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Cloudy this morning with thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 77F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..
Tonight
Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 58F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
ELON — The Western Alamance football team had already fallen into a deep 43-0 hole as the third quarter came to a close Friday night.
“Fours up!” Western Alamance lineman Jackson Miles shouted to his teammates. “Come on, fours up!”
Despite the already lopsided score, Miles, one of the Warriors captains, demanded his teammates continue to show pride and finish the game with maximum effort as it headed to the fourth quarter.
“That's why he was voted captain and probably got the most votes,” Western Alamance coach Jeff Snuffer said. “Also his parents are outstanding people. It's not just what we've instilled in him, but his parents, as well. A lot of these parents, they've instilled toughness in these people. I expect them to be positive like we've taught, but you see that coming out in those moments and he's like, ‘Hey, I don't care. It's four quarters. Let's keep playing.’ I love that about him. We just need more guys to think that way.”
Northern Guilford, powered by three touchdowns from senior running back Jordan McInnis, rolled the Warriors, posting a 50-0 final on the scoreboard, something the Western Alamance program isn’t used to seeing.
“I’m just gonna say that it's not gonna happen again, that's for sure,” Miles said. “We are going to work our butts off in practice and it's not gonna happen again, because that is unacceptable for this program.”
It was a unfamiliar lopsided outcome for the Warriors (0-2), who have advanced to at least the second round of the state playoffs in each of the last five seasons, including an appearance in the state semifinals in the spring.
“It don't matter, win or lose, you got to put everything out on the field,” Miles said of the moment at the end of the third quarter. “There's no slacking. It’s 100 percent, win or lose. So, putting your head down, and feeling sorry for yourself, that’s unacceptable.”
McInnis ran for 184 yards on 13 carries and caught one pass for 61 yards to lead the Nighthawks (3-0) on offense.
“He's lit us up, also the last two years,” Snuffer said. “When he was a sophomore, he was good. And we knew we had our hands full. We was battling there until right in the second quarter, when they went up 21. It was like the wind came out of our guys. We knew it was going to be an uphill battle. When you got experienced guys, OK. But, when you got younger guys, sometimes they haven’t learned to respond to that immediately. We’re going to get there. It’s just may take a little bit of time. Like I just told the guys, sometimes when you’re knocking down a wall, you just gotta keep swinging. So, we’re going to keep swinging until we knock down the wall and get these guys going on the right path.”
Northern Guilford junior quarterback Jack Mercer threw four touchdown passes and finished with 313 passing yards. Terrell Timmons Jr. hauled in a pair of touchdown receptions and finished with four receptions for 142 yards.
Northern Guilford senior Zion Crawford runs away from the Western Alamance defense for a touchdown.
Times-News
Luke Johnson for The Times-News
The Warriors offense could never truly kick into gear, totaling just 130 yards of offense, with only 23 yards coming on the ground, as an offensive line with three first-year starters struggled to consistently get a push. Failing to put any points on the board, the Warriors 142-game scoring streak came to an end.
“Everybody but Chandler Baysdon, this is their first year starting on varsity,” Miles said. “We got a lot to work on. Our job, we did awful (in this game), and that, too, was unacceptable.”
Warriors quarterback Eric Wagoner went 11-for-25 passing for 107 yards. Defensively, Western Alamance junior Kevion Hudson recovered two Nighthawks fumbles.
A Western Alamance receiver gets wrapped up after making a reception.
Times-News
Luke Johnson for The Times-News
So, it’s back to the film room and the practice field for the Warriors, who will try to right the ship next week when Southern Alamance comes to Elon.
“We’ll just look at every individual player. Every coach will look at your position,” Snuffer said. “What are some things you did right? What are some things they need to do a little bit better? Whether it be on defense, my gap control, getting off block, tackling. Offense, staying on my block, moving my feet, wide base on feet, all the little things that we coach all the time. It’s just reinforcing things we've been teaching, because good coaches are good teachers. And so we're just gonna keep teaching and at some point, our guys gonna get it, we just need to get it real soon.”
David Kehrli is a sports reporter at the Burlington Times-News and USA Today Network. You can reach him at david.kehrli@thetimesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidKehrliTN. Subscribe to the Burlington Times-News here.
