By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
MOUNT ULLA ó B.J. Sherrill accounted for six scores in West Rowan’s rout of Carson on Friday night.
A touchdown pass two days later ó and the celebration that followed ó elicited more cheers.
Sherrill and Jon Crucitti participated in the Harris Teeter High School Football Challenge at halftime of the Carolina Panthers’ home win against the Washington Redskins on Sunday.
The quarterback-receiver tandem from Marlboro County (S.C.). won the three-phase competition, but Crucitti entertained the Bank of America Stadium crowd after he hauled in a 54-yard throw from Sherrill.
Crucitti ran through the end zone, jumped on the goalpost padding, hugged it and slid to the ground.
“We all had been talking all day about what to do and decided we couldn’t just go out and not be excited to be out there,” Crucitti said. “We decided after talking about it that I had to celebrate a little bit.”
The options that didn’t make the cut:
n Performing CPR on the ball
n Simulating the rowing of a boat while sitting in the end zone.
n Pulling out a hidden cell phone placed between the goalpost and its padding
n Signing the football with a Sharpie and punting it into the stands
After talking with teammate K.P. Parks, Crucitti settled on the move Panthers receiver Steve Smith used during a playoff win against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in 2006.
“We figured that would probably be the safest,” Crucitti said.
The three West Rowan players traveled to Charlotte with coach Scott Young and his son, Bryant. They were able to walk on the field during pregame warmups and watch how pro players prepare.Crucitti focused on Redskins defensive backs Carlos Rogers (Auburn), DeAngelo Hall (Virginia Tech) and LaRon Landry (LSU).
“I probably had more fun during warmups,” Crucitti said. “Just watching their athletic ability was really fun, and I got to talk to LaRon Landry about the LSU-Florida game.”
The Falcons return to action Friday against Statesville, and Crucitti leads the county with 36 receptions for 676 yards.
Sherrill, a junior, is coming off the most prolific game of his career. He had three touchdown passes and three TD runs against Carson.
Sherrill had never rushed for more than one score in a varsity game, and his only TD on the ground in West’s first seven games of 2009 came in a season-opening victory.
He had thrown for three TDs on three occasions before last Friday, but he didn’t rush for a touchdown in any of those games.
Sherrill completed nine passes in 11 attempts for 157 yards against Carson.
“He had a great game throwing the football,” Young said. “He showed great touch and a good arm.”