Red Devils Silence Red Wolves

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  On a night when Graham broke out their sparkling new scoreborad, donated by Pepsi Cola, it was only appropriate that the Graham side displayed more points that the Guest side.

   Graham's Antonio Turner took matters into his own hands, literally, as he returned two punts from Cedar Ridge's Quarterback/Safety/Punter Robert Moore back for touchdowns to lead Graham to a 24-8 non-conference win. 

   His first came with 2:33 remaining in the third quarter as he juked and skirted a bevy of Red Wolves nipping at his heels 64 yards into the endzone to break a scoreless tie.

  He did it again with 10 minutes left in the game, this one a 42 yarder where he reversed the field, turned on the jets, and blew down the left sideline to punch into the endzone.  A flag was thrown across the field on the return, and as the whole Graham sideline held their breath, the referee indicated unsportsmanlike conduct on the Cedar Ridge bench, and held his hands up signaling a touchdown, setting of an eruption of joy for the Red Devils and their fans.

  Sandwiched between Turner's two punt returns was Jeremy WIlliam's 10 yard pass from Jamie Newman with 18 seconds left in the third quarter. This came on a play-action fake, on which the entire Cedar Ridge defense bit on the play, leaving Williams all alone in the back of the endzone for an easy toss and catch. 

  The battle between two winless teams became evident late in the game, when Graham was getting their act together and brimming with confidence, Cedar Ridges' frustration continued to build, with the Red Wolve's getting unsportsmanlike conduct calls and then one player decking a Graham player, leading to a double ejection with three minutes left in the game.   

  Graham's coach Anthony Timmons picked up his long-awaited first win as a Red Devil coach.  His comments were, "It feels real good to get the monkey off our backs.  The main thing is our guys really need to continue to work and learn how to win and stop making the small mistakes, and all of that goes back to us being young."

  Graham starts two freshmen in the backfield, with Jamie Newman calling the plays as quarterback, and Daniel Graves emerging as one of a double-headed monster in the running back position.  Newman started his fourth consecutive game as quarterback.  He has thrown three touchdowns in that span.  Graves led the Red Devils in rushing against Cedar Ridge, carring the ball 10 times for 61 yards.  Some of his moves on the field left the Red Wolves grasping for air as he shifted and darted his way down the field.

  Graham will resume play in the Mid-State 2A next week as they travel to Siler City to take on the Jets of Jordan Matthews.  The Jets suffered a stunning 20-16 loss last night to Bartlett Yancey.  Graham won last years game 21-20