Rosewood holds off Jones Senior

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on October 1, 2006 2:16 AM

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By KEITH SPENCE

Courtesy Kinston Free Press

TRENTON -- A potential game-tying, two-point conversion pass fell incomplete with just over a minute left, and Rosewood held off a furious second-half comeback to defeat Jones Senior 34-32 on Friday.

Jones Senior (3-3) scored on a 15-yard TD pass from Covair Frost to older brother Kamar Frost with 1:01 to play, but on the ensuing two-point attempt, quarterback Frost was flushed from the pocket and overthrew Steven Lewis in the corner of the end zone.

"We just ran out of time," said Jones coach Greg Hampton, whose team trailed 28-6 at halftime. "We dug ourselves a hole, but we adjusted and we didn't quit. I'm as pleased as I could possibly be with a loss."

Hampton wasn't so happy in the first half as Rosewood (4-2) jumped out to a huge lead thanks to the big play.

Three of the Eagles' four first-half touchdowns came on plays of at least 31 yards. Devon Bennett, who carried 20 times for 189 yards and three TDs, open the scoring with a 31-yard burst midway through the first quarter.

After Jones' Donte Moss raced 61 yards for the trying tally, Rosewood quarterback Josh Myers hooked up with Bennett on a 75-yard scoring strike that put the Eagles ahead for good.

Bennett added a 60-yard run in the second quarter and an eight-yard TD burst on the first play of the fourth quarter. In addition to his prolific rushing output, he also caught two passes for 86 yards and a score.

"The kid (Bennett) is a great runner, and we made him look even better with some poor tackling in the first half," Hampton said. "Not only is he fast, but he's also strong, and we were trying to arm tackle him."

Rosewood's other first touchdown came on a 10-yard run by Chris Holmes.

Myers missed the second half with a shoulder injury, and backup Joseph Boyette did a good job running the Eagles offense after the break.

"Josh should be OK for next week's game," Rosewood coach Daniel Barrow said. "We have a lot of confidence in Joe, so we knew could rest Josh without losing anything offensively."

Boyette completed just one of two passes, but that one was huge, a third down 20-yarder to Stephen McIntyre that kept the Eagles' lone second-half scoring drive alive.

"This was a character-building game," Barrow said. "We had some kids step up at key times and we were able to hold our feet to the fire in the second half. It was an exciting game to watch and to coach in."

Moss ran 13 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns before turning an ankle in the third quarter. He returned the second half kickoff 87 yards to paydirt, which jump started the Trojans' comeback.

DeAntre McDaniel added a 25-yard scoring run for Jones, and Lewis caught a 16-yard TD pass from Frost.

Jones Senior opens Class 1-A Coastal Plains Conference play next at home against Topsail. Rosewood (4-2) plays host to Ayden-Grifton in the Carolina 1-A Conference opener for both teams.