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CO Sports Inside: m Crossword Church & Faith ■ Classifieds BERTIE HIGH SCHOOL ^ BETHEL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY > LAWRENCE ACADEMY Aulander travel team are champions BENSON - In its first tour nament as a new travel ball team from Aulander, the HotShots won a champi onship. Playing four games back-to-back, equaling close to 5 hours of straight playing time, the HotShots won first place at a Top- Gun invitational tourna ment in VYAS Park in Ben son, on Aug. 14. The HotShots are a new 8U team with the Tri-Coim- ty Travel League. They were invited at the last minute to join an invita tional tournament with Southeastern TopGun when a team backed out. The journey could tru ly be the plot of a Disney movie. With the team being new and participating in its first tournament originally not scheduled until the fol lowing weekend, they did not have their team uni forms. Head coach Michael Vaughan contacted the parents after receiving the invitation the day before the tournament. Surpris ingly, enough players (par ents) conunitted to make it possible. The coach was told we CONTRIBUTED PHQTO The HotShots team: (front row, from left): Allyson Vaughan, Eva Davis, Kayla Mizelle and Casey Piland. In the middle row are: Avery McGee, Cheyenne Simone, Colleen Jones, Caliy Piland and Mary Welch Gallop. The back row consists of Mark McGee, Michael Vaughan (head coach), Kaylee Jones, Carly Piland and Tammy Piland. could still play in the tour nament without matching uniforms, but how would the girls look and feel like a team without matching uniforms. Coach Tammy Piland offered to make the girls and coaches some match ing shirts. “HotShots” was hand painted on the uni form shirts and numbers were ironed on the back for the players. The coach es had “HS” hand painted on the front of their shirts •and coach on the back. Matching socks and belts fell into place with others pitching in to com plete the uniform. Every one was excited and yet nervous as they embarked on this new joimrey. There were two oth er teams playing in the tournament. Lady Venom from Roanoke Rapids and Cleveland Angels from Gamer. Two games were played in the Pool Play. HotShots beat Lady Venom in the first game 13-8, while los ing to the Cleveland Angels 9-2 in the second consecu tive game. Therefore, HotShots be gan their third consecutive game of the tournament, yet first game of the Gold Bracket as Seed No. 2 play ing Seed No. 3 (Lady Ven om). The Cleveland Angels got a break while the first game of the Gold Bracket was played. Lady Venom took a break while Hot Shots played Cleveland Angels, but the HotShots were unable to break be cause of the way the cards feU. Now playing their third consecutive game with nraybe a ten minute break in between games, HotShots beat Lady Venom 5-2. Since HotShots won game 3, that put them play ing Seed #1 (Cleveland Angels), for the fourth con secutive game of the tourna ment. The HotShots perse vered, winning 17-5 to bring the Championship home. The first hit of the game, Kayla Mizelle led off with a home-run. She received a medal for this hit. Two players received MVP recognition during the tournament. Mary Welch Gallop earned MVP during the first Gold Bracket game against Lady Venom and Avery McGee earned MVP during the Championship game against Cleveland An gels. The team was awarded a Championship banner and plaque. AH girls were awarded with a medal and TopGun visor. The banner will be displayed at the John Asa Drew, Jr. Field of Dreams in Aulander, where the HotShots practice. Pirates unleash flurry df TDs vs. Campbell PATRICK MASON The Daily Reflector To say the East Carolina offense wasn’t bashful would be an understatement The Pirates’ receivers out played the Campbell defense all game and running back Keaton Mitchell turned in another game-breaking per formance on the ground as the Pirates rolled up a 49-10 football win on Saturday in Greenville. ECU only had eyes for the end zone as it routinely passed up field goal attempts for touchdowns and buried the Camels in a flurry of sec ond-half scores. The Pirales converted twice on fourth dowiT, including a fourth-and- eight try where quarterback Holton Ahlers found Jaylen Johnson wide open for a 28- yard touchdown. 