Rockmart runs by North Murray

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September 4, 2010

By Marty Kirkland martykirkland@daltoncitizen.com The Dalton Daily Citizen Sat Sep 04, 2010, 12:15 AM EDT

ROCKMART — North Murray coach Larry Cornelius doesn't want his football team to use youth as an excuse in its first varsity season.

On Friday night, Rockmart’s Kwame Peek gave the visiting Mountaineers a pretty good lesson in why age is, indeed, nothing but a number.

Peek, a sophomore running back and defensive back, had two touchdown runs and a pair of interceptions as the Yellow Jackets routed North Murray 43-3 at The Rock.

"It just feels good being out there on a Friday night and looking in the stands. After the first snap, everything's back good, because you're nervous on the first play," said Peek, who scored on a 23-yard run in the first quarter and went in from 12 yards out in the third quarter.

Peek set up his first score himself, picking off sophomore Brady Swilling on the Mountaineers' second possession of the game at midfield. His touchdown run came after his own short run pushed him a little bit closer to the end zone.

North Murray (0-2) might just be among the first Region 7-2A teams to see what Peek -- he finished with 61 yards on 10 carries -- is capable of, though.

"This is his second game as a varsity player, and he is a good one now," Rockmart coach Dan Duff said. "But he's learning. In middle school and JV, he could outrun everybody, so he's learning how to be a complete back."

Cornelius was disappointed with some breakdowns that led to big plays for Rockmart, but pleased with his team's start-to-finish effort.

"Offensively, in the first half we moved the ball," he said. "I'm looking for improvement, and I thought we moved the ball well compared to last week. Defensively in the second half, I was proud we made them earn their touchdowns."

The biggest postgame concern for Cornelius was the health of sophomore lineman Jacob Ledford, who was injured on punt coverage in the second quarter. Play stopped for several minutes as Ledford, who was face down and motionless for several minutes, was attended to by coaches and medical personnel.

Ledford was eventually turned over, placed on a back support board and stretcher, and rolled off the field, giving a thumbs-up with his right hand on the way. He was taken to Floyd Medical Center, Cornelius said, and was expected to be treated for a concussion.

"We just want to make sure that everything's OK with him," Cornelius said. "He got hit in the back and he lost consciousness, but he had movement when he went to the hospital. So our thoughts and prayers are with him. Before he left, he said, 'I'll be OK, I'll be OK.'"

The Yellow Jackets (2-0) built a 22-3 halftime lead with advantageous offense. None of their scoring drives in the first two quarters required more than four plays, and two were set up by North Murray turnovers.

But Rockmart shortened its field with big plays as well. In addition to Peak's first touchdown, the Jackets scored on a 45-yard pass from Roshmel Young to Quitman Berry, a junior running back who finished with 52 yards on seven carries. Young also had the Jacket's other first-half touchdown, a 16-yard run that came one play after the punt on which Ledford was injured.

North Murray's points came with 1:11 left in the first half on Izzy Hernandez’s 35-yard field goal, which was set up when the Mountaineers recovered a Rockmart fumble at the Jackets' 35 and put together an eight-play drive, their longest of the night.

Rockmart put the game away with solid north-south running by Berry, among others, on a drive that burned nearly six minutes of game clock to start the third quarter.

"That's part of our offense," Duff said. "Our plan tonight was to runs some wide plays at first, and then we wanted to come out and go 'Oklahoma' and see what they're made of and we're made of. That's all it was."

Darius Holloman finished off North Murray's scoring with touchdown runs of 6 and 21 yards, with the latter coming during a fourth quarter with a running clock.

Austin Carter led the Mountaineers with 36 yards on nine carries.

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