Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Nov. 11, 1999, edition 1 / Page 17
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Sodric McMillian of LIFT scored all thrmm touchdowns and finishod the season with IS. LIFT from page Bl The Jaguars went to a ground-ori ented attack and hit paydirt in 11 plays. Sedric McMillian got the score from three yards out. "Really, I thought our kids played above their heads," Davis said. Stephan McMillian ran the ball tough in the middle and teamed with Roger Turner to give the Jaguars blocking to run behind on their off tackle plays. Chris Green also stepped up with several key runs on trap plays. Sedric McMillian's con version run cut the margin to 24-14. LIFT held Mount Zion on its next possession and got several key catches from Jwan Walker on its way to another score. Walker, who had four receptions in the game to increase his total for the season to 38 and 1,123 yards, helped put the Jaguars in scoring territory. Sedric McMillian took a toss from William Conrad and sprinted nine yards to cut the margin to 24-20. LIFT mounted several drives in both the third and fourth quarters. However, the Jaguars couldn't get into the end zone. Mount Zion had " its only drive late in the fourth quar ter, when the Warriors marched from midfield to inside the Jaguars' five. However, LIFT's defense stopped the Warriors on four straight runs and the Jaguars took over on their own two with 1:52 remaining in the game. LIFT again went to its spread game and quickly marched down to the Mount Zion 30. However a dis puted clipping penalty cost the Jaguars a chance at a win. Conrad drifted back to pass and was trying to avoid a Wanior defender. Turner peeled back and seemed to have executed a picture perfect block, allowing Conrad to sidestep the defender and cany the ball down to the 20. However, the referee called a penalty from the spot, nullifying the run. The penalty moved the ball from the 40 back to the Jaguars' own 45. Davis was also whistled for a penal ty on the play. "If I hadn't seen the play, I could have accepted it," Davis said. "That's what I told the referee. 1 told him that I saw the entire play from start to finish. It wasn't like I saw only part of it and it could have been a clip. But for my kids to work sq hard and then have it taken away from them like that was hard to accept." The penalty pushed the ball all the way back to the Jaguars' 30. LIFT tried a double pass on the next play and Mount Zion intercepted and ran the ball back for a touch down for the game's final score. "Our kids took it hard because we considered the game our cham pionship game," Davis said. "Going into the season knowing we could n't make it to the playoffs, we had to have another goal for the kids to work toward. We said we wanted to go undefeated and then win against Mount Zion. I feel good about it because we had a chance to accom plish both. The sad thing is that con troversial calls on the road cost us a chance at both. * "I'll take 8-2," Davis added. "A lot of people didn't think we'd even get the program off the ground, much less have this kind of season. It was important for these kids to have something positive in their lives and they did a great jotp. We ' can look back on this experience with a lot of pride. There aren't a lot of teams in the county who did that well record-wise. "There are a lot of people who helped to make this possible and without them, we couldn't have even played a game this season," Davis said. "It's good to know there ? are people in the community who are genuinely concerned about kids." Press Box from page Bl | responded after intermission and the Rams took charge with two scoring drives to put the game i away. Newkirk went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season ' and finished the game with 145 i yards. His 1,000-plus total marked the first time that a Ram running back has topped that total since Richard Huntley did it in 1995. "The line stepped it up in the second half," Newkirk said. "After ] we went in at halftime and coach told us we had to forget about Cal ifornia and take care of this week's game, we came out in the second half and had an identity change. We really turned it around." A relative unknown coming into the season, Newkirk said he felt a sense of accomplishment in reaching the 1,000-yard plateau. "I feel great about it," he said. "Nobody's done that in five years. It's something that I'm very proud of." After jumping out to a 14-0 halftime lead, the Rahis seemed to go flat and Elizabeth City rallied to close the margin to 14-6 in the waning minutes of the first half. The Rams' offense struggled to sustain a drive in the second quar ter, while the Vikings controlled the ball for most of the period. Deryl Wilson, a senior corner back, said the Rams were not focused at the start of the game but settled down and played hard in the second half. "We came in a little flat," Wil son said. "It's hard against a team like Elizabeth City because they came in here and didn't have any thing to lose." Wilson, one of the Rams who was playing his final game at Win ston-Salem State, said he was happy to end his home career with a win. "I've had a lot of ups and downs since I've been here," he said. "It was very emotional at the beginning of the game. But we didn't start out playing well. I was glad that we finally found our selves and started playing like our selves. I was glad we could end it with a win." Tory Woodbury gave the Rams a spark after coming into the game to replace freshman George Suggs, who started the game. Nmwklrk "My groin is still bothering me and 1 don't get many reps in prac tice," Woodbury said. "George is getting the reps so he's going to be the starter. But my job is to come in and do the job when I'm called AM " on. Woodbury said the Rams will have to be more prepared when they step up to play the Division I AA Tigers this week. "We've got to be more focuse^L" Woodbury said. "Gram bling is going to bring it and we have to be on top of our game. Last year they sneaked by us. But we're going to be ready this time." ' i w. l\ ?m l\ H Mi m W fl, , W U, Htm m 1^^ ?q?4C L- Baked \ Best Pies In Town! Our fillings are natural 1 II Q" AOOI6 \ juice and layered on top of a flaky crust I MSM jfogrn 1 J^OnSsBbeSiiB These 1 c< a 111 BONUSCARD* Specials Are mMI fllBlffV IAIIIN Good November 3 through November 9,1999 At > nOW IBBBf IIIKMViVHIl) Our Greenville, Rock Hill, York, Winston-Salem, v- rjq tail fcaiis) Charleston and Augusta Stores. liomwPQiNTS=ntiiiMn Ws Reserve The Right To Restrict Quantities Of Merchandise. No Sales To Dealers. BM.O, Inc. 01999. I * 1 ' ? II. ,
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Nov. 11, 1999, edition 1
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