Gryphon Seniors Pictures for sale

David Hahula has copies of this 5x7 photo of Rocky Mount's 2008 senior football class taken the evening of their last football game together.

If you would like a glossy copy or copies of this photo, please email your request to Mr. Hahula at: dhahula@embarqmail.com or call him at 813-2271. The photos are $4.00 each.

Lee selected new Louisburg head football coach

Rocky Mount assistant football coach Chris Lee has paid his dues and it's now time for him to run his own program.

He will be named as the new head football coach at Louisburg High School. He was offered the position last week and he accepted it Wednesday. RMHS head football coach B.W. Holt announced Lee's new position during the football team's award dinner Thursday evening.

He is the fourth Gryphon assistant under Holt (Dickie Schock - Franklinton, Hillsborough Orange; Brent David - Winston-Salem Carver; Chad Smith - Northern Nash) to be selected a head coach since Holt arrived in July of 2003 - and the sixth Nash County assistant coach to become a head coach since 2002.

The others were Southern Nash assistant Lonnie Custer to North Lincoln and Nash Central's T.J. Worrell to Perquimans.

We will have more on Lee's decision to take the Louisburg head job once he is officially hired by the Franklin County Board of Education. Lee has informed RMHS that he will complete his season as JV girls basketball coach.

Gryphon News Tidbits

Here's an opportunity for me to send on some Gryphon news tidbits about current and past Gryphon athletes.

I. Senior center Whit Barnes had successful outpatient surgery on his left shoulder last week and the damage wasn't as bad as originally thought. Barnes will have to endure wearing a sling for a few weeks and then in about a month, he will start rehab on it. It should be as good as new by graduation.

II. Former Rocky Mount pitcher Jeremy Ward and his wife are expecting their first child in April. Ward, of course, led the Gryphons to the 1996 NCHSAA 4-A east regional finals. He played his college ball at Wake Forest and Long Beach State before being drafted into the pros. The couple is now living in Texas.

More good news for Ward's parents Ted and Jackie. Son Travis, former Nash County Babe Ruth Baseball All-Star head coach and a Northern grad, ironically, and his new wife will be giving them a grandchild this spring as well.

III. Ex-Gryphon baseball player Will Pridgen recently got his Master's degree in Sports Management from N.C. State and has landed a position with the Campbell University sports department. The Fighting Camels are now blushing over their new football team and football stadium complex and their recently opened 3,100-seat Pope Convocation Center - replacing that rickety Carter Gym that sat a mere 900!

We were all saddened earlier in the month by the death of his grandfather Dudley Whitley, who was AD at RMHS when I was a student.

IV. Not long ago, we saw former Gryphon athlete Adam Weaver in the dugout as an assistant baseball coach at Wilson Hunt. Now the Elon alum has taken a position with the State Employees Credit Union here in Rocky Mount.

V. Former Gryphon All-Stater Danielle Powell has taken a teaching position at a community colllege outside Seattle, Wash. Powell, who lettered 12 times as a Gryphon (four years in volleyball, basketball and softball and a seven-time conference Player of the Year in those sports), got her Bachelor's and master's degrees in communications at James Madison and a master's degree in divinity from Wake Forest. She played basketball for three seasons at JMU before a knee injury ended her career. She is RMHS' second all-time leading girls basketball scorer at 1,472 points.

J.J. ready for Super matchup

By Geoff Neville

Franklin Times

Just across the border in Nash County, J.J. Arrington was a lightly recruited running back from Northern Nash High School earlier this decade.

Most people outside of the Nash area had never even heard of the diminutive-but-quick running back.

In fact, Arrington wasn’t even the most recruited member of his family. His older sister, Janette, was a star at Northern Nash, helping the Lady Knights win the 1998 Class 4-A State Girls Basketball Championship.

Janette ended up at Louisburg College, where she was a two-year standout before concluding her exceptional career at Division I Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.J.J. regularly made the trip to Louisburg to watch his older sister in action, hoping he might have his opportunity to one day shine at a high level.

Sunday in Tampa, Arrington will compete on the grandest stage of all.

Now a member of the Arizona Cardinals, Arrington will line up against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl.

Arrington began his football career in 1992 as a member of the Nashville Hornets youth gridiron squad.

