News
Email
Print
Elkin gets tense win, is still in title chase
Missed kicks decide the final outcome in a 21-20 victory over Robbinsville
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: November 29, 2008
ELKIN
Wide right.
Elkin is still alive in the NCHSAA 1-A state playoffs after a tense 21-20 win over Robbinsville yesterday at Grissom Stadium, surviving to play next Friday after kicker Jorge Martinez of the Black Knights pushed a game-winning field-goal attempt with 8.9 seconds left.
It was the second attempt for Martinez that missed the mark to the right. He had missed the extra point after Robbinsville took a 20-14 lead with 5:41 left, leaving the door open for Elkin.
Elkin (12-2) scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:58 left when Russell Stewart swung a screen pass out to Michael Jordan in the right flat. Jordan churned up the field and dove into the end zone, capping the 28-yard score by stretching the ball over the goal line. The play culminated a 10-play, 71-yard drive and temporarily completed the Elks' comeback from an early 14-0 deficit.
The drive was kept alive by Stewart, who grinded his way to a 7-yard gain on a fourth-and-6 play with 4:03 left and the Elks' season hanging in the balance.
"I saw the sticks, and I knew everything depended on that one play," Stewart said. "It was all the second effort, really. I saw the sticks on first contact and kept driving forward for the first down."
Stewart, who also serves as the punter and place-kicker for Elkin, made the extra-point kick for a 21-20 lead and then had to sweat out the frantic finish.
Robbinsville converted a crucial fourth down of its own during the final drive when Luke Perkins completed a 17-yard pass to Randy Hernandez that moved the ball to the Elkin 35. A 15-yard pass interference penalty on the Elks, a 5-yard run up the middle by Kurt Odom, and a 5-yard facemask penalty moved the ball to the 10-yard line for the final attempt.
"We don't ever play a prevent defense," Coach Richard Grissom of Elkin said. "And here we are sitting back in a daggum prevent defense late in the game. I didn't like it, because we gave them too much of a cushion. I don't know why we did it, and we won't do it again. We like to put pressure on people, and when you sit back, you play right into their hands."
Stewart finished with 56 yards on 13 carries but struggled in the passing game, completing 2 of 12 passes for 37 yards. Both completions came on the final scoring drive, including the winning touchdown.
"I wasn't too involved with the offense early on, but then Coach started rolling me out more and telling me that if the run wasn't there, the pass would be," Stewart said. "But the tight-end screen has been a great play for us all season. Once Michael (Jordan) gets the ball in his hands, he can usually do something with it."
The tight-end screen was the same play Elkin ran in the second quarter, with Jordan catching the ball in the left flat and racing 15 yards for an apparent touchdown. The play was called back, however, after Elkin was flagged for an illegal-procedure penalty.
"We about made too many mistakes, but it turned out OK for us and we're tickled to death," Grissom said. "I thought Russell did well for us today. When we can get him out there on the corner, he has the option to run it or throw it. Today, they (Robbinsville) did a great job of keeping everything in front of them with their defense, so we just wanted to keep putting pressure on the corner. We thought we could get to the edge with Russell, and we thought that would be the best way to counter their defense."
Elkin fell behind 14-0 after two big plays by Robbinsville. Odom, who finished with 177 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 23 carries, opened the scoring on a 72-yard burst in the first quarter. Perkins found Hernandez behind the Elkin secondary for a 31-yard score with 8:14 to play in the second quarter.
Elkin bounced back and scored on its next series when Jamie Anthony scored on a 1-yard run, trimming the deficit to 14-7. Elkin looked like it might tie the score after Aaron Rabin intercepted a Perkins pass and gave the Elks a first down at the Robbinsville 24 but a sack of Stewart and two incompletions ended the drive. Anthony tied the game at 14 with his second touchdown run, scoring from 5 yards out in the third quarter.
Robbinsville ended its season 12-2.
Elkin will play at Northwest 1-A rival Mount Airy next Friday, with the winner advancing to the 1-A state-championship game.
Robbinsville 7 7 0 6 -- 20
Elkin 0 7 7 7 -- 21
R--Odom 72 run (Martinez kick)
R--Hernandez 31 pass from Perkins (Martinez kick)
E--Anthony 1 run (Stewart kick)
E--Anthony 5 run (Stewart kick)
R--Odom 3 run (kick failed)
E--Jordan 28 pass from Stewart (Stewart kick)
Email
Print
