Greensboro — The fortunes of West Johnston High School graduate Michael Adams last Wednesday night ran parallel to those of his East All-Star team teammates. Both had a few slip-ups in the beginning but were able to walk out of Jamieson Stadium winners, downing the West 27-3 in the 60th annual N.C. Coaches Association East-West All-Star Football Game.

The East reeled off 21 points in the final eight minutes of play to grab it second straight victory in the series. Adams, who will stick to the defensive side of the ball at UNC Pembroke after directing the West Johnston offense at quarterback for the past few seasons, entered the game wondering just how his last go-around calling the snap count would go.

Early on, a pair of high snaps (one on an extra-point and one on a shotgun) sailed just high enough over his head to slip through his outstretched hands. The second put the East inside of their own 1-yard line and forced Adams to quick-kick the ball away on third down.

“The ball was just slippery, and we had a few problems early,” Adams said.

But the East defense stayed strong, holding the West to just a trio of field goal attempts on the night. And as the field dried after the game was delayed by 90 minutes because of thunderstorms, the East offense started to heat up.

Former Hope Mills Gray’s Creek star Marquan Brown, who’s headed to East Carolina, recovered a fumbled punt inside of the 20-yard line to set up the East’s second TD drive of the night, then returned a punt 57 yards for a 20-3 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

On the next East drive, Adams, who split snaps with Southern Vance’s Jamere Pugh at quarterback, found an open lane and showed off some of the speed that helped him add 12 rushing touchdowns to go along with his 18 through the air during the Wildcats’ 2007 season. His 30-yard touchdown run salted the East’s win.

“I was just able to work my way through the line and when I broke through, I just cutback and got into the open field,” Adams said of his touchdown run. “Coming into this game, I wondered about how I’d do here. It just feels good to come out here and contribute in what was probably the biggest game of my whole life.”

Smithfield-Selma head coach Anthony Barbour helped coach the East offense and marveled at what his squad was able to do in the late going.

“We went with a lot of speed guys in the backfield,” Barbour said. “They’re all guys who can make people miss and once we started holding onto the ball and got a little better footing, they were able to make some things happen.”

It was the second straight year that a Johnston County resident had helped out on a winning East coaching staff. Smithfield resident Joe McCullen served as the head coach of last year’s winning East squad.

Adams finished the night with 36 yards rushing.

“It gives me a whole lot more confidence heading into college,” Adams said. “To be able to come out here this week and compete with some of the best in North Carolina was a great experience.”

Barbour’s experience was an eye-opening one as well — for himself. He marveled at how well the East players executed in their spread attack.

“I’ve really enjoyed working with such talented kids,” Barbour said.

“And I gained a whole new appreciation for the spread offense, learned a lot about it. I’ll tell you, it’s a fun offense to run when you’ve got the guys like we had running it.

“It gave me a whole new perspective on the spread offense.”

“I’ll take a whole lot of memories away from here,” he added. “Being able to have success in what we were doing and winning the game only made it better.”

The win was the East squad’s 24th in the series. The West still leads things, 35-24-1, in the all-time series.