Glenn rallies to beat Carver

(pictured above:  Glenn wide receiver Braxton Rorie (24) in action during last week’s victory over Carver.)

Glenn appeared to be on the verge of self-destructing against Carver in junior varsity football last week. The Bobcats, however, managed to side-step potential disaster to post a 34-24 win.

“We hadn’t played in 17 days, so our timing wasn’t what it needed to be,” said Coach Aldine Payne of Glenn. “At first, our offensive line was slow in getting off the ball. Once we knocked off the rust, we were able to get into a rhythm.”

Lack of focus and untimely penalties conspired to put Glenn at a disadvantage throughout most of the first half. The Bobcats got on the board quickly when Tahliek Garnes blocked a punt and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown to give his team a 6-0 lead in the first quarter.

Carver responded with two scores midway through the second quarter. Rakeem Jenkins broke three tackles on a seven-yard touchdown run and T.J. Boyce ran for the conversion to put the Yellowjackets in front at 8-6. Minutes later, Boyce scored from nine yards out, then ran for the conversion. At that juncture, it seemed that Carver, up 16-6, would take full control.

Glenn (4-1) answered with a scoring drive to trim the deficit in the waning moments before halftime. Stephon Brown scored on a quarterback sneak and Jarred Jones kicked the PAT to close the gap to 16-13 with 7.5 seconds remaining. That score was set up by a 53-yard pass from Brown to Braxton Rorie.

“The no-huddle is working well for us,” said Payne. “We’re getting a nice balance between running and passing. Our defense flies around and we’re good at all three levels.”

The second half belonged to the Bobcats. Carver had no answer for the Brown-to-Rorie hook-up. Rorie had touchdown catches of 17 and 54 yards. Brown closed out the scoring on a 10-yard keeper to push Glenn’s lead to 34-16 with 7:47 left to play in the game.

The Yellowjackets still had a chance to make things interesting. Jenkins scored his second touchdown of the night on a 23-yard run and it became a 10-point game after Devin Campbell’s PAT run. Carver put together another scoring drive, but the Bobcats defense stiffened. The drive ended when Ashton Green batted down a fourth-down pass at the goal line.

“We had far too many mental mistakes and we gave up too many big plays,” said Coach Alonzo Winfield of Carver. “On the other hand, this was our best game of the year on offense. At the end of the day, though, we just needed to make more stops.”

Carver (1-4) appears to have found a starting quarterback in Jaquan Dodd, who joined the team three weeks ago. The Yellowjackets had been short-handed in that department due to a season-ending wrist injury to Tyrese Murphy, who’s been sidelined for the past month.

“Jaquan is very decisive in his decision-making,” said Winfield. “And he’s already proved that he has a great command of the offense. It was his first game and it’s clear that we’re more productive with him in there.”

The Bobcats and Yellowjackets are back in action today (Oct. 9). Glenn is at home against Southwest Guilford and Carver plays host to Surry Central. Kickoff is 7 p.m. for both games.