Good first half turns disasterous for Gryphons

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Rocky Mount saw a glimmer of hope of ending its four-game losing streak when it took a 9-7 halftime lead on Southern Nash Friday night in the last regular season game to be played at the Rocky Mount Athletic Complex.

But the Firebirds, who are looking for their best seeding possible for the upcoming playoffs, regrouped in the second half to score four times - all by senior back Terron Huffman and shut the Gryphons out in the meantime for a 34-9 victory.

It was Southern Nash's first win at the RMAC since 1993 and the first time since 1994 that the Firebirds have registered two straight victories over the Gryphons. SNHS narrowed its series deficit with Rocky Mount (3-5-1, 0-4) to 17-6.

Senior Tracey Coppedge got Southern the first score of the game with a 3-yard run with 8:23 left in the first period. Lawrence Sandifer's point-after put the Firebirds up 7-0. A 27-yard field goal by Rocky Mount's Christian Grant with just seconds left in the quarter cut the Gryphons' deficit to 7-3.

Rocky Mount's only touchdown drive of the night covered 76 yards in 12 plays and ended on a Mason Hines 5-yard run with 6:33 left in the half. Hines was bottled up all night by Southern (7-2, 3-1) and the score was the highlight of his 62-yard rushing effort.

Meanwhile, Huffman went nuts after intermission. Buyoed by an offensive unit that stayed on the field most of the third and fourth quarters, he ended the night with 212 yards on 21 carries and three of his four scores came in the third period. His touchdowns came on runs of  28, three, 25 and 14 yards.