'That score came on the first series of the second half and it was a dagger to Camp bell’s comeback hopes as ECU went on to score 42 un answered points after trailing 10-7 in the first quarter. The Pirates (2-1) faced a fourth-and-three, but a false start pushed the offense backward. Coach Mike Hous ton wasn’t deterred from the original plan and went with the same play call “The fourth down call, Ryan (Jones) had a false start and set us back and we stayed with it because we truked our offensive line,” Houston said. “I thought Jaylen had a great matchup and Holton knew right where he was. So it was really good to see us win those 1-on-l matchups down the field be cause we’re going to have to do that throughout the year because people are going to load up on Rafijai (Harris) and Keatoa So we’re going to have to throw the football the way we did toni^t” In his session with re porters this week before the game, Campbell head coach Mike Minter detailed the challenges of defending all of the Pirates’ playmakers on of fense. His fears were realized as ECU got just about every one involved in the demoli tion of the Camels. Eleven different players caught passes for ECU, while Ahlers was near perfect on a night where he became the American Athletic Confer ence’s all-time leader in pass ing yards and ECUs all-time leader in total yarxls gained. Ahlers finished 17-of-20 passing for 263 yards with three touchdowns and added a two-yard touchdown run. Receivers Jaylen Johnson, CJ. Johnson and tight end Jones all caught touchdown passes. Isaiah Winstead led all receivers with 112 yards as the 'Ibledo transfer recorded his first KXkyard game with ECU. “It’s almost hard to get them the ball sometimes because there’s so many of them,” Ahlers said. “But I mean, everyone’s going to have their game. Just super proud of the guys.” Mitchell turned in the eighth lOO-yard rushing game of his career and finished with 185 yards and an 18-yard touchdown run. Mitchell av eraged 14.2 yards per cany, buoyed by a 42-yaid run up the sideline that was made possible by great downfield blocking by Jaylen Johnsoa Winstead said the receiv ers made it a point to focus on run blocking because the talent in the backfield has the ability to break a big play at any moment “A lot (of pride) because basically if they score we feel like we score too,” Winstead said. “We’re a team, so when we spring a block for them our coach is h^py for us, but I think it’s just as important as. catching passes. I ikll say it’s easier (to block for Mitchell) because he is so fast So re ally, I don’t have to make the b^ block, I just have to get in their way and he’s gone.” Ahlers compared playing with Mitchell to growing up watching former ECU run ning back and NFL star Chris Johnson tear apart defenses. “It’s the same as me as a kid watching Chris Johnson, and then handing it off to like, literally, Chris Johnson in my eyes now,” Ahlers said. “It’s pretty cool.” nkris joined the touch down party in the third quar ter with a nifty 17-yard run where he plantkl his foot for a cutback that left the Camp bell defense in shambles. His score pushed the lead to 42- 10 and the rout was officially oa Harris later ran for lus sec ond touchdown of the game, this one a one-yard stretch to the outside with 11:11 re maining in the game to push the ECU lead to 49-10. Campbell quarterback Hqjj-Malik Williains gave the ECU defense all it could han dle early as the dual-threat junior racked up 300 passing yards and 16 rushing yards, though lus rushirrg total took a hit on several long losses. It took some time for the Pirates to figure out Williams, who directed an 11-play, 65- yard scoring drive on the game’s first series which end ed with a 31-yard field goal. Later in the opening quarter, Williams found receiver Jalen Kelsey for a 61-yard touch down pass which gave the Camels a 10-7 lead. “You guys could see what kept me up all week in Hk^-Malik Williams,” Hous ton said. “Just an incredible athlete. I don’t know if you’re going to see a more athletic kid all year.” ECU safety 'Ibagan Wilk said it took some time to fig ure out Williams, as his ath leticism extended plays and made him tough to contaia But once the Pirates got into the flow of the game, the de fense settled in and was able to limit the Camels’ offense. Williams made lus first mistake of the game in the third quarter when he