Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 9 Picks

 Game of the Week: Forestview (2-5)(1-2) @ Ashbrook (3-4)(1-3): You can almost call this a must-win game. Neither team has four wins yet and both have only one conference win. A loss tonight will not mathematically eliminate them from playoff contention, but will put their backs against the wall in the upcoming weeks. If Forestview loses this game, they will need to win out in order to make it in. If Ashbrook loses, they will need to win one of their next two games to have a chance to get in. Look for both teams to put everything on the line.

My pick: Ashbrook 24 – Forestview 17

Crest (6-2)(3-0) @ Hunter Huss (5-3)(1-2): After starting the season 5-0, the Huskies have fallen on hard times. They lost three straight and none of them were even close. Now they must face a Crest squad that is only getting better. The past three weeks, the Huskies have only scored 13 points while allowing 132. The Chargers have scored 47, 27, and 52 the past three weeks. Don’t look for the trend to change anytime soon.

My pick: Crest 42 – Hunter Huss 14

North Gaston (0-8)(0-4) @ Kings Mountain (4-4)(2-1): Kings Mountain comes into this game with a two-game winning streak. North Gaston comes in looking for a win. Though they are not in the playoff race, they could try and play a spoiler role. However, that will be an unlikely scenario with the way Kings Mountain’s defense has been playing and the fact that their offense is coming around. For the past two weeks their defense has held their opponents to only three points. Look for Kings Mountain to be above .500 for the first time since the opening week.

My pick: Kings Mountain 45 – North Gaston 7

West Lincoln (3-5)(2-2) @ North Lincoln (1-7)(1-3): The West Lincoln Rebels are looking to sneak back into the playoff hunt and make their second straight appearance after missing the three previous years. Standing in their way on this night is North Lincoln. The Knights have had very little to hang their hat on this year, but would love to spoil the Rebels’ bid for a playoff berth. The Rebels have lost games that many didn’t think they would lose. If they lose this game, they could be in real danger of missing the post-season since their schedule will not be any easier from here. They should be able to take care of their county rival in this game, though.

My pick: West Lincoln 23 – North Lincoln 10

Lincolnton (7-1)(4-0) @ Bessemer City (4-3)(4-0): Believe it or not, this is for the Southern Piedmont 2A/1A conference title. Those words seemed like nothing more than a fantasy when the Yellow Jackets started the season 0-4. Their last loss turned into a forfeit win the same day the Yellow Jackets picked up their first win on the field. The Yellow Jackets have upset on their minds, but Lincolnton has played very good football this year and that will be a tall mountain to climb for Bessemer City. Don’t look for this game to be close.

My pick: Lincolnton 49 – Bessemer City 14

Highland Tech (0-8)(0-4) @ Cherryville (3-5)(2-2): Cherryville is looking for their first home win since week 2 of the season when they beat Davidson Community Charter 28-14. Highland Tech is looking for their first win, period. With less than four wins under their belt, the Ironmen need one more win to at least have a chance to qualify for the playoffs. They are currently the #2 1A team in the conference and a win tonight would just about seal that deal for them.

My pick: Cherryville 31 – Highland Tech 18

Lake Norman Charter (4-3)(1-3) @ East Lincoln (4-4)(2-2): Lake Norman Charter got their first conference win of the season as they blew out North Lincoln 35-0 and with four wins, they have a shot at making the post-season. Don’t look for them to repeat the kind of success they had last week against East Lincoln, though.

My pick: East Lincoln 42 – Lake Norman Charter 14

Patton (0-8)(0-4) @ Burns (7-1)(3-0): This is a mismatch here. Burns is currently the #1 team overall in the South Mountain 3A/2A conference. Patton is the last place team in the conference and are currently on a 14-game losing streak dating back to October 1 of last year when they were beat by East Rutherford 21-14. They started the season 6-0. They have seen no such success this year and Burns is just as good if not better than they were last year.

My pick: Burns 52 – Patton 14

R-S Central (1-6)(1-3) @ Shelby (4-4)(2-1): The Hilltoppers got their first win of the season last week as they topped winless Patton 27-0. Now they travel to face a Shelby team that is riding momentum. After starting the season 1-4, the Golden Lions righted their ship just in time and are now on a three-game winning streak. A win against R-S Central would put the Golden Lions above .500 for the first time this season.

My pick: Shelby 34 – R-S Central 14

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 8 Round-up

Kings Mountain 17 – Ashbrook 3: Kings Mountain continues their resurgence and their defense continues to give opposing offenses headaches. This is the second week in a row that the Mountaineers have only allowed 3 points. They were down 3-0 at half-time, but allowed no more after that and scored 17 unanswered points to take down Ashbrook and hand them their fourth loss in five games. The Green Wave has been outscored 73-10 these past two weeks.

