Published: 12:40 AM, Sat Sep 04, 2010
Douglas Byrd trips Cape Fear, 39-21
By Tyler Dunne
Staff writer
He was smashed in the shoulder and the ball pinballed off his hands, straight into the air.
With a game in the balance, Kevin Samuels' eyes never left the football. The Douglas Byrd receiver fell to the ground and hauled in the tipped ball for a 13-yard touchdown with six minutes left in the fourth quarter to seal a 39-21 win over Cape Fear.
"I was looking at it, just saying 'I can't let it fall,'" Samuels said. "We needed that for our team."
In a game marred by miscues, Byrd kept its focus.
When it mattered, the Eagles made plays in crunch time to stay undefeated. Coach Russell Stone has been around long enough to know that you take these when you get them.
"We weren't quite as sharp as we have been but you're not going to be sharp for 11 games," Stone said. "This is one we'd probably lose last year with our inconsistent efforts.
"We hung in there and played our butts off."
Cape Fear didn't go down easy. Trailing 20-7 at the start of the third quarter, Johnny Autry caught a 46-yard score from Michael Bridgeman. And then down 26-14 at the end of the quarter, the jack-of-all-trades Autry returned a kick 96 yards to cut Byrd's lead to 26-21.
Cape Fear's fight sucked life out of Byrd's sideline. Friday night was a key stress test for the Eagles, and they passed
At each setback, the Eagles showed resiliency. Every time the game could've gotten out of hand, it didn't.
Stone couldn't truly relax until Samuels hauled in the improbable bobble from Junior Williams to give Byrd a two-score cushion with six minutes left.
Bridgeman (155 yard, two touchdowns) threatended a Colts comeback throughout.
"The big deal in a game like this is to answer and score," Stone said. "We were able to come back and get good drives."
Added Williams, "We knew Cape Fear was going to come out tough. But our team stuck together and grinded it out."
Different players stepped up when they needed to. When a second-half touchdown run was called back and Douglas Byrd missed the ensuing field goal, Anthony Miles picked off a Michael Bridgeman screen pass to give his team the ball right back. From there, Lorenzo Pooler scored one of his three touchdowns.
Pooler, Williams and Garry Lewis combined for 239 yards on the ground to put the game away. Through the air, Byrd's Malik Underwood caught four passes for 128 yards, including an 86-yard touchdown.
Through the first two weeks, Douglas Byrd was able to coast, was able to get a lead early and ride it to the finish line.
Tonight was a different story.
"It's exactly what we needed," Stone said. "We needed a test."
Tyler Dunne can be reached at dunnet@fayobserver.com or 486-3513.