Frustrations, penalties doom CC on homecoming night

Charles City’s Richard Adkins (2) tries to juke King William’s Kolby Anderson to gain additional yards.

Andre' Jones photo

Homecoming night is one to celebrate and to bring back alumni from a number of different generations. For Charles City’s football Panthers, it only resulted in mounted frustrations and penalties.

Charles City fell 46-22 to King William in a penalty-filled night that saw four players ejected for the home-standing Panthers.

“We didn’t keep our heads tonight,” said head coach Steward Greene Jr. “We didn’t do the little things that we’ve been working on all week and it all mounted and boiled over.”

It didn’t take long for visiting Cavaliers to strike. Corey Stewart recovered Panthers’ punter Rashawn Shine’s attempt and returned it 35 yards for the first socre of the game. After the Panthers turned the ball over on downs, a backside screen pass from Archie Alfonso to John Williams resulted in a 68-yard touchdown connection and a 14-0 lead for the visitors.

Charles City bounced back temporarily, as Robert Dobson Jr. took a direct snap and scampered 57-yards for a touchdown. But just before the expiration of the first quarter, Alfonso connected with Jeffrey Hardesty for a 10-yard score and a 20-6 lead heading into the second quarter.

Alfonso called his own number midway through quarter two, sneaking in from one yard out to increase King William’s advantage (28-6). The Panthers made amends thanks to Dobson’s ground game, this time toting the ball 30 yards out. But Alfonso and Williams connected once again, this time on a seven-yard slant to bestow a 34-12 advantage in the Cavaliers’ favor heading into the halftime intermission.

In the third quarter, Charles City watched Marc Gresham carry the ball on the ground for scores from 16 and 32 yards out, respectively. Charles City saw its first ejection in the third quarter on an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Officials tossed three more Panthers on similar matters in the fourth, with the game being called at the 5:41 mark of the fourth quarter.

While Greene declined to comment on the officiating and penalties (Charles City had 14 for 174 while King William had six for 55), he commented on the play of the game.

“Every week we put our players in the best position to execute,” the head coach said. “You can look on the field where we had players not making tackles, not blocking, and we’re missing assignments.

“It takes 11 on the field to work together to succeed,” Greene said as he wrapped up the conversation. “Tonight, we just had to many errors, both mentally and physically.”

Charles City falls to 1-5 on the year.

Passing (comp/att/yards)
KW- Alfonso 9/18/165 yards, 3 TDs.
CC- Jones 1/4/35 yards, Dobson 0/1/0 yards.

Receiving (receptions/yards)
KW- Williams 2/75, 2 TD; Gresham 2/40, Anderson 1/20, Johnson 1/12, Hardesty 1/10, 1 TD; Stewart 2/8.
CC- Dobson 1/35.

Rushing (attempts/yards)
KW- Gresham 21/147, 2 TD; Stewart 5/74, Alfonso 6/12, 1 TD; Humphrey 4/6, Williams 2/0.
CC- Dobson 20/157, 3 TD; Jones 17/55, Adkins 7/19.