During his four-year stint with the Hornets, Arrington was coached by Jim Glover -- a former basketball stalwart at Louisburg College under J. Enid Drake. Glover taught Arrington the nuances of the game before sending him on to Nash Central Middle School and Northern Nash High School.

At Northern, Arrington was coached by legend Jim Brett -- who also guided current Franklinton mentor Clark Harrell when he prepped at Tarboro in the 1970s.

Arrington was a good high school back, but nobody could have imagined what would happen next. He was only 5-foot-9, so most area colleges shied away from Arrington.

Little did they know what he was on the cusp of accomplishing.One of Brett’s connections gave Arrington the opportunity to play at the College of the Canyons -- a junior college in California.

“J.J. really blossomed when he went out there,’’ said Northern Nash Athletic Director Dan Richwalski.

A successful two-year JUCO stint drew the interested eye of University of California coach Jeff Tedford.Arrington signed with Cal to play in the PAC-10 -- far, far away from his lifelong friends and family members.

An injury to Cal’s starting running back pushed Arrington into the starting lineup as a junior, and he never looked back.During his senior year, Arrington broke Cal’s single-season rushing mark with over 2,100 yards -- one of the most prolific totals in NCAA football history.

The Cardinals drafted Arrington in the second round of the NFL Draft in 2005. This is his fourth season in the desert, where Arrington has served as a backup running back and kickoff-return specialist.

One of Arrington’s strengths is catching the ball out of the backfield -- a strategy that many observers deem necessary for Arizona to be able to move the ball against the staunch Pittsburgh defense.

For the year, Arrington has rushed 31 times for 187 yards and caught 29 passes for 255 yards.In the NFC Championship Game against Philadelphia, Arrington was part of a flea-flicker pass play that resulted in a key touchdown for the Cardinals.

Arrington later left that game with a knee injury, but is expected to be ready Sunday in the Sunshine State.

Not bad for a personable guy from nearby Nash County that nobody wanted coming out of high school.

Silver anniversary reunion for 1984 Demons on Friday at Rocky Mount-Fike halftime

By Paul Durham

Wilson Daily Times

Twenty-five years after Fike's first -- and only -- boys basketball state championship, the memories remain fresh for many of the Golden Demons.

Many more memories will be revived Friday night when the 1983-84 N.C. High School Athletic Association 4-A champions will reassemble at the school for a silver anniversary observance. Team members in attendance will be recognized at halftime of the Fike-Rocky Mount varsity boys game.

While most of the 1984 Golden Demons haven't seen each other since high school, the common denominator for all of them over the years was not only winning a title but playing for legendary head coach Harvey Reid Jr.

Reid, who passed away in 1990, is the winningest high school basketball coach in North Carolina history with 818 victories, including six state championships. He won two N.C. High School Athletic Conference state crowns at Elm City's Frederick Douglass High prior to integration then three more NCHSAA 2-A titles at Elm City High in the 1970s.

But Reid, who was assisted by the late Jimmy Howard, seemed to take special satisfaction in the 1984 Demons' accomplishment. No player on the team stood taller than 6-foot-3 and down the stretch in the state playoffs, Reid used his starting five -- dubbed the "Fit Five" -- almost exclusively.

"He made us believe in the impossible and we did the incredible," said reunion organizer Charles Howard, a starting forward on the '84 team.

"Winning the state 4-A championship with five guys and as small as we were -- that was an incredible thing to do."

Howard, a 6-3 junior forward, was joined in the starting lineup by 6-3 senior Andre Virgil, 6-2 sophomore John McNeil, 6-0 senior guard Michael Hilliard and senior point guard Brian Harris. Sixth-man Willie Harris led the group of reserves: Scotty Bridgers, Arthur Braswell, Tim Lucas, John T. Smith, Pat Marshall, Michael Williams, George Ruffin, Greg Ballard and Kevin Watson.

Fike struggled early in the season and lost both regular-season games to highly regarded Kinston, which featured 6-9 Charles Shackleford who would go on to play at N.C. State and Tony Dawson, who played for Florida State.

The Demons also lost to Beddingfield in the first round of the Eastern Carolina Classic holiday tournament.But down the stretch, Fike caught fire. The Demons defeated Hunt in the 4-A Big East Conference tournament semifinals then finally snapped Kinston's domination in the tournament championship.

That win proved to be a turning point for the Demons.

