Millbrook ends its drought with a conference title-clinching win over Wake Forest
A postgame ice bath might have briefly frozen Millbrook coach Clarence Inscore’s memory following his team’s 30-27 win over Wake Forest on Friday. That postgame experience — on the very same field where Inscore wore a Wildcats uniform as a student-athlete — will forever be frozen in Inscore’s mind.
Inscore, the dean of Wake County public school gridiron coaches now in his 21st season leading his alma mater, told his team it had been a long time since Millbrook earned distinction as a football conference champion. A 17-year league title drought ended Friday with a Northern Athletic 4A Conference championship.
“We had a chance to beat these guys last year in the playoffs. They made a great comeback,” Inscore said. “We know what kind of team they are. We knew they weren’t going to lay down.”
Millbrook (9-1, 4-1), after trailing 14-10 at halftime, took the lead for good with 7:23 remaining in the third quarter. Mason Fortune’s 5-yard pass to Nathan Leacock in the end zone’s right corner followed by Grayson Smalley’s extra point put the Wildcats ahead 17-14.
Fortune, a sophomore, completed a 56-yard “pitch and catch” with Leacock to extend Millbrook’s lead to 23-14 at the two-minute mark of the third quarter.
Wake Forest (8-2, 4-1) pulled within three at 23-20 on Dashaun Grant’s kickoff return for a touchdown with 1:30 remaining in the third.
“The defense stood up,” Inscore said, “made stops, and made turnovers happen.”
Millbrook corralled three second-half interceptions.
Jaylan Bowen’s second interception of the game, with 1:42 to play, earned Millbrook’s final possession to cement its head-to-head tiebreaking advantage for Saturday’s state playoff seeding. Xavier Hines had a third quarter interception, too.
Millbrook closed its scoring on Fortune’s touchdown pass to Wesley Grimes (a Wake Forest commit) with 16.7 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Smalley converted another extra point.
Cardinal Gibbons shuts down Sanderson
Also in Raleigh, Cardinal Gibbons (8-2. 5-0) secured another Cap Six 4A Conference championship with a 31-0 shutout of visiting Sanderson. Cardinal Gibbons’ defense – led by defensive coordinator Nick Drew – tallied shutouts versus three (of five) conference opponents. The Crusaders yielded 17 total points among five league games.
This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 11:34 PM.