With C.B. Aycock trailing county rival Southern Wayne, 7-6, at halftime, C.B. Aycock head coach Steve Brooks and his coaching staff made some adjustments.
And in the second half, the Golden Falcons took charge.
The Golden Falcons scored 26 straight points to open the second half, and C.B. Aycock flew over the Saints 39-13 on Monday evening.
“I’m very excited that our kids got a win. We started out the season with two hard, incredible teams, and we knew Southern Wayne was bigger and more physical than they’ve ever been,” Brooks said. “But once we got into a rhythm there in the second half, I felt like we’re finally starting to get comfortable with each other.”
On the game’s opening possession, Southern Wayne seized a 7-0 lead on Paul Francis’ touchdown run.
Late in the first quarter, the Saints fumbled the ball, and Harrison Hansen picked it up and returned for a touchdown, but the Golden Falcons missed the extra point, so Southern Wayne still led 7-6 at halftime.
“Southern Wayne is just so big and physical. They have such great size, and they play hard,” Brooks said. “There’s never any quit in those kids, and they were able to pound the ball a little bit, and their quarterback is dangerous.”
C.B. Aycock opened the second half with a 4-play, 53-yard drive that ended with David Reid III’s 42-yard touchdown run on fourth down.
The Saints fumbled again on their next possession, and two plays later, Daniel Frederick broke loose for a 56-yard touchdown run.
And suddenly, with 8:55 left in the third quarter, C.B. Aycock built up a 19-7 lead.
“I have an unbelievable coaching staff, and they made great halftime adjustments on both sides of the football,” Brooks said.
Early in the fourth quarter, quarterback Ethan Brock directed a 10-play drive that ended with Tyler Horton catching a tipped ball for a 25-yard touchdown.
The Saints attempted to mount a comeback, and with 7:26 left in the fourth quarter, Jerome Moore scored a touchdown to cut C.B. Aycock’s lead down to 26-13.
Southern Wayne forced the Golden Falcons to punt on their next possession, but the Saints could not take advantage as they turned the ball over downs.
One play later, Frederick ran down the field for a 40-yard touchdown to give C.B. Aycock a 32-12 lead with 3:31 left in the game. Frederick added another touchdown with 15.7 seconds left to put the Golden Falcons up 39-12.
“Daniel played in the slot all year and had not played running back,” Brooks said. “I looked at him on the sideline and told him ‘I need you to play running back,’ and he said, ‘alright coach,’ and you saw hard he ran the football.”
Both squads are back in action on Friday. C.B. Aycock (1-2 overall, 1-2 ECC) travels to J.H. Rose (3-0, 2-0), while Southern Wayne (0-3, 0-3) hosts South Central (2-0, 2-0).
