Gosnell's Royster sets school rushing record in win over VV

GOSNELL -- With 4:21 left in the first quarter, Thursday night, the Gosnell Pirates were in a deep hole trailing 21-6 to the visiting Valley View Blazers after a 23-yard touchdown run by Blazer running back, Jaeger Sullins-his second of the game.

Valley View quarterback, Timmy Merten, had already racked up 145 rushing yards including a 70-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game as the Blazer offense appeared unstoppable and well on their way to breaking a three-game losing streak to the Pirates.

The Pirates were also without starting quarterback Gavin Sullivan, who tried to give it a go on the first two series of the game on a bad ankle but wasn't effective. Over the next two and a half quarters, however, Gosnell's Farontae Royster exploded in record breaking fashion along with fellow senior running back Jordan Fells as the Pirates outscored the Blazers, 39-7, on their way to a 45-34 come-from-behind win on a cold and blustery "Senior Night" at J.W. Rea Field.

Royster ran for an astronomical 337 yards on 32 carries breaking the school rushing record for a single game previously held by Ivan Brown. Fells wasn't too shabby tallying 177 yards of his own and a touchdown as Gosnell racked up a whopping 568 rushing yards on the evening.

The cold weather didn't stop the Blazers from coming out on fire. Valley View scored twice on just three plays to open the game and led 14-0 after just 93 seconds of play. Merten's 70-yard score to open the game was followed by a 24-yard rushing TD from Sullins. The Pirates, on the other hand, netted a total of 12 yards of offense over the same time frame and looked like they were going no where out of the spread offense. Over their next three possessions, the Pirates put together scoring drives out of the Double-Wing of 80, 64 and 68 yards to take a slim, 22-21 lead with 8:44 left in the half. Fells opened the scoring for the Pirates with a 50-yard touchdown followed by a 21-yard rushing score from Royter. His first of four TD's on the night. Royster's second score was a 12-yarder set up by a 57-yard run earlier in the drive.

"We brought the Double-Wing back out and that was huge," said Pirate head coach Brian Sims. Sims handed the signal-calling duties after the second series over to sophomore Ricky Gable who filled in admirably for the injured Sullivan.

"He (Gable) hadn't ran it (Double-Wing) all year. He only bobbled one snap and he turned into about a 12-yard gain. He did great. He's a smart kid."

Meanwhile, the Pirate defense tightened up immensely allowing just one scoring drive over the next two and a half quarters.

"We moved some guys around on defense," said Sims. "We moved Don-Don (Donyell Scott) inside and let him match up on a guard and put a faster (defensive) end in and we started making plays in the backfield. We ended up moving Colton Godsey back there at safety. He's really come on the last two or three weeks. He had a huge game back there. He came up and made some tackles and that was huge."

Sims was encouraged by the play of his young sophomores, Gable and Godsey.

"Our sophomores have really gotten better," he said. "They've gotten better since last year. In junior high, they were good players but they've just keep getting better."

The Blazers final score of the half was a controversial one at best.

On a third down and goal from the eight yard line with just over three minutes left in the half, Merten dropped back to pass but was chased from the pocket and scrambled left, he connected with Payton Sanders in the end zone but not before a couple of Blazer offensive lineman had moved down field outside of the five yards allowed. No "illegal man down field" penalty was called and the Blazers jumped back in front, 28-22.

With all of Royster's rushing yards on the night, it may have been one tackle that he made just before the half that saved the game for the Pirates. Gosnell was knocking on the door at the Blazer three-yard line with under a minute to play. Gable dropped back to pass on a tight-end screen but was rushed by Blazer linebacker Oliver McNabb before he could get off the throw. Gable fumbled the ball and McNabb picked the ball up and was headed for the end zone before Royster caught up with him and dragged him down by his shirt tail saving a score.

"He (Royster) ran great tonight but I think that tackle on the fumble was his biggest play," said Sims. "We had a screen pass set up and the tight end was wide open. It's one of those things that works one time a game and we let a linebacker blitz us. I'll have to watch on film to see how he got through. But he got in so fast that we didn't have time to set up."

Gosnell's offensive momentum continued in the second half. Fells rushed for 65 yards on the first drive of the half that ended in a two-yard touchdown from Scott. The two-point conversion gave the Pirates a 30-28 lead early in the third. The Pirates opted for the two-point tries instead of the extra points on the windy night.

"Back early in my career, we used to get into these out-scoring games," said Sims. "That's when you go Double-Wing and two points. You can outscore people that way and that's what we needed to do tonight."

Royster punched in the next two scores one from 10 yards out and the second from 19 yards away as the Pirates built a 45-28 lead with just over six minutes left in the game.

The Pirate defense yielded very little to the Blazers in the second half. Merten racked up 186 rushing yards in the first half but finished with 187 on the night as Gosnell pitched a near shut out in the second half.

Valley View made one last charge at the Pirates late in the fourth quarter. Sanders broke free for a 58-yard touchdown to cut the Pirate lead to 45-34 with 6:27 left in the game and the Blazers recovered the onside kick. An "unsportsmanlike conduct" penalty against the Pirates on the kickoff gave Valley View the ball at the Pirate 25-yard line to star the drive. The Pirate defense held strong. Sullins appeared to have a touchdown but it was called back on a Blazer holding penalty. Then, on fourth and 10 from the Gosnell 25, Merten scrambled forward but was brought down short of the first down marker by Jevon Lee handing the ball back over to the Pirate offense with 5:27 left in the game. A couple of first downs later and the game was over.

The victory gives the Pirates a three-way share of second place in the 3-4A and the fourth seed. They await the winner of DeQueen vs. Malvern who play Friday night.

Sims is aware of what Thursday night's comeback meant.

"If we'd have just laid down after they went up 14-0, then next week would have been bad. We got our momentum back. We were able to do this without Sullivan, our leading offensive player and without (Jake) Westmoreland. So, we had some kids who stepped up tonight and just played big."

While a three-way tie for second place isn't exactly where they were expecting to be at the end of the regular season, Sims is still pleased with his teams finish.

"We're 8-2," he said. "We're going to get a trophy for conference runner-up. It's not where we want to be but we're headed into the playoffs with some momentum."

The Pirates begin the 4A state playoffs Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at either DeQueen or Malvern.

afitzpatrick@blythevillecourier.com