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FB Preview--Rocky Mount Has New Look

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Jun 1, 2001
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Eagles don't expect big drop despite departures

By Jessie H. Nunery

Sports Editor ROCKY MOUNT TELEGRAM

What a difference four years of expectations have made at Rocky Mount Academy.

Since a winless season in 2011, the Eagles have been the most successful team in the NCISAA, having put the past two state championship banners on campus, including an undefeated season.

So even though the program will not return the architect of those teams – coach B.W. Holt – or last season’s starting quarterback, or eight seniors or a pair of running backs who transferred after combining for nearly 3,000 yards of offense between them, the Eagles still expect to be pretty good.

“We have the pieces here,” said coach Terrell Hudgins, who moved from top assistant to head coach after Holt resigned in May. “They have the work ethic they had already built in. It’s their choice to keep it going, and they are showing the effort to keep it going. We can’t promise an undefeated season, but we can promise that we will compete every Friday.”

The Eagles are going to look a little different than the November night they defeated Kinston Parrott for the NCISAA state title, and they’re OK with that.

Holt has retired back home to Tennessee, while Jacob Hunter (Tarboro) and Rod White (Rocky Mount High) moved on to other schools.

The offensive line returns one starter, and overall, the team’s numbers are down slightly from 27 players to 20 this fall. Any lengthy injuries will prove costly.

Rocky Mount Academy rarely was tested in going undefeated last season, and many of its games were played with a continuous clock during second halves.

This season’s team might not blow out teams by 40 points, but Hudgins said most of the players have learned the program’s system during the past three or four years, and it’s that foundation the Eagles will trust during 10 regular-season games and the playoffs.

“We can stick to what we’ve been doing,” Hudgins said. “We probably won’t make as many big plays as we have in the past, but we will make big plays.”

Senior Kyle Holland will be the team’s full-time starting quarterback after a season in which he filled in late and in the playoffs for injured starter Brice Andracchio.

Sophomore running back Caleb Lambert is a promising player at a position in which the Eagles lost much of their depth and team speed.

The coaching staff outside of Holt remains intact, and now Hudgins makes the final decisions.

“The only difference is that guys now come to me,” Hudgins said.

If that turns out to be one of the only differences, than it surely could be another solid season.
 
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