"Kinston was pretty much stacked," recalled Hilliard, now a Fayetteville resident. "We knew that if we could get together and get past Kinston, we could do it."Howard was in agreement.

"That was a big, big boost for us," he said. "We knew we had a chance to run the table then. We never really spoke about it but we had the look in our eyes and knew that if we listened to Coach Reid, who was a state championship coach, he could get us there."

In their first-ever playoff appearance, the Demons defeated Fayetteville Westover 52-47 to earn a berth in the East Regional at Hunt. The Demons downed Raeford Hoke, which had current Fike head coach George Drawhorn as an assistant, in the regional semifinals giving them one more shot at Kinston.

With the starters playing every second (and 63 of a possible 64 minutes in both regional games), Fike outlasted the Vikings 58-51 for its first trip to a state championship game in boys basketball.

In the state championship game in Greensboro Coliseum, McNeil continued his late-season surge by scoring a career-high 27 points in the Demons' 64-52 handling of Roxboro Person.

McNeil would end up signing with NCAA Division I Pittsburgh after graduating two years later but never played for the Panthers. Instead, he played at Chowan College before finishing up at Div. II Elizabeth City State.

Howard initially signed with Div. II Belmont Abbey before transferring to Div. I N.C. A&T State University. Brian Harris, Hillliard and Virgil all spent time in the military. Most of the former players no longer live in Wilson but Howard said the expected turnout should be 10 to 12 of the original 15.

"It will be the first time I've seen a lot of the guys since graduation," said Brian Harris, now a physician in the Clayton area. "I'm excited about that and catching up with everyone.

"There's no doubt the main topic of conversation will the man who put it all together."The thing that stands out to me about the whole time at Fike was being able to play for Coach Reid," Brian Harris said. "He's one of those coaches that has continued to have an impact on you."

Barnes to undergo shoulder surgery Friday

That tricky left shoulder Rocky Mount senior offensive lineman Whit Barnes dealt with this past season is going to get fixed, the Wake Forest-bound All-Stater said earlier this week.

Barnes, who even missed a game (Southern Nash) to rest that shoulder, saw Dr. David Martin at Wake Forest University about a week ago and he said surgery was needed to fix his shoulder, which last popped out during the first half of the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas game in South Carolina the week before Christmas.

Barnes, who started the game for the Tar Heels, was taken out of the game in the second quarter when it happened and he wasn't allowed to return to the game.

Martin, who is in charge of sports medicine at Wake, has scheduled surgery on Barnes for Friday at Bowman-Gray Hospital in Winston-Salem.

"The recovery is about five months total so I should be ready to go by the time I head up to Wake," said Barnes, who plans to enroll at Wake during the second session summer school. "It will be nice to get this surgery out of the way so I wont have to worry about it when I am playing at Wake. I would hate to go to school in July and my shoulder messed up again and have to get surgery when I could be trying to win playing time as a young O-lineman."

Barnes, who made the Associated Press All-State team on Christmas Eve, will sign with Wake Forest on Wednesday, Feb. 4.

He should have some company that day.

So far, senior defensive end Nick Harrison and senior offensive lineman Brandon Dennis have announced that they will be signing that day with UNC-Pembroke. The upstart D-II program, in just its second season, went 9-1 as an independent.

RMHS head coach B.W. Holt feels that at least seven of his seniors should be signing by the spring.

Sharpe joins the 1,000-point Club

(Click on picture to enlarge)

Rocky Mount senior guard Alonzo Sharpe became the sixth boys basketball player in school history to score 1,000 points in a career when he hit a shot late in the second period of the Gryphons' NEW 6 contest at Northern Nash on Jan. 9.

Ahead of the four-year starter are Phil Ford (1974), teammate Tashawn Mabry, Buck Williams ('78), George McClain ('82) and Jeff Battle ('78). Four girls players have also accomplished the milestone.

In the picture above, Sharpe was given a commemorative ball for the feat before RMHS' game with Southern Nash last Friday. Sharpe is flanked by family members and Gryphon head basketball coach Mike Gainey.

(Photo/David Hahula)

Battle celebrates her 1,000th point

(Click on picture to enlarge)

Rocky Mount senior forward Dyonna Battle (center) received a commemorative basketball from Rocky Mount girls coach Pam Gainey (background, right) before a game with Hertford County on Jan. 7 to honor her 1,000th career point scored.

