RALEIGH, N.C. — The top offensive player for
West Rowan (Mt. Ulla, N.C.), quarterback BJ Sherrill, sustained a concussion midway through the second quarter and was ruled out of the game. Then
Eastern Alamance (Mebane, N.C.) running back
Javonte Ellison broke off a 40-yard touchdown run with two minutes left.
As the teams went into their locker rooms at halftime of the Class 3-A state championship game, it looked like the nation's longest active winning streak might be in jeopardy. But it wouldn't take long for West Rowan (Mt. Ulla) to assert its dominance once again.
MVP Dinkin Miller ran for 211 yards on 22 carries and Eastern Alamance had a net loss of one yard on 22 second-half plays in West Rowan's 34-7 win at N.C. State's Carter-Finley Stadium.
West Rowan won its 46th consecutive game and third straight Class 3-A title. Its last loss was to Davie in Week 2 of the 2008 season.
"You're looking at Eastern Alamance with all the momentum, having scored last, us without our field general, so things are not looking good coming into halftime," Falcons coach Scott Young said. "But I felt like when we walked out of the locker room after halftime, the way these guys pulled together, I felt good about our chances and they proved me right."
This game was a rematch of last year's final, which the Falcons won 28-21. But in that game the Falcons had all-American Kevin Parks, the leading rusher in state history, along with three other all-state players who have since graduated.
Still, West Rowan tore through the first 14 weeks of the 2010 season, never winning by less than 19 points. Then came last week's semifinal, when the Falcons needed two fourth quarter touchdowns and a final defensive stand to defeat Hibriten (Lenoir) 20-14.
"Coaches speak to us about being uncommon, and how rare it is for a team to win three back-to-back-to-back," defensive back Trey Mashore said. "We were all working hard and locked in on the same goal."
Mashore, along with Sherrill, Georgia Tech-bound defensive back Dominique Noble and right tackle Davon Quarles, started every game during the winning streak.
"Winning never gets old," said Sherrill, who went a perfect 46-0 as West Rowan's starting QB. "As long as we're winning, we're happy. It's a big deal for us to have the longest winning streak in the nation. Thing about that — it's pretty big. We just take pride in winning and keeping the streak to ourselves."
After Emmanuel Gbunblee intercepted a screen pass at the Eagles' 35 to set up a short field, Sherrill scored on a 1-yard keeper with two seconds left in the first quarter to put West Rowan ahead.
Falcons junior Jarvis Morgan then got behind the defense and caught a 68-yard touchdown pass from Sherrill, and Sherrill ran in the 2-point conversion to make it 14-0. But the West Rowan QB, who accounted for 2,995 yards on the season, suffered a helmet-to-helmet hit on the play and had to miss the rest of the game.
"I was devastated," Sherrill said. "I was done playing the last game of my high school career. I knew the boys were going to pull it out so that eased my mind a little bit."
Up just 14-7 at the half, not everyone shared Sherrill's confidence. But Kiero Cuthbertson sacked quarterback Will Walker on Eastern Alamance's first possession of the third quarter, and then Miller broke two tackles and ran for a 54-yard touchdown on the first snap for the Falcons.
West Rowan ran for 200 yards in the second half.
"Give it to their offensive front, they knocked us off the ball in the second half," Eagles coach John Kirby said. "The backup QB goes in and at the end of the game he's still as white as if he'd never been out there, so somebody did a good job of protecting him."
Meanwhile, Walker finished 8 of 25 passing for 99 yards and Eastern Alamance went 0 for 12 on third down. Defensive MVP Logan Stoodley, a sophomore linebacker, had a team-high eight tackles (two for loss) and a sack for West Rowan.
With both the MVP (Miller, a junior) and defensive MVP coming back, it seems like the nation's longest winning streak might be staying in North Carolina for a while.
"I don't care what you call us, as long as it's nothing bad," said Young, who didn't want to use the word "dynasty." "We'll let outside sources talk about what we are. All we know is, we're about hard work, effort, character and trying to win every game we go out and play.
"I think we're blessed to have great players, and as long as we're blessed to have great players we'll continue to win."
West Rowan 34, Eastern Alamance 7WR 6 8 14 6 – 34
EA 0 7 0 0 – 7
First quarterWR — BJ Sherrill 1 run (kick failed), :02
Second quarterWR — Jarvis Morgan 68 pass from Sherrill (Sherrill run), 7:05
EA — Javonte Ellison 40 run (Tripp Hupman kick), 1:56
Third quarter WR — Dinkin Miller 54 run (kick failed), 10:06
WR — Clifford Long 4 run (Morgan pass from Connor Edwards), 4:57
Fourth quarterWR — Desmond Jackson 3 run (kick failed), 2:14
