news-record.com

GREENSBORO - Despite a halftime lead, the Southern Guilford coaches challenged their players to be more physical.

The Storm did just about everything the coaches wanted in the second half of a 34-3 rout of McMichael. In the second half, the offensive line opened up huge holes and the defense held the Phoenix scoreless.

"We were a little shaky in the first half," said Southern Guilford coach Darryl Brown. "Our quarterback hit a few big passes. But we challenged them up front and were able to run the ball."

The Storm led 14-3 at halftime behind a 31-yard touchdown pass from Antonio Martin to William Graves. Martin found Tykeam Dawkins for a 17-yard scoring toss just before halftime to send the Storm into the locker room with a tremendous amount of momentum.

The Storm struck quickly in the third quarter behind the running of Graves, who finished with 148 yards rushing and two touchdowns. He reeled off a 35-yard run and then a 38-yard touchdown run to open up a 20-3 lead. Graves opened the fourth quarter with a 68-yard scoring run to help Southern Guilford surge to 27-3 lead and put the game out of reach.

"The linemen did a really good job of opening up some holes," Graves said. "Last year we lost to them so this really shows us how good we can potentially be."

One reason the offense got rolling was due to the always consistent Storm defense. With linebacker Kencie Brown leading the way, the Storm defense held twice on fourth down in the third quarter to kill scoring opportunities.

"Our defense has been huge for us all year," Brown said. "Early on they were getting driven off the football, but they did a better job in the second half. Kencie Brown does an excellent job of reading his keys and being in the right place."

  McMichael Southern Guilford First downs 10 13 Rushes-yards 132 273 Passing yards 20 195 Comp-Att-Int 3-9-0 7-11-0 Punts-average 6-28 1-40 Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1 Penalties-yards 5-50 11-80

McMichael 0 3 0 0 - 3 Southern Guilford 0 14 6 14 - 34

SG- William Graves 31 pass from Antonio Martin. (Spencer Grace kick)

M- Gavin Blakey 39 field goal.

SG- Tykeam Dawkins 17 pass from Martin. (Grace kick)

SG- Graves 38 run. (kick failed)

SG- Darren Garcia 64 pass from Martin. (Grace kick)

SG- Scotty Wayne 11 run. (Grace kick)