By Josh Hoke
sports@salisburypost.com
CONCORD ó Damien Washington may be A.L. Brown’s most prolific playmaker, but he’s certainly not the only one on the roster.
The future North Carolina Tar Heel gets most of the publicity, but he missed Friday’s cross-county meeting with J.M. Robinson due to a knee injury, allowing tailback Kalif Phillips to steal the limelight.
The junior rushed 13 times for 181 first-half yards and scored four times in a 48-0 road rout of the Bulldogs.
His production was a welcome sight for first-year Brown coach Mike Newsome, who learned this week he’ll could be without Washington, his team’s most dynamic offensive threat, for a few games due to an injury suffered in last week’s blowout loss to Porter Ridge.
Last year, the Wonders played the majority of the season without UNC-bound tailback Travis Riley, forcing other players like Washington to make a bigger impact in his absence. Now Brown will turn to players like Phillips to carry the load.
ěWhen you lose your leading rusher, basically your leading receiver and your leading receiver, you have to challenge people to step up,î Newsome said. ěI think they did it tonight. Ö Damien has gotten a lot of attention, but Kalif is a great, great football player, one of the best I’ve coached.î
Phillips was electric in the first half. His first carry went for a 70-yard touchdown, his sixth went for a 48-yard score and perhaps his most impressive, a weaving, tackle-breaking 23-yard scamper on 3-and-16, set up his third score of the half, a 14-yard touchdown reception just before halftime.
Phillips played just one snap after halftime, turning the game into a laugher in the process. After nearly returning the second-half kickoff for a score ń the Bulldogs brought him down with a shoestring tackle ń he took a screen pass from Brown quarterback Brandon Eppinger and ran untouched for a 63-yard touchdown, putting the Wonders up 35-0.
ěHe challenged me a lot,î Phillips said of his pregame conversation with Newsome. ěHe told me I was going to get the ball a lot. I had to step up and take over for my team. I had to do it for everybody.îIt’s not that Phillips hadn’t played a significant role in Brown’s spread offense through the first four games. He had rushed for 242 yards, caught three passes for 46 yards and scored five touchdowns, but Washington was still the center of attention, mainly because he’s headed to Chapel Hill and makes a ton of big plays.
But now Phillips is the man at the heart of Brown’s championship dreams. He finished with 277 all-purpose yards, averaging 17.3 yards per touch. Despite his production, Phillips wasn’t the only Wonder to step up in Washington’s absence.
Eppinger struggled early in the season to grasp Newsome’s spread scheme, but he’s made steady progress in the weeks since. He narrowly missed his first two attempts Friday ń receiver Keeon Johnson had a chance to make both catches ń but then hit his final eight attempts of the game.
He finished 8-of-10 for 177 yards and four touchdowns.
Two of the scores went to receiver Terrance Highsmith, who twice made leaping, acrobatic catches in the end zone to cap drives. Johnson added two catches for 47 yards, and coupled with Phillips 77 receiving yards, the Wonders have a lethal triumvirate.
ěWe know Damien is a great player, but we know we can get the job done with the players we have,î Eppinger said. ěKalif Phillips is a great player with a lot of explosiveness. We know every game he’s going to give us all he’s got.
ěIt’s just getting our timing down with the receivers and the offensive line getting their blocks,î he added of the team’s offensive maturation. ěWe’re working on the passing game a lot every day in practice. It’s gotten a lot better.î
As Phillips put it, ěWe’re dangerous, but we’re not as dangerous as we can be.î
The Wonders might have one of the state’s most dynamic offenses if Washington returns. He practiced Thursday but was suffering some knee pain. He underwent an MRI Friday and the team’s doctors decided to hold him out of Friday’s game, Newsome said. It’s possible that he could return to the lineup next week, though it seems more likely that he’ll miss more than a game on the road to recovery.