a little, but then they saw that and started running the ball.”
Fuller finished with 163 yards on 15 carries.
CCS remains home for the third straight game next week when it hosts Raleigh Saint David’s School.
“I think we played pretty good in the first half,” Webb assessed. “I just think in the second half, they outwinded us. I think we just need to go harder at practice to get better.”
