Ferriday finally breaks Monroe streak by Joey Martin - posted Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012 @ 2:01 pm  E-mail Story |  Print Story  Anthony Paige has played in a number of big games as a former Ferriday Trojan. But the one on October 6, 1989 was one he will never forget. Ferriday ended a frustrating losing streak to Monroe teams with a 28-12 win over Carroll at Melz Field. "It was one of the best games of my career," said Paige, who finished with seven solo tackles and was in on several more. "That game really put me on the map my sophomore year. The had a big fullback (Larry Brown). I was bringing the wood to him all night." Vidalia High principal Rick Brown was a defensive coach for Ferriday at that time. "Paige was a real man," Brown said. "He wasn't your prototype nose tackle because he wasn't too big. But he was quck and gave everybody the devil." "We never had to tell our kids what to expect," said then Ferriday coach Cordell Bailey. "They were always looked forward to each new challenge." "Those kids took this type of game as a challenge," Brown said. "They were not intimidated by anybody. It was a good group to coach." Junior running back Darnell rushed 17 times for 180 yards, while catching six passes for 39 yards. scoring a total of three touchdowns. Jones scored first on a 4-yard run to tie the game at 6-6 in the second quarter. Kenny Cage then passed five yards to James Leonard for a 14-6 Ferriday lead after Cage and Jones connected on the conversion. Ferriday muffed the kickoff to start the second half, recovering a fumble on its own 5-yard line. That's when Jones got the call and went 95 yards to give the Trojans a 22-6 lead after Cage connected with Robert Skinner on the conversion. ""We ran a 26 power play and Derrick Moore knocked the defensive end out of the way," Jones said. "I had about five guys hit me, but I was able to get out of that pile and went to the sidelines where I was able to run it in." Cage closed out the scoring in the final period with a 7-yard TD pass from Cage, Cage finished the game with 17 completions on 40 attempts for 210 yards and two TDs. "Once you got a taste of that end zone you wanted to be in there all the time," Jones said. "I felt I got stronger as the game went along, but I credit Coach Bailey for that. If you slouched during the fourth quarter, you paid for it on Monday." "People thought we threw, threw and threw the football then," Bailey said. "But if you looked back you would see we were pretty balanced and that our passing game complemented our rushing game." Derrick Burford caught four catches for 66 yards in the contest. Purcell Bethley scollected even solo and two assists. "I feel like that was the last great Junkyard Dog team," Jones said. "Our defense played a big part in that win. I can proudly say looking back that we never lost to Vidalia or Block. I take a lot of pride in that." Ferriday finished that season at 10-2, losing to Mansfield in first round " I remember the bus was late picking us up for the Mansfield game and we got there late, which threw us all off," Bailey said. "Our best team was in 19991. That year (1989) was kind of the start of it. A lot of those kids were sophomores then." Pick A Game is a series of articles focusing on one sporting event from the past.