By Nick Phillips
iHigh.com correspondent
J.H. Rose football player Jaquan Waller took the field Friday night a week ago just like usual. He left the field in a very different way.
Waller was taken to the hospital by ambulance during the Rampants’ game. After carrying the ball and fumbling, the running back came off the field and took a knee before collapsing.
Waller was revived at the hospital. His family made the sad decision to take Jaquan off life support Saturday afternoon.
The Gryphons and Rampants, former Big East 4-A foes, are still bitter rivals, and probably won’t be swapping Christmas cards. But we must tip our hats to Rocky Mount head coach B.W. Holt and his staff - in particular assistant coach Hank Jones, as both of the Rocky Mount Athletic Complex’s end zones had Waller’s No. 23 painted in Rose blue.
Fans observed a moment of silence for Waller and his family twice during Friday night’s Gryphon victory.
Although rivals on the field, this tragedy hits close to home. Just two weeks ago, Waller lined up in the backfield against the Gryphons. This could happen to any player on the Gryphon sideline on any given play. The same situation is literally just a single play away.
As we go on throughout the next few weeks, we should keep the Greenville Rose family, and more importantly, the family of Jaquan Waller in our thoughts.
Thoughts on Gryphons’ Homecoming
The Rocky Mount football squad is now holding a record of 4-1, 5-0 on the field, after Friday night’s convincing victory, 63-6, over the Southern Wayne Saints on Homecoming night.
More convincing was the Gryphons' offense in the first quarter. Going right after the Saints on both offense and defense, Rocky Mount had four touchdowns and a turnover, in the opening minutes of the game. As Gryphon radioman Tony Doughtie wrote on his blog, "From The Press Box", earlier this week, the Gryphons would have to bring the same level of intensity into this game as games against Greenville Rose and Hertford County.
I believe that it can be stated that the Gryphons did bring that intensity, as seen in Friday’s first quarter. Friday’s Homecoming festivities included Gryphons senior cheerleader Dominique Battle being crowned Homecoming Queen.
Also of note, former Rocky Mount placekicker Andrew Hening’s brother Sam was an escort for senior Devon Ebby. As a recent Rocky Mount alum, I can truly say that Sam, a special needs student, is one of the nicest guys that you could ever meet. Good job Devon!!
By the way, Andrew Hening is on the roster at Elizabeth City State as a placekicker and was dressed for the Vikings' 24-13 win over St. Augustine's Saturday in the Down East Viking Classic at the RMAC. He is playing a backup role as kicker. Having his team play on the field he played high school football on must have been a thrill for him.
(Note: Phillips is a freshman at UNC-Pembroke.)