She scored that special point in a game at Kinston on Jan. 3 - the fourth female Rocky Mount player ever to top the 1,000-point mark. She joins the late Kim Taylor (RMSH Class of 1983), Danielle Powell ('92) and Latoya Armstrong ('03) on that special list.

Battle is flanked by her parents Donnell and Gail Battle.

(Photo/David Hahula)

RMHS football stats submitted to NCHSAA record book

The NCHSAA recently updated its online record book and after going through the 18 pages of stats, Rocky Mount's program has notable stats that fit right into some of the categories.

Leading the way was senior Nick Hahula, who will have four entries in the record book: his total games played (53), extra points in a season (72), career extra points (207) and his career kicking points (277).

Here are the entries I submitted and will be added to the book in the coming days:

COACHING

Career wins: B.W. Holt (Rocky Mount, West Montgomery, Tennessee High [Va.], Starmount, Franklinton, SW Randolph) 321-113-2 in 39 years (includes 2008)

POINTS

Points Scored by a Kicker, Career: 277, Nick Hahula (Rocky Mount), 24 field goals, 205 extra points, 2005-08

EXTRA POINTS

Career: 205, Nick Hahula (Rocky Mount), 2005-08

Season: 72, Nick Hahula (Rocky Mount), 2008

YARDS PER TOUCHDOWN CARRY

Season: 37.5, Jordan Ford (Rocky Mount), 2008 (10 TDs, 375 yards)

MOST GAMES PLAYED

53, Nick Hahula, Rocky Mount, 2005-08

53, Darrius Dubose, Rocky Mount, 2003-06

TOTAL RETURNS FOR TOUCHDOWNS

Career: 7, Brian Goodwin (Rocky Mount), 2006-08 (three kickoffs, four punts)

Awards dinner planned for Gryphon football team

A special awards dinner has been planned to honor the 2008 Rocky Mount High School football team.

Team members will be guests at the event - set for Thursday, Jan. 29 at 6:30 p.m. at the Rocky Mount Shrine Club, 320 Airport Rd. The menu, tentatively, will include chicken, barbecue and all the fixings. All parents, fans and supporters are encouraged to come out and support this record-setting team.

The dinner will be $10 per person. For more information, please contact Rocky Mount head coach B.W. Holt during school hours at 977-3085 or 977-3164.

The four football awards (Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Billy Smith Lineman Award, Team MVP) that were to have been given out at RMHS' fall athletic award ceremony back on Dec. 8 will be awarded that evening.

Also, the team's All-Conference and All-State players will be recognized. It will also be a send-off for the squad's 25 seniors, who compiled an impressive 27-3 record the past two seasons.

Mabry probable for Friday at Northern Nash; Sharpe on the edge of 1,000

Junior Tashawn Mabry has been hurting lately where the sun doesn't shine.

The 6-5 forward was going in for a dunk in the first half of the Kinston game Saturday night when he was fouled by a Viking player and fell three feet straight down on the court - on his tailbone.

I felt his pain when he hit the floor.

A few minutes later, Mabry attempted to take a charge from a Kinston player and got knocked to the floor on said backside.

He went straight to dressing room for the rest of the half.

He was of little help to his team in the second half and he was in obvious pain.

That pain apparently lingered through the weekend and into this week's play as he missed the game at Wilson Beddingfield Tuesday and at home Wednesday against Hertford County.

Head coach Mike Gainey feels he'll play Friday at Northern Nash provided he can keep loose during play.

The Knights have the best record in the Twin Counties at 12-2 and they will be a tough challenge for the Gryphons (7-6) in their NEW 6 opener.

Two milestones are in reach for Rocky Mount Friday. Mabry needs five points to reach the 1,500-mark in career scoring, while senior guard Alonzo Sharpe (pictured) needs six points to become the school's fifth 1,000-point male scorer.

The last time Rocky Mount had two 1,000-point scorers on the same team - 1978, in center Buck Williams and forward Jeff Battle.

(Photo/Britt Johnson)

Rocky Mount-North Mecklenburg press conference

If you would like to view the GlaxoSmithKline Tournament press conference after Rocky Mount downed No. 1-ranked North Mecklenburg earlier this week, click here!

The Gryphons won 66-62 in overtime!