Rosewood hammers Southside

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on August 26, 2007 2:21 AM

• Print
• Email

He may have had to wait two weeks and suffer through a lopsided loss, but his first win as head coach at Rosewood was worth the wait for Robert Britt.

After watching his club get crushed 48-0 at the hands of Goldsboro a week ago, Britt witnessed what appeared to be a completely different Eagles squad, which marched through Chocowinity Southside 32-0 at Branch Pope Field on Friday night.

"Any win feels good, but win its your first win as a head football coach its going to be special," Britt said. "I really thought the boys came back this past week and got back to work."

Offensively, Rosewood (1-1 overall) appeared to have shaken off any lingering affects from last week's opener. The Eagles and senior quarterback Sean Cornman moved the ball early and picked up some confidence, but a turnover on downs and a fumble kept Rosewood off the scoreboard.

After Holt Rains forced a Southside fumble deep in Seahawks territory midway through the second quarter, Eric Martel's 9-yard touchdown run put the Eagles' on top. Cameron Lowe's extra point was no good and Rosewood led 6-0.

Southside's offense was forced into a three-and-out on its ensuing possession, and Rosewood took over with a little less than three minutes to go in the first half. Cornman marched the Eagles 34 yards in seven plays, and his 2-yard scamper with less than a minute remaining in the half pushed the margin to 12-0, after a two-point conversion attempt failed.

"Offensively, it was good to get some success early," Britt said. "I know we didn't score (at first), but to be able to move the ball, you could just tell the kids kept building confidence."

The Eagles' defense prevented Southside from getting on track offensively all night. The Seahawks were held to 62 yards of offense, had 11 plays result in negative yardage and committed three turnovers. Rosewood's Robert Franks finished with five tackles.

Southside's most costly turnover of the ball game proved to the be mistake that slammed the door shut on any hopes the Seahawks had of a comeback. After Cornman's 19-yard touchdown run put Rosewood ahead 20-0, Cody Richards' 25-yard interception return for a touchdown turned Britt's dreams of his first win into a reality. The extra-point attempt failed and the Eagles led 26-0.

"We did a good job defensively of scouting (Southside) and we try to put our kids in positions where they can be successful," Britt said. "Football is about reads...the kids did a great job defensively of recognizing something coming to them and getting to a spot on the field that they needed to."

Josh Holmes' touchdown from a yard out early in the fourth quarter completed the rout and capped a strong offensive performance from the Eagles. Cornman, who's in his first season playing quarterback since junior high, finished with 120 yards rushing and 67 more through the air. As a team, Rosewood tallied 304 yards of offense.

"There were plenty of times where I just made a fake and it seemed like the defense wasn't seeing it at all," Cornman said. "I could just go anywhere I wanted to."

Erasing the sting of a season-opening loss while giving its head coach his first win at the helm of the program could be just what Rosewood needed to build some all-important confidence.

"We're feeling a lot better," Cornman said. "Everything feels better after a win."

Rosewood 0 12 14 6 -- 32

Southside 0 0 0 0 -- 0

Second quarter

R -- Martel 9 run (Kick failed), 4:58

R -- Cornman 2 run (Conversion failed), 47.1

Third quarter

R -- Cornman 19 run (Conversion good), 4:47

R -- Richards 25 interception return (Kick failed), 3:25

Fourth quarter

R -- Holmes 1 run (Kick failed), 7:06

Rosewood Southside

First Downs 14 4

Rushes-yds 42-237 28-30

Passing yds 67 32

Totals yds 304 62

A-C-I 6-10-0 2-10-2

Fumbles-lost 2-2 6-5

Penalties 7-45 2-21

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Rosewood -- Sean Cornman 16-120, 2 TDs; Eric Martel 8-60, TD; Josh Holmes 11-47, TD; Curtis Johnson 3-23; Cody Richards 3-(-3). Southside -- Chris Godley 6-29; Antwan McCuller 7-11; Steve Farris 6-7; Terrence Windley 5-2; Kevin Sparks 4-(-19).

PASSING -- Rosewood -- Kevin Cornman- 6-10-0 67. Southside -- Kevin Sparks 2-7-1 32. Chris Godley 0-3-1 0.

RECEIVING -- Rosewood -- Stephen McIntyre 4-25; Eric Martel 1-2; Cody Richards 1-40. Southside -- Nic Moore -- 1-21; Byron Jordan 1-11.