WS Chronicle

In above photo:  Carver’s Teryan Cherry (left in white) and Jeremy Brown-Middleton (bottom right) close in on Dudley quarterback Richard Monroe. (Photo by Craig T. Greenlee)

Up until the early stages of the third quarter, visiting Carver hung tough in its season opener against Greensboro Dudley. Yet, there was a critical six-minute stretch in the second half which proved to be disastrous. The end result was a 36-6 loss for the Yellowjackets in JV football action last Thursday.

The final outcome was hardly a shocker.

As a Class 4-A school, Dudley has a large talent pool to draw from, which typically equates to having a greater number of athletes on the roster who are bigger, faster and stronger. In too many instances, Carver, which competes in Class 2-A, was over matched, especially on the offensive and defensive lines.

“Dudley has a great program, so we knew what we were up against,” said Coach Alonzo Winfield of Carver. “When I look at them, I see us. They’re just a bigger version. Competing against teams like Dudley will only make us better as we get deeper into the season. This game was like a measuring stick for us to see where we are. Now we know exactly what we need to work on to be ready when it’s time to start league play (in the Western Piedmont Conference).”

    The Panthers (1-0) controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, but Carver’s defense played well enough to keep the score close in the first half. Richard Monroe and Zareik Rush-Foxworth ran for one touchdown apiece and Dudley led 14-0 at intermission.

Carver made things interesting early in the third quarter when quarterback Tyran Teal threw a 58-yard touchdown pass to Phillip Legette, who ran a go route down the left side. Legette and Dudley cornerback Shamar Carter went up for the pass, and Legette wrestled the ball away from Carter around the 25-yard line and sprinted to the end zone. Legette also had a drive-killing interception in the second quarter.

With the deficit narrowed to 14-6, it appeared that the Yellowjackets had momentum. As things turned out, though, it was only temporary. Carver was trapped deep in its own territory and Teal, the punter, was tackled for a loss before he could get off a kick. On the next play, Isaiah Daniel scored from 25 yards out and Dudley extended its lead to 22-6 with 6:01 left to play in the third quarter.

Daniel’s touchdown sparked the start of a 22-0 run over the final six minutes of the quarter. The Yellowjackets never recovered from the Panthers’ barrage.

Field position had a lot to do with how this game eventually played out. With the exception of the one touchdown pass, Carver (0-1) had difficulty moving the ball against Dudley’s defense. The Yellowjackets didn’t get much out of their punting game, which enabled the Panthers to start their offensive drives inside Carver’s 35-yard line on several occasions.

“I saw some good things out there,” said Winfield. “Tyran is only a freshman and he’ll continue to improve. I liked what I saw from Milan Ruffin and Micah Pegram. Both came in and made some plays for us once they got settled down.”