Rams end losing streak

CREEKSVILLE — When practice started in August Northampton-East Head Coach Greg Watford had high hopes for his third Rams team and probably imagined that this time of the season they would be in contention for the Tar Roanoke Conference title. Things haven’t gone as planned for the Rams as they got off to a rough 1-3 start in league play, so Watford and his crew will settle for another championship. After defeating Northampton-West earlier in the season and beating KIPP, 42-0, Friday night, Watford declared his team ‘County Champions’ after sweeping the other two schools in Northampton County.

“That’s something the kids are excited about,” Watford explained. “They know all these kids (from West and KIPP) ... they’re friends. This is big for them to beat West and KIPP this year. It’s a building block. I told them county championships are one thing, conference and state championships are something else and that’s what we aspire for.”

NCHS-East sophomore quarterback Phillip Dickens had a huge night for the Rams, scoring five touchdowns (4 rushing) in the Homecoming victory. Dickens had a hand in all four of his teams touchdowns in the first half as NCHS-East built a, 27-0, half-time lead. Dickens went in from 11, 1, 7 yards for his rushing scores and hit Charles Cumbo for a 22-yard touchdown for a score right before half-time. Evans Grant picked off a Panthers’ pass in the second quarter and returned the ball 62 yards to set up Dickens second score.

On the Rams opening drive of the third quarter Je’Wan Boone (13 carries, 86 yards) capped off the drive with a 13-yard score. Dickens then hit Tony Sledge for the two-point conversion to put NCHS-East ahead, 35-0. On the ensuing KIPP drive, Rams senior defensive back Cameron Peele picked off his first of two interceptions of the night to set up Dickens’ final touchdown. Peele picked off a pass in the endzone of the Panthers final drive of the game to secure the shutout.

Dickens finished the game with 199 yards of total offense and the Rams picked up their second TRC home win of the season, racking up 434 yards of offense with 345 coming on the ground.

“I’m happy with the way they played,” Watford said. “We had out best week of practice yet. Some guys really stepped up this week and led us this week in practice and it showed on the field. The focus was there better tonight than it has been in the past.”

With one game remaining on the schedule NCHS-East hopes to secure a playoff spot and hopefully turn the season around.

“Good things are starting to happen,” Watford said. “Maybe that is something we can start with against Southeast and possibly the playoffs. We’ve have some kids we had to discipline and had some injuries, but we are getting some kids back and they are starting to buy in. There is no better time to buy in than right before the playoffs.”