In Their Own Words - Voices of the PAC-6 - Hillside vs. Person (10/13/2010)

If I recall correctly - Someone once said, "That's why they play the games!," and the Hornet/Rocket contest on Friday evening was definitely a great example.  Going into Friday's game, the Rockets had lost six in a row and opened PAC-6 play with convincing losses to Northern Durham and Southern Durham a week earlier.  The Hornets were undefeated and although they had escaped with a victory in their game against Southern Durham, those in attendance (that would include me) noted that (a) Southern Durham was a high-quality team, (b) penalties hurt the Hornets, (c) turnovers were a critical element in the game and (d) the Hornets faltered in the red-zone.  In the end, the Hornets defense allowed a trick play and one long run in total.  And the offense moved the ball well all night along, again, against a high quality team.  All those factors seemingly indicated that the Hornets would roll into Roxboro and walk away with an easy victory.  No so fast - The game was close early with the Rockets ahead until eventually the Hornets began to take over.  Ultimately, the Hornets posted a lopsided 48-23 victory.  The following quotes are from the voices of the PAC-6 and were included in articles from the Roxboro-Courier Times.  For more information on the game follow the links provided at the end of the post.

The Hornets started slow and the Rockets were quick to the start posting an early lead and ultimately staying close, 29-23 going into the fourth quarter.  Person head coach Lou Geary commented on his teams fast start and  how the overall team performance against a quality opponent will hopefully be a positive for his team.

"We were up 14-0 and had the momentum.  I don't know if it was the new jerseys but the players came out of the locker room fired up," said Geary. "I think our offense played even better than they did the first week .  Hopefully, the team will start believing in themselves, hold their heads high and be able to get a win next week.  I hope the fans will stick with us and come back to cheer us on next week."

Coach Geary went on to speak about the product he saw on Friday night against the Hornets.

"That's the Rocket team we've been looking for the last six weeks," he said. "They showed a lot of heart tonight. They turned it over late a couple of times but these guys fought their butts off and I'm real proud of them."

The Rockets will be taking on 2A Bartlett Yancey this week and Geary commented on the outlook moving forward in relation to their game against Hillside.

"I think we feel like we can still finish on a strong note and take the last four games one at a time," said Rocket head coach Lou Geary. "Friday's game against a top-5 team in the state shows that we can be explosive on offense when we take care of the ball.  You could also see our defense stand up to the challenge by keeping the Hornets off balance."

Roxboro-Courier Times (article by Greg Phipps)
Roxboro-Courier Times (article by Greg Phipps)