Chance missed

Published 12:44 am Saturday, October 8, 2011

This time, Northwest Whitfield’s furious second-half comeback came up short.

Last week, the Bruins scored 28 second-half points in a win over the Cass Colonels. But Friday night Northwest fell to the Rome Wolves 14-13, with a failed extra point providing the skinny margin of victory.

The game had big implications in the Region 7-4A playoff race. Rome moved to 5-2 overall and in the region, while Northwest dropped to 4-3 in both categories.

“It’s a battle,” Rome head coach Franco Perkins said. “It’s a 48-minute battle with Northwest every time we play them. They’re big, they’re physical, they do a great job. They lined up and ran the ball on us, and we didn’t really have an answer.”

The Wolves rode running backs Jamie Cooper for 118 yards on 27 carries — many of those rushes coming from the Wildcat formation, including the game-winning touchdown — and Bobby McCrary, who had 78 yards on 10 carries.

“We just had nice practices during the week and played hard,” McCrary said. “Our defense didn’t let them get anything. We always go hard on offense and try to move it as much as we can.”

Northwest failed to score in the first half for the second straight week, and Rome got on the scoreboard with 4:04 remaining in the second quarter with a bit of trickery. Quarterback Chad Barton took the shotgun snap, then handed the ball off to receiver Davontea Mallett who had gone in motion. Mallett, who is also listed as a quarterback, lobbed an arching pass to the end zone that found receiver Steven Walker.

First-quarter field position was a problem for Northwest. The offense started drives on its own 12- and 1-yard lines. Toward the end of the second quarter, Northwest had its best scoring chance. On the Rome 24, McCrary intercepted a Colter Creswell pass with seconds remaining to secure a 7-0 halftime lead for the Wolves.

Northwest finally notched the scoreboard with 4:09 left in the third quarter on a 9-yard run by Creswell. Rome answered with a 5-yard Cooper run with 11:32 on the clock in the fourth quarter to take a 14-7 lead.

But Northwest answered with an 11-play, 64-yard scoring drive. Five players carried the ball on the run-only drive, with Nathan Sistrunk finishing with a 7-yard touchdown run. However, a low snap on the extra point prevented Northwest from tying the game.

“We struggled to put it in the first half, and obviously that came back to bite us,” Northwest head coach Josh Robinson said.

The Rome team was playing with heavy hearts. Last Saturday, 15-year-old Nicholas James Gulow, who spent the past two years playing center on the junior varsity team, passed away. Northwest held a moment of silence for Gulow before the game.

“It was a difficult week,” Perkins said. “It happened on a Saturday night after a win last week, and it kind of took the air out of our sails. I brought the seniors in on Sunday and met with them and it was tough the first day, especially. We just tried to keep everything as close to normal as possible, but it was tough on us this week.”

Creswell finished with 99 yards rushing, while Sistrunk had 85 yards on the ground.

Rome 14, Northwest 13

Rome    0    7    0    7    —    14

NW Whitfield    0    0    7    6    —    13

How They Scored

Second Quarter

ROM — Davontea Mallett 27 pass to Stephen Walker (kick good) 4:04

Third Quarter

NOR — Colter Creswell 9 run (Miguel Villa kick) 4:09

Fourth Quarter

ROM — Jamie Cooper 5 run (kick good) 11:32

N — Nathan Sistrunk 7 run (kick failed) 7:11