AHOSKIE – A dozen times Rocky Mount and Hertford County have met on the football field, but the Bears have only claimed one win in that rivalry.

Friday night they didn’t get a second one, and suffered one of their most lop-sided defeats, 75-27, at the hands of the Gryphons, who took their 11^th win over the Bears.

Rocky Mount lost by three points last week, and came out ready to make up for lost offense.   The Gryphs scored the first three times they had the football and built a 20-0 lead with still two minutes left in the first quarter.

But 12 seconds later, it would be the Bears breaking out of hibernation and putting points on the board.  Quarterback Christian Folston hit Dunyasha Porter on a long bomb, good for 77 yards, to make it 20-6, with 1:59 left in the first.

However, it was another Rocky Mount possession, another Gryphons score, upping the mark to 27-6 with 11 seconds remaining.

The Bears struck first in the second quarter as Kyeem Perry finally broke loose and broke one 21 yards to paydirt that made it 27-13 after the Noah Parker extra point.

The Gryphon onslaught continued – six-for-six on possessions in the first half as they tacked on two more scores in the second quarter to lead it 40-13 at halftime.

An 84-yard Rocky Mount kickoff return opened the second half as the Bear massacre continued.    Another six points had the visitors ahead 54-13 in what would be a big quarter as seven touchdowns were tacked on the board between the two teams.

The Bears got two more scores: one on defense when Folston returned a Rocky Mount fumble 15 yards for a score, then he hooked up with Jaquarii Roberson for an 18-yard touchdown.

Both teams combined for a whopping 854 yards of total offense, with the Bears accounting for 398 of that total.  Perry led the ground-gainers with 92 yards on 13 carries with 47 rushing yards from Folston.  The senior quarterback also passed for 178 yards, but had two interceptions.

Nine different Gryphon running backs combined for 362 of Rocky Mount’s 456 yards, led by Tyrell Forbes with 124.

Hertford County (1-2) entertains Southern Vance back at Bear Stadium next Friday night.