WINDSOR – The best thing that happened for Bertie High School and their fans Friday night was the scoreboard malfunctioning.

A rumor was circulating in the stadium that lightning had struck the scoreboard before the game started. Whether or not that was true is uncertain.

Lightning did in fact strike the Falcons on the football field, in the form of three-time defending state 4-A champion J.H. Rose.

Coming off an upset of Wilson Hunt last week, coach Tony Hoggard’s squad was hoping to sneak a win in their home opener against the powerhouse from Greenville.

Unfortunately for the Windsor team, Rose never needed to see the score to know the game wasn’t close.

Rose quarterback Brian Blick only completed two of four passes that he threw for the entire game, but one of those completions went 65 yards for a score.

Lucky for him, teammate Jonathan Williams ran circles around the Falcon defense as Rose amassed 440 yards of rushing yards in route to a definitive 54-6 victory.

After scoring on their first possession, Rose kept the Falcon squad out of the end zone for the rest of the first quarter finishing the opening period with a 20-0 lead.

Despite some hard running by Falcon running back Kevin Swain who finished the game with

57 yards on 16 carries, the Falcons appeared lost on offense for most of the game, struggling to get into the proper sets on many occasions.

The Falcons regrouped in the second quarter and slowed the Rampants down for a while, but near the end of the half Blick launched a deep pass that went for 65 yards and a score to put the visiting team up 27-0 at the half.

What Hoggard said to his team at halftime is not known because the media was asked to leave the area, but whatever he said didn’t work as Rose blocked a Bertie punt attempt inside the Falcons’ own ten yard line to go ahead 34-0 at the start of the third quarter.

The Falcons lone highlight came on a 26-yard touchdown run by Falcon quarterback Desmond Williams. Williams finished with a team high 65 yards on 14 carries.

On Williams’ touchdown run, a scramble off of a broken pass play, he broke several tackles and turned back inside as he willed himself into the end zone, ending any hopes Rose may have had of a shutout.

The fourth quarter seemed to go faster than the three previous ones, but not fast enough for Hoggard and company as Rose, managed to score three more times before the clock ended the contest.

Senior Dennis Saunders led the Falcon defense with five solo tackles.

The Falcons move to 1-1 on the season as they are on the road next week to face an old Falcon coach Bobby Curlings and his New Bern squad.

Score By Quarters

Rose – 20 – 7 – 7-20

Bertie – 0 – 0 – 6-0

Bertie Rushing: 37-170

D. Williams 14-65, K. Swain 16-57, K. Smallwood 6-40, O. Dobbins 1- (-8)

Bertie Receiving: 1-7

K. Swain 1-7