Greater Neuse takes break

All the teams in the Greater Neuse 4-A had an open date last week.

Instead of scattering the open date throughout the season, the league decided to have everyone take a break at the same time.

"I think it is a great idea," said Garner coach Nelson Smith. "This way the coaches get a break, too.

"If any team in the conference played last week, all the coaches probably would have needed to go to that game to scout.

"But with everyone of, the staffs got a little time to take a deep breath."

WF-R HONORS FORMER COACH: Wake Forest-Rolesville will honor former coach Rock Harrison during its game this week against Sanderson.

Appropriately enough, a rock is mounted near the Wake Forest dressing room in honor of the former coach.

Harrison died in 2000 following a nine-year battle with a brain tumor. He never missed a game during his battle with cancer until retiring after the 1998 season.

By then, he had lost vision in one eye, had to walk with a cane and did most of his coaching from a golf cart.

"I can't see. I can't hear. I can't talk, and I can't walk. Otherwise, I'm great," Harrison said months before his death.

Harrison's wife, Debra, teaches at the school. His daughter, Mary Caitlin Harrison, is a senior on the volleyball team, and Brock Harrison, his youngest, is the Cougars' ball boy.

CROW PATTERSON'S MOTHER DIES: The Louisburg High class of '67 felt some urgency in getting the Louisburg football field named for James "Crow" Patterson this fall.

Bill Riggan and his classmates wanted to dedicate the field when Patterson's mother, Marguerite Pleasants, could attend.

The field was dedicated and the monument unveiled on Sept. 12. Mrs. Pleasants died recently at her home in Louisburg.

Crow Patterson was a football star at Louisburg High and later played at Marshall University. He was on the 1970 team that played at East Carolina and perished with his teammates when their chartered plane crashed on the return flight to Huntington, W.Va.

Mrs. Pleasants went to the game when the stadium was dedicated to her son. Louisburg came back in the second half to defeat Bunn 28-20 in the game.

"You don't enjoy losing, and we did everything we could to win the game," Bunn coach David Howle later said, "but when I looked over and saw his mom there and knew she had cancer and was in rough shape, well, it was emotional. I wish we had won, but even losing, it will be a night I will remember for a long time. I am glad she was there to see the stadium named for her son."

DENNING GETS ATTENTION: College recruiters sometimes have a hard time evaluating eight-man football players, but East Carolina and Western Carolina are recruiting Word of God wide receiver Jarvis Denning.

Denning (6-foot-1, 195 pounds) has been timed in a sub-4.4 40 and leads the area with 1,006 receiving yards.

"He is a legit player," Word of God coach James Jenkins said.

Denning has helped quarterback Jaylen Parker pass for 844 yards, 15 touchdowns and only one interception.

"It is really tough to defend the pass in eight-man," Jenkins said. "We generally throw conservative passes, and we've got good receivers, especially Denning.

"They can take a short pass and turn it into a long pass."

SCOTT ROLLS: Desmond Scott of Durham Hillside had a 308-yard rushing performance, scoring four TDs in Friday's 39-15 win over East Chapel Hill. He had 291 yards and three TDs on Oct. 10 in a 42-13 win over Durham Riverside.

That's 599 yards and seven scores in two games.

GIBBONS' JAMES ROMPS: Cardinal Gibbons running back Clarence James rushed for 335 yards in Friday's 55-20 win over Orange after gaining 236 the week before in a 27-6 win over Cedar Ridge.

His two-game total of 571 yards was more than he had gained in the preceding five games (561).

GONET NAMES TEAM: Ravenscroft coach Ned Gonet began selecting the players for the independent schools Shrine Bowl last May with combines throughout the state.

He concluded the process last week when the squad was named.

"I feel good about the team," Gonet said. "We picked good players. There are some good ones we didn't pick, but the guys we've got can play."

Gonet said selecting the team was unusual because the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association has some teams that play eight-man football.

"We wanted to get a diversity of players throughout the state and to make sure we considered the eight-man players, too," he said.

Gonet had more than 100 players participate in combines in May and June.

"It helped a lot to see kids in person," he said. "You could assess skills, speed, size and how well kids came off the ball. It was very beneficial."