A-G misses its chance at first-place tie

LITTLEFIELD — Any chance Ayden-Grifton had of upsetting Goldsboro in both teams' Carolina Conference football finale faded soon after halftime Friday night.

A win by the Chargers would've forced a three-way tie atop the league standings, but the bigger, stronger and faster Cougars made sure that wouldn't happen as visiting Goldsboro ran by A-G on Senior Night, 39-7.

The Chargers (6-5, 3-2) gave up a couple of big plays soon after kickoff, but a touchdown late in the second quarter trimmed the Cougars' lead to a respectable 19-7 by halftime.

It was all Goldsboro from that point on, however, as the Cougars outscored Ayden-Grifton, 20-0, in the third quarter to essentially put the game on ice. The clock only stopped for timeouts in the fourth quarter, bringing A-G's regular season to a disappointing finish. The Chargers lost 55-14 at Princeton last Friday.

“(Goldsboro's) the better football team,” Ayden-Grifton coach Paul Cornwell said. “We needed to play flawless to have a chance and we're not at that point yet. Like we just preached to these young guys here, we've got a group of older guys that. ...some of them have worked hard and some of them haven't. I'm not placing the blame on them because the coaches have to work harder too. We're learning a lot about ourselves this season.”

One pivotal third quarter sequence pretty much turned the game in the Cougars' favor completely.

A-G received the ball to start the second half and soon faced a fourth-and-two at its own 48-yard line. Cornwell went for it and Justin Whitaker raced around the right end for what appeared to be a first down. But the Chargers were whistled for an illegal motion penalty, bringing the ball back and forcing A-G to punt.

Five plays later, Goldsboro running back Andre Montgomery, who finished with 18 carries for 267 rushing yards and five touchdowns, raced 45 yards for a score with 8 minutes, 18 seconds left in the period to give the Cougars (9-2, 5-0) a 26-7 lead.

Ayden-Grifton never threatened again.

Montgomery began his big night with a 60-yard TD run on the second play from scrimmage. He added touchdown runs of seven and 46 yards to account for all of Goldsboro's first half touchdowns.

Whitaker provided the Chargers with a glimmer of hope after diving into the end zone after a four-yard run with 24.3 seconds left until halftime.

But Montgomery backed up his 45-yard scamper to paydirt in the third quarter with a 24-yard TD less than 4 minutes later. Freddie Jones capped the scoring with an 11-yard rushing touchdown with 4.5 seconds left in the third.

Despite the loss, Ayden-Grifton will make the playoffs and Cornwell is hopeful his team can forget the last couple of Fridays when the postseason starts.

“The big key is we have to focus on us,” the coach said. “It really doesn't matter who we play. We've got to go out and get better.”

Quan Green led the Chargers' offense with 72 ground yards on 20 carries.

Contact Tony Castleberry at tcastleberry@reflector.com or (252) 329-9591.

G A-G

13First Downs6

44-413Rushes-Yards35-137

8Passing Yards0

1-5-0Comp-Pass-Int1-7-1

1-36Punting4-28.8

0-0Fumbles-Lost1-1

7-50Penalties2-13

G 13 6 20 0—39

A-G 0 7 0 0—7

SCORING SUMMARY

G — Andre Montgomery 60 run (Two-point conversion failed), 11:00, 1st.

G — Montgomery 7 run (Alan Odum kick), 3:59, 1st.

G — Montgomery 46 run (Kick failed), 3:05, 2nd.

A-G — Justin Whitaker 4 run (Brandon Bryant kick), :24.3, 2nd.

G — Montgomery 45 run (Odum kick), 8:18, 3rd.

G — Montgomery 24 run (Kick failed), 4:55, 3rd.

G — Freddie Jones 11 run (Odum kick), :4.5, 3rd.