Rams push around Greenville Rose

Havelock head coach Jim Bob Bryant promised his offensive line steaks if his team performed well against Greenville Rose.

The only question now is what side dish they want.

On Friday night, the Rams delivered the beef, racking up 297 yards rushing in a 36-19 Coastal Conference victory over the Rampants in Greenville.

In the postgame speech, offensive line coach Caleb King congratulated the team for "dropping the sledgehammer."

"Our offensive line coach does a great job with them and was talking about dropping the sledgehammer on them," Bryant said. "Our offensive line did an outstanding job, and I think Mike Henderson will be the first one to tell you that. Getting almost 300 yards rushing on a well-coached Rose team is a great accomplishment."

Henderson ran for 222 yards on 34 carries with four touchdowns. He broke off runs of 38 and 48 yards, setting up two touchdowns.

He gained 127 yards in the second half alone, helping the Rams on a long third-quarter scoring drive.

"He's been running great," Bryant said. "We didn't really give him the ball a lot early in the year because I wanted to save him for conference. I told him tonight he was going to get close to 30 carries. He ran the ball hard and I am proud of that kid."

The Rams are the first 3A program in the Coastal Conference to beat both 4A schools in the same season since the league became a combination 4A/3A league in 2004.

The Rams (6-1, 3-0 Coastal) beat New Bern 12-8 two weeks ago.

"These kids have worked their tails off," Bryant said. "We played with a lot of emotion. I told them this game is all about intensity and emotion. We took the field with emotion and ended the game with intensity."

Henderson's 5-yard touchdown run with 7:28 remaining in the first quarter gave Havelock a 6-0 lead after Greenville Rose botched a punt.

Havelock's Tyler Cooper added a 25-yard field goal in the first quarter.

Henderson scored on a 1-yard run with 5:11 left in the first half. Rose's Warren Harvey drilled a 36-yard field goal at the end of the half, cutting the Havelock lead to 16-3 at halftime.

Henderson added touchdown runs of 1 and 5 yards in the third quarter, while quarterback Danny Webster Jr. connected with Octavious Coates on a 26-yard score in the fourth quarter.

Rose quarterback Jordan Staton ran for two touchdowns late in the game.

Webster threw for 86 yards and ran for 65 more while directing an offense that didn't turn the ball over.

"He is a great competitor," Bryant said of Webster. "He is a heck of an all-around player, and he is becoming more of a quarterback on the field."

Defensively, Cody Toler recorded four sacks, while the Rams allowed just 165 total yards.

"This was another statement game," Henderson said. "We practice hard and we are just trying to bring pride back to Havelock."

The Rams next play D.H. Conley at 7 p.m. Friday in Greenville.