Roberson crashes Erwin’s senior night
27 October 2007By Zachary Colburn
LEICESTER - October 26, 2007 - With a MAC conference championship hanging in the balance, the Roberson Rams turned to the two things that have carried them all season, and neither of them disappointed.
The Rams defense picked off Erwin quarterback Robbie Nallenweg five times, and senior tailback Justin Wynn ran for 221 yards as those two ingredients kept the Rams in the race for the MAC championship with a 28-0 victory over the Warriors of Erwin High School on Senior Night at John Kerr Stadium.
"Gotta give credit to the defense on the shut-out," said Roberson coach Jim Beatty about his defenses’ shut-out performance, their fourth of the season. "Wynn continues to get better and better every week which is what we have hoped would happen."
Each teams’ quarterback threw an interception on their respective teams’ first possession of the game. Erwin’s Patrick Hensley picked off Roberson quarterback Tripp Weaver on Roberson’s first play of the game while Roberson’s Dennis Moore intercepted Nallenweg’s first pass of the game.
After Erwin’s turnover, Roberson had their chance to put points on the board but Walker Smith’s 49-yard field goal fell just short of the yellow uprights. After forcing Erwin to punt on their next possession, Roberson got on the scoreboard on the very next play as Wynn took a Weaver hand-off, spinned off defenders, and broke a few tackles as he rumbled his way to a 46-yard run to the end zone for the touchdown. Smith’s extra point made it 7-0 with 7:25 left in the first quarter.
Erwin had their best chance for the points on the next possession as Erwin tailback Doug Gobble lived up to his last name, gobbling up yards and first downs while Nallenweg found Devian Humes for a pair of passes and then hooked up with Ronnie Fortune for what would have been at 33-yard touchdown pass, but it was called back due to illegal procedure on Erwin and they could not get anything going afterwards, turning the ball over on downs as the first quarter came to an end, with Roberson leading by a touchdown.
In the second quarter, Wynn did what he does best, run the ball, and made some nice juke moves in the process to break a few tackles leaving a trail of Warrior defenders in his way as he carried the ball three times on the drive with the final run coming from 10 yards out, going to the outside and reaching the end zone for the touchdown. Walker’s extra point made it 14-0 with 8:52 left in the first half.
With the Rams threatening deep in Erwin territory on the 31-yard line after Artis Gilmore intercepted a pass from Nallenweg, Weaver made the mistake of throwing it up for grabs; that gamble allowed Erwin’s Humes to pick-off the pass, Weaver’s second pick of the game, but could not do anything with the ball as they were forced to punt.
After the punt, it took the Rams just two plays to find endzone again, with R.C. Crenshaw going up the gut for six yards and then Wynn ran the ball up the middle and spinned-off tacklers, rumbling 55 yards for his third touchdown of the game. Walker’s extra point went right through the uprights for the 21-0 lead with just over two minutes left in the half. Each team had one more possession before the siren for halftime sounded with Roberson up by three touchdowns.
A nice return by Erwin’s Ronnie Fortune to the 48-yard line kicked off the second half but the only thing that Erwin could muster was a 7-yard pass from Nallenweg to Humes, after that, a pair of Gobble runs and an incomplete pass forced the Warriors to turn the ball over on downs.
Roberson’s final possession of the third quarter had some promise but they could not get anything and looked like they were going to punt. With Erwin’s special team on the field, Roberson found a rift in the defense and took advantage of it. Smith looked like he was going to punt the ball off, but instead took the snap and ran eight yards for the first down and marched down the field as time expired in the third quarter, leading 21-0.
Roberson took the momentum from the end of the third quarter and translated it into points. After Weaver found Tight End Tyler Milner for 30 yards down to the Erwin six, Crenshaw did the rest, plunging into the end zone with a herd of Warrior defenders on his back. Walker’s fourth and final extra point of the game made it a 28-0 lead with 10:30 left in the game.
Erwin made a pair of last chance efforts to score over the final minutes of the game but a pair of Nallenweg interceptions, one by Gilmore and another by Chandler Wrightenberry, eliminated any chance of Erwin putting points on the board as Roberson ran out the clock to end the game and Erwin’s season.
"I’ve been blessed with a great group of kids and this(Erwin) is a great place to play," said Erwin coach Chris Brookshire of his team this season despite going 3-8 and 1-5 in the MAC. "I’m extremely proud of our seniors, they played hard and overcame some adversity."
Along with Wynn’s performance, Weaver went 6-of-12 for 73 yards while the Rams defense was anchored by Moore and Gilmore, who each had a pair of interceptions. Erwin’s Nallenweg eclipsed the 100-yard mark with 107 yards on 10-of-23 passing. Gobble picked up the running game for Erwin in place of Martin Jackson, who left the team at the beginning of the week for unspecified reasons; running 19 times for 62 yards. Nallwenweg’s go-to target, Humes, caught eight passes for 61 yards.
With Franklin’s win over Asheville High, Roberson (8-1,4-1 MAC) moves into a three-way tie with the Cougars and North Buncombe, who play each other next week. Roberson can clinch a share of the MAC title with a win in their home season finale against Tuscola next week and a loss by either Asheville or North Buncombe.
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