The Rosewood Eagles dominated from start to finish in Thursday night’s second-round playoff matchup, where they easily defeated the Warren County Eagles 49-16.
Rosewood quarterback Dalton Philippeau opened up the scoring when he ran down the middle for an eight-yard touchdown run.
The score with four minutes left in the first quarter capped off a 63-yard drive for Rosewood that started at the 37-yard line after the Eagles forced Warren County to punt on its opening possession.
Warren County started its next drive around its own 15-yard line. Several plays later, Warren County receiver Maddux Rankin caught a 10-yard touchdown, and after a successful two-point conversion, Warren County took an 8-7 lead with just over 11 minutes left until halftime.
Warren County’s only lead lasted a total of 14 seconds because Rosewood running back David Lamm returned the ensuing kickoff to the end zone for a touchdown, and after a successful extra-point attempt, Rosewood took a 14-8 lead.
Rosewood head coach Robert Britt said the kickoff return by Lamm was the key turning point in the game.
“For David to pick the ball up and get control of it, and for our guys to get in position to make blocks to get the kickoff return for a touchdown, especially after they just scored to go up, is huge,” Britt said. “It quickly gave us the momentum back.”
After a short defensive stalemate, Rosewood took over at its own 22-yard line with 3:55 remaining in the second quarter after Warren County had a turnover on downs.
Lamm took advantage of this final opportunity to score in first half, and Lamm broke off a huge run down to the Warren County 22-yard line.
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A few plays later, Phillipeau connected with receiver Giovanni Rivera in the end zone to give Rosewood a 21-8 lead after the extra point.
In the third quarter, Rosewood extended its lead further with back-to-back touchdown runs of over 40 yards by Lamm.
The second touchdown scored by Lamm in the second half gave Rosewood a 35-8 lead with one minute left in the third quarter and effectively sealed the game.
Rosewood extended its lead further in the fourth quarter before coming out on top 49-16.
Britt said he was impressed by Lamm’s three-touchdown performance.
“He’s a hard runner and believes in his guys up front. Once he got in the open, he really started to show his speed coming back from his injury earlier in the year,” Britt said. “Right now, he’s peaking … and that’s a good sign for us.”
Rosewood will host Carolina 1A Conference rival Hobbton (10-2) in the third round Friday.
One other school — Princeton — had a second-round playoff game Thursday evening. The Bulldogs ran over Heide Trask 71-34 to reach the third round, where Princeton will host Cummings (8-3).