Staten rushes for 319 as Holly Springs edges Panther Creek, 30-25
The first thing Holly Springs running back Tray Staten wanted to know after he had rushed for 319 yards in a 30-25 win over Panther Creek Friday was the condition of Diamante Taylor.
“I hope my boy Diamante is OK,” said Staten of his friend on the opposing team that left the game with a severe leg injury late in the fourth quarter.
Then Staten was told he carried 38 times for his 319 yards along with two touchdowns on runs of 36 and 9 yards.
“I rushed for how many? Are you serious?” Staten said. “All I wanted was enough yards for us to win. My offensive line blocked great.”
Staten had 22 carries for 188 yards at halftime.
Holly Springs and Panther Creek have played two of the toughest schedules in the Triangle, and they performed like battle-tested teams. Holly Springs jumped out to leads, but the Catamounts didn’t wilt.
Holly Springs (5-4, 3-2 Southwest Wake 4A) had maintained its News & Observer No. 14 area ranking entering the game despite coming off back-to-back losses to No. 2 Middle Creek and No. 3 Fuquay-Varina. Middle Creek and Fuquay are unbeaten.
Panther Creek (4-5, 2-3), formerly ranked, lost to No. 1 Wake Forest, No. 2 Middle Creek and Scotland County with Fuquay remaining in the regular-season finale. In addition to Middle Creek, Wake Forest and Scotland County also are unbeaten.
Taylor had four catches for 103 yards with a 56-yard TD reception before he was injured on defense making a tackle.
Turning point
Panther Creek had battled back to a 14-7 deficit, recovered an onside kick and advanced to the Holly Springs 11-yard line. But a failed field goal resulted in the Hawks driving 10 plays and 89 yards for a TD on Staten’s 9-yard run for a two touchdown lead.
They said it
“Coming off two losses to Middle Creek and Fuquay we knew that we could hang in. Panther Creek played a tough game, too,” Staten said.
Three who mattered
Dom Samson, Panther Creek: 301 yards passing on 18 of 36 with two touchdown passes.
Isaiah Laster, Panther Creek: A 70-yard kickoff return to trim Holly Springs’ lead to 27-25 with 8:18 to play.
Tray Staten, Holly Springs: He had 11 gains of 10 yards or more with long runs of 36, 25, 23, 44 and 31.
This story was originally published October 16, 2015 at 10:14 PM with the headline "Staten rushes for 319 as Holly Springs edges Panther Creek, 30-25."