threw a pass over the middle of the field that Pirates’ linebacker Chance Bates picked off. Bates’ first interception with ECU led to a two-yard Ahlers touchdown run. ECU will open AAC play at home game against Navy at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Football has definitely evolved over the years... DAVID FRIEDMAN Columnist Evolution cannot be de nied. Before anyone gets too emotional, you should know I’m not referencing the Bible though there will be mention of a man with what many dubbed “the voice of God.” I am certainly no strang er to discussing how the business of sports or the social impact of those who make a living in it have changed. What stands out to me after another weekend of football is just how much the sport itself has evolved in my nearly 40 years of fandom. I grew up re-watching NFL highlight films on VHS cassette narrated by the aforementioned John Fa- cenda or the “voice of God.” They featured highlights of men like Dick “Night Train” Lane and Lyle Alzado reg ularly do ing things that would get players ejected and fined in to day’s game. Night 'Train Lane would tackle opponents with a clothes- line-style wrestling move that would have made Ni kita Koloff proud. I’m fairly certain that’s now labeled as a no-no in NFL rules. Teams back then often DAVID FRIEDMAN FOURTH & LONG utilized a tight end and full back. Both were there al most exclusively to block and served as much more mobile versions of offensive lineman. Most NFL teams today ■don’t use full backs any more and the responsibility of a tight end is no longer primarily blocking. 'They are tall, athletic and when com bined with a good quarter back, seemingly impossible to stop. See Rob Gronkows- ki for details. When I grew up watching football, if a team ran a play on third down and came up a few inches short of a fin^ down, they left the field and punted the ball back to the other team. This was done largely without exception unless the offense was in field goal range. Now teams use math and statistics to help make decisions. Going for it on fourth down, depending on field position, is no longer seen as the risky move it once was, but the right one whether it’s successful or not. As a former offensive lineman, I am admittedly most awed at the change here. 'The famed offensive line of Vince Lombardi in Green Bay averaged ap proximately 6-foot, 3-inches and 253 pounds. 'That’s es sentially the size of Aaron Rodgers if he didn’t work out in the off-season. Offensive Uneman now are about three inches tall er and 65 pounds heavier. Somehow they are also more athletic, which really blows my mind. It’s the evolution of the quarterback that makes me chortle the most. Those old videos I watched featured guys like Roger Staubach and Johnny Unitas. Fellas like Bart Starr, who were basically 6 feet tall and 190 pounds. 'These men were legends of their time. Fast forward a few de cades and the league was filled with players that look more like Peyton Manning and Tom Br^y. Contrary to common belief, Brady did not play in the 70s and 80s. At Moot, 4-inches and over 225 pounds, they might have put him on the offen sive line. What’s funny is watch ing games this past week and seeing players like Jalen Hurts and 'Ida 'Ta- govailoa and Kyler Murray run arormd and make the most amazing plays with their athleticism. 'ITiey are approximately the same height as quarterbacks from the 60s when quarterbacks were known for their ability to run the baU. For what it’s worth, they are approximately 20 pounds heavier, throw the ball much, much better and are faster than those quarterbacks ever dreamed of being. Still, it’s good to know that even in football, some things are cyclical. 'That’s a column for another day though. David Friedman is a long time sports, writer and lifelong Tar Heel fan. David can be reached via e-mail at fourthandlongcplumn® gmaU.com. Family Restaurant iCookliii«>down l^ecooU^ 103 West Granville St., Windsor, NC 27983 252-794-3468 Little Golden Skillet congratulates this week’s Athiete of the Wbek. Little Golden Skillet 103 W Granville St. Windsor, NC 27983 Athlete of the week Alexia Dickerson Sophomore Bertie High Schooi
Bertie Ledger-Advance (Windsor, N.C.)
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Sept. 22, 2022, edition 1
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