BY falls short against Northeast Guilford

YANCEYVILLE, N.C. — The Bartlett Yancey Buccaneers lost their final game of the season to Northeast Guilford 21-13 behind the play of the Rams quarterback Darius White.

White threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Rayshawn Trader late in the third quarter and he also ran for a 75-yards touchdown early in the fourth quarter to give the Rams a 21-7 lead.

Bartlett Yancey quarterback Brandon Thompson played an all-around game, as he ran for 31 yards on seven carries, threw for 100 yards on seven completions with two touchdowns, he caught three passes for 35 yards and he returned a kickoff 50 ards. His 64-yard touchdown strike to running back Raphael Stephens cut the lead to 21-13 with 9:40 remaining, but the Bucs couldn’t get across midfield after that.

The Buccaneers scored on their first possession of the night. They sustained an 11-play, 53-yard drive which was capped off by an 11 yard Thompson pass to Kendall Cobb to give the Bucs the lead at 7-0.

The Rams scored their first points of the night on a 3-yard run by Kenny Rush to even the score at 7-7.

Although White had the TD pass and run, the BY defense came to play, and if not for the two touchdown plays by White, the Bucs defense was once again stellar in its play and kept the team in the game. Buccaneers defensive lineman Michael Brooks, an East Carolina University signee, led the Bucs with 11 tackles, three for a loss of yards and he was superb in his effort the whole game.

“We came up short tonight,” said Brooks. “Our whole team has had an attitude change from last year and we believe in what coach Phelps is teaching us. It hurts to lose because we are like family and we play for each other and we all want to win every game.”

Northeast Guilford coach Tommy Pursely was pleased with his team’s play, but he is also impressed with the Buccaneers. “This team (BY) has improved tremendously under coach Phelps,” said Pursley. “If they didn’t have number 55 (Brooks), we would have done a whole lot better tonight.”

Bartlett Yancey finished the season with a record of 2-9, compared to last year’s team which finished 1-10, this team is by far more organized and well prepared for each game.

“We didn’t win a lot of games this year and it wasn’t because of effort we lost any game,” said BY coach Jason Phelps. “But my guys never quit on me and in fact they kept improving each week. Michael Brooks is the heart and soul of our team and he will be missed next year.”

In fact, when the game ended, a dejected Brooks was standing at midfield and obviously reflecting on his high school career, when Phelps came over and summed up his respect for the senior defensive lineman when he said to him, “I love you!”