THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 8, 1995 TAG: 9510060229
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 38 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: HERTFORD LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
PERQUIMANS COUNTY lost another Albemarle Conference football game this past week, but it was a moral victory of sorts for the upset-minded Pirates. Playing Northampton East, the fourth-ranked 1A team in the state, the Pirates held the Rams to under 70 yards of offense and nearly pulled off the upset late in the game.
Despite over 160 yards in penalties, however, Northampton East used two first half touchdowns and held on to down Perquimans 14-9 last Friday night.
The game had the makings of a Northampton East blowout. The Rams knocked off the top-ranked 1A team in the state (North Edgecombe) two weeks previous and Perquimans was coming off a blowout loss to Edenton-Holmes and a poorly played loss to Weldon.
The Rams, who were off for two straight weeks, did not play like the team that was ranked fourth in the state coming into the game. East committed 14 penalties in the second half, including three that nearly contributed to a game-winning touchdown for the Pirates.
Trailing 14-3 with 10:45 to play in the game, Perquimans mounted a six-play, 46-yard scoring drive. The drive opened with a dump pass over the middle from A.J. Miller to Mark Clinkscales that went for 21 yards. Tykinsten Wood ran the ball eight yards down to the Northampton East 12. East gave Perquimans a first down on the next play with an offsides call. Two plays later, Wood ran down to the 6 and East was called on a late hit, putting the ball on the 3. Two plays later, Miller sneaked in over the middle one yard for the touchdown. Wood's extra point run failed and the score held at 14-9 with 9:16 to play.
After the kickoff, East runners ripped off gains of 13, 13 and 14 yards, but two delay of game penalties and a clip killed off the drive.
Perquimans got the ball back on its own 20 with 6:13 to play for a bizarre series. On a third and seven play, Wood rushed nine yards for a first down. The Rams were called for unsportsmanlike conduct and the ball was moved to the 50. Calvin Hurdle followed with a five-yard run and Wood added another 13 yards down to the 33. The Rams were called for offsides moving the ball to the 28. On the next play, Hurdle ran three yards to the 25. The officials called offsetting penalties. Perquimans was offside moving the ball back to the 30. Then the Rams were called for unsportsmanlike conduct and the ball was moved to the 15. The Pirates moved the ball down to the 8 on a five-yard run by Wood and a two-yard run by Demadre Jennings. Hurdle added another yard to set up a fourth and 2 from the 7. With the game-winning score in the balance, Perquimans was called for an offsides penalty and was pushed back to the 12. On fourth and 7, Miller connected with Wood on a pass, but Wood gained just three yards and the Pirates turned over the ball on downs with 2:34 to play.
East, which held Perquimans to just 49 yards of offense in the first half, marched down the field on its opening drive. The Rams culminated a nine-play, 60-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run by Sheldon Powell. Powell's extra point kick was wide. The Rams led 6-0 with 4:23 to go in the first quarter.
Northampton East was set up with good field position for their second score when the Pirates failed to get a first down on a fourth and 3 play from their own 38. Hurdle was two inches short on the run.
``When we made the call we were fairly confident that we could get the first down,'' said Andy Hunt, Perquimans head coach. ``Nine times out of 10 we would make the same call.''
East took over on the Perquimans 41 and scored six plays later when Calvin Jordan rushed three yards with 3:23 to play in the half. Tim Lewis ran in the two-point conversion giving East a 14-0 lead.
Perquimans got on the board with 5:10 to play in the third quarter when Clint Eley booted a 38-yard field goal.
East coach Diego Hasty gave Perquimans credit for picking up its intensity in the second half.
``They came out in the second half and played,'' Hasty said. ``The three week layoff hurt us. We got out to a lead and got complacent. This is a tough place to play and we don't play well here.''
Hunt noticed a drastic improvemnt in the Pirates since their loss to Weldon two weeks ago.
Hunt was also happy with his defense which held down East's normally potent running game. Both teams' defenses were in each other's backfield all night.
``It was a tremendous effort on defense,'' Hunt said. ``And they (East) had about as much speed as I've seen since I've been here. We were bigger than their guys and we thought we had a legitimate chance for success.'' by CNB