Rams show up in second half

For a photo gallery from Havelock's playoff game, click here: http://portal.havenews.com/photogallery/?CatID=6&AlbumID=733

Jim Bob Bryant knows his Havelock football team, and that was not his Havelock football team that played the first half of Friday’s game against visiting East Rowan. At halftime, he called for the real Rams to return.

“I said, ‘If you’re going to win this football game, Havelock needs to show up in the second half,’ ” he said.

The Rams answered Bryant’s call. Sophomore Andy Keel returned the opening kickoff of the second half 85 yards for a touchdown, and the revitalized Rams rolled to a 27-7 win over East Rowan in the second round of the 3A playoffs.

Havelock (12-1) advances to play at Hertford County (13-0) Friday.

“It’s the first time Havelock has played on Thanksgiving since 1988,” Bryant said. “So that’s 21 years since we’ve been to the third round. I’m proud of all of them. I’m excited for the kids.”

Senior running back Andretti George finished with 134 of Havelock’s 282 rushing yards. George’s 58-yard TD run with 6:53 remaining sealed the victory.

“Andretti has been running the ball hard all year long for us, in between the tackles and on the stretch play,” Bryant said. “I’m glad he transferred back here (from Croatan). He’s been a big part of our offense.”

Havelock quarterback Danny Webster Jr. finished with 108 rushing yards. He intercepted a pass midway through the third quarter, which set up his 8-yard scoring run with 5:46 remaining in the period. Tylor Cooper’s extra point gave the Rams a 14-0 lead.

Early in the fourth quarter, Webster connected with tight end Dillon Post for a 4-yard touchdown pass, extending Havelock’s lead to 20 points.

“The first half, I don’t think we were into it like we were supposed to be,” George said. “We got talked to at halftime. Coach said he didn’t want to see us playing like we were in the first half.”

The Rams forced four turnovers — two in the first half, two in the second. Thurman Green and Addrick Rasberry recovered fumbles, while Keel picked off a pass to go along with Webster’s interception.

The Mustangs gained 245 yards on the ground, but were limited to just 98 yards of total offense in the second half. After halftime, the Rams switched to man coverage in their secondary, freeing up more defenders to focus on stopping the run.

“From the opening kickoff of the second half to the end of the game, I think the Havelock football team showed up,” Bryant said. “And they left those other cats in the locker room.”

Bryant made it a point to credit Havelock assistant coaches Caleb King, Vaughn Sturm, Kenny Frazier, Bob Sabdo, Chris Crow and Jerry Morris.

“All those are my assistant coaches and they do a great job every week getting our guys prepared,” he said.

Daniel Bailey finished with a game high five receptions for 63 yards for the Rams. Webster, who injured his right knee during Monday’s opening-round game against Southern Guilford, completed 7 of 18 pass attempts for 66 yards. He was replaced by sophomore backup quarterback Garrett Crowe early in the fourth quarter and did not return.

Bryant said Keel’s kickoff return to start the second half was designed to go the distance. The plan worked to perfection.

“I said, ‘Guys, if we run this right, it will be a touchdown,” Bryant said. “Andy got behind the wall, there were two or three great blocks going down the sideline, and he was able to turn the jets on there at the end to score.”

Keel, whose interception return to the end zone in the first half was called back due to a Havelock penalty, was glad to get his team going in the right direction.

“When I ran the kick return, that got my team a little excited,” he said. “And we just came away with the ‘W.’ ” 

Havelock 27, East Rowan 7

East Rowan       0              0              0              7              — 7

Havelock           0              0              14           13            — 27

Third quarter

H — Andy Keel 85 kick return (Tylor Cooper kick), 11:44

H — Danny Webster Jr. 8 run (Cooper kick), 5:46

Fourth quarter

H — Dillon Post 4 pass from Webster (kick failed), 10:39

H — Andretti George 58 run (Cooper kick), 6:53

ER — Quentin Sifford 34 run (Andrew May kick), 6:41

Team stats                          ER                                  H

First downs                     13                           16

Total offense                  262                         354

Rushes-yards                41-245                    31-282

Passing                           17                           72

Comp-Att-Int                 4-9-2                     8-19-1

Fumbles-lost                    4-2                         0-0

Penalties-yards                6-40                        6-45

Punts-Avg                    2-26.5                      2-11.5

Individual stats

Rushing — East Rowan: Sifford 17-110, Jamey Blalock 8-99, Chris Moore 12-18, Max Allen 4-18. Havelock: George 16-134, Webster 8-104, William Griffith 2-32, Garrett Crowe 1-8, Alto Frazier 4-4.

Passing — East Rowan: Blalock 4-9-2 17. Havelock: Webster 7-18-1 66, Garrett Crowe 1-1-0 6.

Receiving — East Rowan: Riley Weber 2-20, Preston Troutman 1-0, Sifford 1-(minus-3). Havelock: Daniel Bailey 5-63, Sonny Courtney 1-6, Post 1-4, George 1-(minus-1).