Rosewood suffers second straight shutout loss

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on October 7, 2007 3:08 AM

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AYDEN -- Shut out, again.

Ayden-Grifton dominated every offensive category and rolled past Rosewood 52-0 in the Class 1-A Carolina Conference opener for both teams.

The Eagles (2-5 overall, 0-1 CC) suffered their second consecutive shutout. The Chargers, ranked No. 7 in the latest Associated Press 1-A prep poll, exited 6-1 overall and 1-0 in the league.

Ayden-Grifton rushed for 447 yards and recorded 28 first downs, compared to 54 yards and three first downs for Rosewood.

"We had a hard time on defense and the same troubles on offense," said Rosewood head coach Robert Britt. "We couldn't sustain anything. Ayden-Grifton did pretty much whatever they wanted to do."

The Chargers wasted no time getting their offense going. On the third play of the game, Jeremy Hardy broke lose for a 35-yard touchdown. Hardy finished with 163 yards and two touchdown on just 11 carries.

The Chargers took a 17-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and coasted the rest of the evening.

The closest Rosewood came to finding the end zone was when it drove down to the 32-yard line, but had the drive stall.

Defensively, the efforts of Robert Franks and Chris Hare stood out in an otherwise unspectacular night for Rosewood.

"Robert and Chris both did a good job of running down some kids and making tackles," said Britt. "They never gave up on plays."

Rosewood entertains North Johnston on Friday.

"We've got to figure out what changes we need to make so that we can start being successful again," said Britt. "We've got to do something to get the kids some confidence."

Rosewood 0 0 0 0 -- 0

Ayden-Grifton 17 14 14 7 -- 52

First quarter

AG -- Hardy 35 run (Ramirez kick), 10:51

AG -- Strickland 6 run (Ramirez kick), 6:50

AG -- Ramirez 31 field goal, 1:49

Second quarter

AG -- Strickland 1 run (Ramirez kick), 9:58

AG -- Williams 37 run (Ramirez kick), :19

Third quarter

AG -- Dougherty 3 run (Ramirez kick), 7:20

AG -- Hardy 32 run (Ramirez kick), 2:15

Fourth quarter

AG -- Best 4 run (Ramirez kick), 9:02

R AG

First downs 3 28

Rushes-yds 28-54 48-447

Passing yds 15 46

Total yards 293 402

C-A-I 2-7-1 3-10-1

Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-0

Penalties-yds 6-50 5-35