Fumbles lead to end of East Burke football season

By: Lee Shook | sports@morganton.com
Published: November 14, 2009

Salisbury --

Too many turnovers in the wrong places ended East Burke's season Friday night.
The Cavs fell to the Hornets of Salisbury 35-6 in the first round of the state high school football playoffs.
"This was obviously disappointing," East Burke coach Mike Biggerstaff said. "We are a better team than we showed tonight. That's not to take anything away from coach (Joe) Pinyan and his team. Turnovers in the first half took us out of the game."
East Burke's defense kept it in the game in the first quarter. But the Hornets kept pounding the ball into the Cavs defensive front and eventually wore them down, scoring three times in the second quarter.
The Cavs stopped Salisbury's first possession when Tyler Blackwood tackled Isaiah Whitaker for no gain on fourth down. But East Burke fumbled on third down, giving Salisbury the ball 14 yards from the Cavs goal line.
East Burke's defense held again, forcing a field goal attempt. The kick was blocked and returned to near midfield by Aaron Bonds for East Burke. Still no movement on offense and the Cavs punted the ball to the end zone.
Salisbury took over and began a 15-play drive which ended in a 1-yard touchdown run by Whitaker. David Simons added the PAT kick with 7:03 to play in the second quarter.
Simons kickoff was high and mishandled by East Burke. The Hornets recovered at the East Burke 25 yard line. Two plays later quarterback John Knox passed to Riley Gallagher for a 24-yard touchdown.
Senior running back Eric Carson reeled off a 55-yard run for the Cavs to put the ball at the Salisbury 14. But the Hornets' drive stopped at their 12-yard line. East Burke lined up for a 30-yard field goal attempt.
But Justin Lail scrambled to pass the ball instead. Lail fumbled as he was being pursued by the Hornets defense. Salisbury took 10 plays and almost four minutes to score on a quarterback keeper by Knox. East Burke's Josh Debro intercepted Knox's pass for the 2-point conversion.
East Burke received the second-half kickoff but fumbled, and Justin Franklin recovered for the Hornets. Salisbury needed just two plays to score this time. Whitaker ran the final 12 yards and Knox ran the 2-point conversion.
The Cavs finally got on the board midway through the third quarter. Dustin Wilson ran 42 yards for East Burke's only touchdown.
Knox added another touchdown on a 27-yard run for Salisbury late in the fourth quarter.
"We had 25 seniors," said Biggerstaff. "We were glad to win eight games but disappointed in the way the season ended."
East Burke ended its first season at the 2A level with an 8-4 record.

Fumbles lead to end of East Burke football season

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