Chiefs' Football Falls in Opener, Ready for Loris
By: Wayne White

The opening game of the 2010 NMB football season could not have gone much worse this past Friday night in Conway. The Chiefs had three fumbles, a pair of interceptions, a host of missed tackles, missed blocking assignments, and watched their top running back limp off of the field after an ankle injury. The result of the miscues was a 35-0 loss in Head Coach Perry Woolbright's first game at the helm of the NMB High football program.

\"We made enough mistakes tonight to last us an entire season," said Woolbright. "We had a tough week of practice and seemed to lose a little focus. With the heat and the fact that a lot of our players have to play both ways, they got worn down this past week. It showed tonight with mental and physical mistakes."

While the night ended on a sour note for the Chiefs, the opening minutes of the contest did nothing but give NMB momentum. Conway took the opening kickoff and marched easily inside the Chiefs 10-yard line. Sophomore quarterback Mychal Moody led the Conway Tigers' attack as he repeatedly ran around the ends for big gains. With the Tigers' gaining a first down at the NMB six-yard line, the Chiefs made a stand that kept Conway out of the endzone. The Chiefs took their first possession of the game at their own four-yard line. It was then that the wheels began to fall off.

After two plays that netted a negative three yards, Timmy Bellamy dropped back and threw an interception that gave Conway the ball inside the NMB 35-yard line. Six plays later, Chris Brantley scored Conway's first touchdown of the season on a six-yard run up the middle.

The Chiefs went on to gain just one yard of total offense in the first quarter and did not gain their first first down until the 6:41 mark of the second quarter. By that time, Conway had scored four touchdowns and was on its way to victory.

As the teams went to the locker room, the hope of the Chiefs' faithful and the coaching staff was that the second half would see the fortunes take a turn for the better. That thought was quickly erased at the start of the second half when Stephan Keel fumbled the opening kickoff into the hands of the Tigers. Brantley capped the ensuing drive with a two-yard plunge into the endzone for his second score of the night that pushed the score to 35-0.

The Chiefs ended the game with just four first downs and 65 yards of total offense. In contrast, Conway recorded 18 first downs and 316 total yards. Moody tallied three scores, one on the ground and two in the air, and was responsible for 192 yards of total offense.

"We will get back to the practice field and prepare for Loris and our home opener next week," said Coach Woolbright. "I think that it will help that school starts Monday and we will know that the kids are not just laying around all day waiting for practice to start. We did not do a good job tonight setting the tone so we have to come out Friday against Loris and set the tone on our home field."

That second chance to set a positive tone comes against the Lions on Friday night with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. Loris won its opener 36-3 over St. James as the Lions' R.J. Brown ran for 212 yards. The game will be broadcast live via the Charlie Stuart State Farm NMB Chiefs Network on WRNN 99.5-FM and online worldwide at www.NMBChiefs.com. Video of the game will also be broadcast live on the NMBChiefs.com web site.

SCORING:

RUSHING (Carries-Yards):
NMB -- Delonzo Williams 4-18, Brandon Johnson 2-11, Clint Cole 8-26, Timmy Bellamy 11-5.
Conway -- Mykal Moody 17-81, Malcolm Murphey 16-41, Chris Brantley 8-28, Robert Nelson 4-22, Sawyer Jordan 5-11.

PASSING (Comp.-Att.-Int-TD-Yds.):
NMB -- Bellamy 1-8-1-0-5, Cole 0-0-1-0-0.
Conway -- Moody 6-14-1-2-122, Robert Nelson 2-2-0-0-24.

RECEIVING (Catches-Yards):
NMB -- Jahlen Grissett 1-5
Conway -- Malcolm Green 2-69, Dwayne Grainger 3-59, Rory Howard 1-8, Cole Watson 1-8, Judson Childs 1-2.