Sallie B. stuns RMA 32-21 to kick off season

ROCKY MOUNT — They’re still another year away from simply being able to play for a championship, but the Sallie B. Howard School Eagles demonstrated that they are not going to be ignored in 2024.

In their first eight-player football game of their second season playing it, the Eagles stunned host Rocky Mount Academy 32-31 on Friday night.

The host Eagles are the reigning North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association eight-player champions after going 11-2 in 2023, including a 63-0 whipping of Sallie B. Howard, which is playing its second and final season as an eight-player independent program. Sallie B. Howard rallied twice in the game, taking the lead for good on a fourth-quarter touchdown run by Isaiah Allen then put the game away in the final minutes on another long scoring run by Darwin Kirby, whose interception gave SBH the ball back.

“The guys came in more focused this year, because now they understood more and what it took and what it takes to to win,” said SBH head coach Marquis Spell. “Because there was so much learning going on last year, it was unreal the amount of stuff they had learned how to do last year, and they understood that they came in really focused this year.”

Spell said that his team didn’t lack confidence against RMA, also playing its season opener, but needed to follow the game plan.

“It didn’t surprise us that we won; we wanted the guys to believe they could win,” he said. “When we talked to them about it, if you don’t believe, then we’ve already lost. Yes, they’re the defending champions, and we made that clear to them. They’re defending champions, but they can be beat as well, but you’ve got to believe that you can go there and do that. We knew we had the talent to do it. We had more linemen this year, which helped. Guys are a little bit more mature. We know that we would have men in the right places, but you have to make the plays. Last year we didn’t have them in the right places too, but they didn’t come near making the plays, not with a team like that.”

The visiting Eagles scored twice in the second quarter to take an 18-15 halftime lead. After RMA went back ahead 21-18, Sallie B. scored twice in the fourth quarter.

Offensive statistics and scoring details were scant Friday but Spell noted some of his top defensive performers, including Kennari Artis with 12 tackles. Zy’Mir Opara at defensive end had “at least eight tackles,” Spell said. The Eagles head coach also praised Maka Gueye, Mekhi Hatton, Jason Lucas and Quentin Chapman for their defensive play.

The Sallie B. Howard Eagles went 3-4 in their inaugural season of eight-player football in 2023. They will move into the North Carolina High School Athletic Association next season and potentially will switch to 11-player football. For now, the Eagles, who compete in the Carolina Athletic Association for Schools of Choice in all other sports, are using this season to prepare for their NCHSAA debut and just get better. The Eagles, who don’t have a home field, will play at Lawrence Academy in Merry Hill next Friday, Aug. 23, then host Jones Senior at Barton College’s Truist Stadium on Friday, Aug. 30.

For now, it’s just a matter of keeping that intensity from the opener.

“Enjoy tonight, enjoy tomorrow, but we’ve got to work Monday,” Spell said Friday night. “We’re not gonna take anybody for granted, you know. So we gotta stay focused.”

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