Fike turns back Aycock

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on September 21, 2008 7:07 AM

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WILSON -- Just seven days ago, Charles B. Aycock rallied the troops in the face of adversity and marched to what appeared to be a season-changing win.

Now, Aycock has to regroup again.

The Golden Falcons suffered a 35-6, non-conference defeat to Wilson Fike and might have lost their field general -- quarterback Craig Murdock -- as well. The sophomore suffered a shoulder injury.

Murdock engineered the Golden Falcons' first scoring possession -- an 11-play, six-minute drive that ended on Tyheim Pitt's 2-yard touchdown run. The extra point failed and Aycock wouldn't see the end zone again.

Especially when Murdock went down.

Without their quarterback, the Golden Falcons struggled to move the football and Fike focused squarely on the visitors' rushing attack. Aycock finished with just 132 yards of total offense and never recaptured the magic it seemed to possess in knocking off previously-unbeaten Goldsboro one week earlier.

"We came out with a good initial surge and had some things going and then Craig went down and it took the wind out of our sails a little bit," said Golden Falcons head coach Randy Pinkowski. "We didn't respond well. Once we didn't respond, a good football team that Fike has, they stepped up and said, 'hey, you've lost momentum, we're going to surge.'"

Aycock (1-3 overall) appeared to grab the momentum after it stopped Fike on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. However, after a Golden Falcons punt, Steven Cain raced 45 yards for a touchdown. Rob Brown's extra point put the Golden Demons in front to stay.

Moments later, Murdock dropped back to pass and was sacked by Cain. He was slow to get up and was holding his right shoulder while being helped off the field. Pinkowski described Murdock's status as 'very questionable' for next week's visit to North Lenoir.

David Gurganus and Zack Poole split quarterback duties the rest of the night.

"Craig's injury appears to be a shoulder and the doctors are talking about a possible shoulder separation," said Pinkowski. "For us to stay in the game, we have to produce offensively and keep the defense off the field and produce in the kicking game.

"When Craig went down, we sputtered offensively. Our defense stayed on the field longer, and the longer they stay on the field, the more they ware down."

Fike (4-0) turned its ensuing possession into seven points thanks to Rashad Parker's 3-yard score and the Golden Demons led 14-6 at the half.

Aycock was handed another opportunity to turn the tide as Fike's Martez Finch fumbled away the opening kickoff to start the second half. After the Golden Falcons marched inside the Golden Demons' 30-yard line, Deven Sanders' fumble squandered a potential scoring opportunity.

Fike capitalized with Parker's 3-yard touchdown run which was set up four plays earlier on his own 35-yard scamper. The senior finished with 132 yards on 19 carries.

The Golden Demons' offensive depth wore down the Aycock defense in the second half as seven different players recorded carries in the ballgame for a total of 283 rushing yards. Fike also benefited from six plays of 20 yards or more.

"We just gave up too many big plays and I felt like they were more physical on the edge than we were," said Pinkowski. "We kept giving up big chunks of yards.

The Golden Demons added a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter as Michael Brown hooked up with Jeremy Atkinson from 27 yards out and Titus Best added a touchdown run.

After dropping their first two games before upsetting Goldsboro a week ago, the Golden Falcons will once again be forced to regroup before traveling to North Lenoir, which had a week to rest.

"We focus on us and we're family and we're tight and the kids know that," said Pinkowski. "In every family there's going to be some adversity. The thing about adversity is you don't let it break up the family and you don't let it break up the fact that you care about each other.

"When one person in the family is hurting then everybody else has to pick up the slack."

C.B. Aycock 6 0 0 0 -- 0

Wilson Fike 0 14 7 14 -- 35

First quarter

CBA -- Pitt 2 run (Robinson kick failed), 5:52

Second quarter

WF -- Cain 45 run (R. Brown kick), 10:15

WF -- Parker 2 run (R. Brown kick), 4:37

Third quarter

WF -- Parker 3 run (R. Brown kick), 4:43

Fourth quarter

WF -- Atkinson 27 pass from M. Brown (R. Brown kick) 9:42

WF -- Best 7 run (R. Brown kick), 3:30

CBA Fike

First Downs 8 14

Rushes-yds 39-102 43-283

Passing-yds 30 88

Total yards 132 371

C-A-I 3-5-0 3-5-0

Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-1

Penalties-yds 7-45 6-33

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- C.B. Aycock -- Tyheim Pitt 12-61, 2 TDs; Dominique Young 5-51; Shepard Whitfield 10-29; Deven Sanders 5-19; Craig Murdock 4-17; Devon Newsome 1-3; Zack Poole 1-1; David Gurganus 1-0. Wilson Fike -- Rashad Parker 19-132, 2 TDs; Steven Cain 4-53, TD; Deante Hill 2-14; Michael Brown 2-0; Ryan Allen 6-23; Martez Finch 1-1; Melvin Howard 7-59.

PASSING -- C.B. Aycock -- David Gurganus 1-3-0, 24; Craig Murdock 2-2-0, 6. Wilson Fike -- Michael Brown 3-5-0, 88, TD.

RECEIVING -- C.B. Aycock -- Tyehim Pitt 3-27; Matt Woodard 1-5. Wilson Fike -- Jeremy Atkinson 2-58, TD; Rashad Parker 1-30.