Wednesday, November 3, 2010

In Their Own Words - Voices of the PAC-6 - Riverside vs. Person (11/3/2010)

It's been a tough season for both the Rockets and Pirates this year and Friday night's game was an extension of how tough it's been for both.  In a game that the Pirates knew couldn't get them to the playoffs, they rose to the challenge and played a spirited game before eventually falling short 35-27 [DFBFan's Pick - Person 24, Riverside 10].  The Rockets continued to show improvement and finally captured an elusive first win in conference play after playing Hillside even in the first half of their game and holding a two score lead late on the Falcons a week ago before losing both games.

Aside from knowing that their season would come to an end in two weeks, Riverside also had to make a long journey north to Roxboro to play a team that in many ways was surging with momentum [PAC-6 Breakdown (Week 6) - Pirates visit Rockets - Burrrr, Are Pirates Ready for Weather?], while they were continuing to come up short week-in and week-out.  In the chilly autumn air, under the lights, the Pirates played tough, matching each Person score and heading into the fourth quarter down by just seven points.  But Person continued to click offensively putting up 240 yards through the air while limiting the Riverside rushing attack to just over 2 YPC and that was enough to get the eventual eight point victory and keep alive a small chance at a potential playoff slot.

Riverside will look to put one more spirited effort together for senior night as they take on Jordan in the final week of conference play, while Person will try to continue their late year improvement as they travel to East Chapel Hill in hopes of moving to four wins on the season and keep alive their chance for an at-large berth in the 4A state playoffs.  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.

In a game that saw a number of penalties as a result of extra-curricular activities, the boiling point was reached during the traditional end-of-game handshakes where tensions reached a critical point before being diffused.  Person head coach Lou Geary spoke about these events and explained the importance of his team getting the elusive win on Friday evening.
"It got sloppy and some unfortunate stuff happened at the end there," Geary said. "But we got a win in the PAC-6 and I'm happy for our seniors.  It was very important for them to get this win on Senior Night."
Coach Geary went on to applaud the effort that the Pirates put forth in the game and helped explain why things may have turned the way they did after the game.
"Hats off to Riverside.  They played hard tonight," said Geary. "I think that was a lot of frustration showing on their part after the game.  Things have been hard for Coach Spell over there last year, losing 15 players during the season."
The Rockets will take on East Chapel Hill to close out the year and after losing to the Falcons two weeks ago, Coach Geary was under the impression that the Rockets were out of the playoff picture.  But since that point he has learned that a small chance does exist if they can knock off the Wildcats - approximately 0.1% according to Drew Pasteur over at Fantastic50.net.  We've also discussed this in our weekly breakdown of the playoff picture [Selection Saturday (1 Week) - PAC-6 Playoff Picture & More].  Coach Geary commented on this revelation.
"I think it would be great if we could slide into the playoffs just so the players could gain some more experience together as a team," he said. "It seems like we have several teams with five wins in 4A but I guess we won't know anything until maybe [next] Monday."
Even with the loss of starting quarterback Drew Davis earlier this year, the Wildcats have continued to move the ball with Jackson Boyer at the helm and Coach Geary commented on this aspect of the Wildcat attack that they will face in their final regular season game.
"ECH is probably one of the most improved teams in the area," said Geary. "They look good on offense where they will put the ball in the air 75 percent of the time.  They have a sophomore quarterback that has replaced Davis because of an injury and he's done well the last two weeks.  They have nice size on the defensive front and they play physical."
Roxboro Courier-Times (article by Greg Phipps - victory over Riverside)
Durham Herald-Sun (article by Staff Reporters)
Roxboro Courier-Times (article by Greg Phipps - heading into ECH game)

No comments:

Post a Comment