Cougars, Panthers play another classic shootout

EDEN – For the second straight year, Rockingham County and Morehead capped off their respective seasons with a classic, knock down, drag out, back and forth, shootout.
With less than 20 seconds on the clock, Rockingham County quarterback Cody Munson was stopped short of the goal line and gave Morehead a thrilling 47-43 victory Friday night.
Neither team was playing for playoff aspirations, but the two teams, who played a 46-45 game last season in Wentworth, combined for 90 points, 38 first downs, 558 yards rushing, 927 yards of offense and nearly 1,300 (1,281) overall yards.
“These county rivalries, including McMichael, are some of the best-kept secrets,” said RCHS head coach Lin Stadler. “I’m sure every county has rivalries like this, but I told [Jason] coach Smart we gotta quit meeting this way.”
Morehead head coach Jason Smart echoed Stadler’s comments.
“How many times in a high school football game can each team’s character and desire be tested,” he said. “We knew it was going to be like this.”
Trailing 47-43, the Cougars had one last possession from their own 19-yard line. With 2:29 left in the game, a holding call negated a completion and moved RCHS back to the 7. However, the Cougars went to work and quickly moved the ball towards midfield. Munson, who was 5 of 8 passing on the final drive, hit Chris Lea for 11 yards on fourth down to keep the drive alive. On first and 10 from the 50, Munson connected with Jordan Keen, a 36-yard hookup, to the Morehead 14. A pair of Panther penalties, a 15-yard facemask and a 5-yard facemask, extended the Cougars’ chances for the comeback win. However, with time running out Munson got his hands on a bad snap and rolled to his right. He opted to tuck the ball and run, but was stopped at the 4-yard line by a trio of defenders as the clock read all zeros.
Similar to last season’s finale, won by Rockingham, Morehead’s win gave them three on the season (3-8, 1-6) and sent RCHS home with two (2-9, 0-7).
After a somewhat slow first quarter, in which each team scored once, the pace and the scoring picked up. The two county rivals combined for 36 second-quarter points and 30 fourth-quarter points.
A 27-yard Jason Davis field goal as time expired helped the Cougars cut the deficit to 26-24.
“Stadler’s [his] kids played with as much heart and effort and anyone I’ve faced all year,” said Smart.
Friday night’s game was a night for the offensive stars.
Morehead junior quarterback Juwaan Winfield scored five touchdowns and accounted for 244 total yards on offense. Winfield, who finished with 965 yards rushing this season, ran 24 times for 165 yards and scored on runs of 2, 4, 1, 11 and 80 yards.
His 80-yard run came with 6:33 left in the game and seemed to be a back breaker for the Cougars, who trailed 47-37 after the TD.
On the ensuing kickoff, RCHS could not come up with the squib kick and Morehead’s Jerry Anderson came up with the loose ball at the opponent’s 37.
However, the Panthers could not increase their 10-point lead as Winfield was stopped short on a fourth-down running play.
With 4:40 left in the game, Rockingham just four plays to get within four – thanks to a Munson to Rob Fields 30-yard touchdown strike.
Munson, who finished the season with 1,553 yards passing, was 18 of 34 on the night for 290 yards and three TDs.
Morehead had one last chance to ice the game, taking the ball at its own 48-yard line and 3:40 left in the game. However, a five-yard false start call against the home team negated an Antonio Scales run and on fourth down, the Panthers were forced to punt.
The game, which featured six touchdowns of at least 45-yards or more, started fast as Kersee King’s 45-yard TD run got Morehead on the board just 1:26 into the game.
RCHS tied the game four minutes later as Munson connected with Keith Schneider on a five-yard scoring strike.
King later added a 75-yard kickoff return that had the Panthers out front, 20-7, but 19 seconds later freshman John Jackson broke loose on his own 75-yard gallop.
“They’ve got athletes and they’ve got speed,” said Stadler. “We lack in that department from top to bottom, but I thought our kids played hard. We made a couple of special teams mistakes that came back to haunt us.”
Jackson, who was called up to the varsity team eight weeks ago, had a career-high 139 yards on 7 carries and scored twice. At the end of the third quarter, Jackson broke loose and outraced the MHS defense 52 yards for a TD.
Morehead, which out rushed Rockingham 305-253, got 87 yards from King and 25 from Scales.
“We ran the ball better than I thought we would,” added Smart. “We hit a stretch this season where we got one-dimensional and we struggled. Tonight we got back to being balanced and throwing when we wanted to instead of having to throw.”
On a night where the offenses shined and the defenses did not, the Panthers made just enough plays to seal the win. In addition to Anderson’s fumble recovery, Morehead also got an interception from Caleb Wade and a sack from Quinton Neal.
Looking forward to 2010, Morehead will lose just nine seniors of this year’s team – including running backs/linebackers Tony Strickland and Wade.
For the Cougars, who lose their QB (Munson), H-back (Fields), two starting WRs (Tyler Moore and Schneider) – in addition to RB Eric Kennedy, who suffered a torn ACL in week three – they return 19 of their 35-man roster.
“I hate for our senior to go out this way,” added Stadler. “They played with a lot of passion and emotion. Someone had to lose, it happened to Morehead last year and this year with us.”