South Point 49 – Forestview 7: Same team, same results. The Red Raiders may have took a little time getting things going, but once they did it was all she wrote. Facilitated by five Forestview turnovers, South Point cruised to an easy 49-7 victory. The Jaguars have lost three of their last four games. The Jaguars now need at least two more wins to qualify for the post-season.

Crest 52 – North Gaston 21: Crest is keeping pace with South Point in the Big South 3A race. The Chargers got back into action in conference play with another blowout win. North Gaston continues to show signs of improvement but is likely to leave the 2011 season empty-handed in the win column.

Freedom 45 – Hunter Huss 7: Things continue to go South for Hunter Huss. For the third week in a row, the Huskies are held to single-digits in scoring. They were held to three points the previous two weeks, but did manage seven last week. It gets harder before it gets easier for Huss as they host Crest this Friday.

East Gaston 28 – Garinger 14: East Gaston picked up their first MEGA-7 conference win of the year as they upended winless Garinger. The Warriors now need just one more victory to have an outside chance of making the playoffs. Winning two more games would be better. But one of those games is against conference front-runner, Charlotte Catholic.

Shelby 37 – Chase 23: No matter how good Chase is or had bad Shelby may be the Golden Lions continue to have the Trojans’ number. Also, Shelby continues to improve and make a strong push for a playoff bid. Not only that, they could also clinch the conference’s top 2A seed heading into the playoffs. Wins these next two weeks over R-S Central and East Rutherford will do just that. But there is a reason they say “One game at a time.”

Burns 45 – East Rutherford 13: Burns continues their solid run through the South Mountain 3A/2A conference and are on their way to possibly winning their second straight conference title. Since the conference was created, the Bulldogs have been 14-1 in conference play with their only loss being a 28-25 setback to Shelby in 2009. The Cavaliers drop their second straight game and will be hard-pressed to get back on track as they face Freedom.

Lincolnton 42 – Cherryville 14: Lincolnton rolls to another easy victory and the Wolves keep showing why they are ranked #1 in the state’s 2A poll. Lincolnton jumped out to an early 35-7 first quarter lead and was up 42-7 at half-time. The Wolves look poised to make another deep run in the playoffs. The Ironmen dropped three straight home games but have a chance to redeem themselves as they host Highland Tech.

Lake Norman Charter 35 – North Lincoln 0: Lake Norman Charter picks up their first conference win of the year. The Knights mathematically qualify for the playoffs with just four wins, but would up their odds with just one more victory. The North Lincoln Knights are pretty much out of the playoff picture.

East Lincoln 28 – West Lincoln 14: East Lincoln rebounded after their 55-35 loss to county rival, Lincolnton, and beat another county rival. The Rebels have lost four out of five of their last games. The Rebels still have a shot to put in a late bid for a playoff berth.

Bessemer City 37 – Highland Tech 26: The Yellow Jackets have struggled mightily at the beginning of the season, but have been picking up some wins lately. Granted one of them was a forfeit win. The Yellow Jackets have a chance to clinch the conference’s top 1A spot heading into the playoffs. They have already beaten 1A teams, Cherryville, Highland Tech and Lake Norman Charter. With Bessemer City currently at 4-0 in the conference, they just need one more victory to secure that.

Big South 3A

South Point (8-0)(4-0)
Crest (6-2)(3-0)
Kings Mountain (4-4)(2-1)
Hunter Huss (5-3)(1-2)
Forestview (2-5)(1-2)
Ashbrook (4-4)(1-3)
North Gaston (0-8)(0-4)

SP2A/1A

Lincolnton (7-1)(4-0)
Bessemer City (4-3)(4-0)
East Lincoln (5-3)(2-2)
Cherryville (3-5)(2-2)
West Lincoln (3-5)(2-2)
Lake Norman Charter (4-3)(1-3)
North Lincoln (1-7)(1-3)
Highland Tech (0-8)(0-4)

SM3A/2A

Burns (7-1)(3-0)
Freedom (7-1)(2-1)
Shelby (4-4)(2-1)
East Rutherford (5-3)(2-1)
Chase (6-2)(2-2)
R-S Central (1-6)(1-3)
Patton (0-8)(0-4)

MEGA-7

Charlotte Catholic (7-0)(3-0)
Olympic (7-1)(3-0)
Berry Academy (6-1)(3-0)
Harding (3-5)(1-2)
East Gaston (3-5)(1-3)
West Mecklenburg (3-5)(1-3)
Garinger (0-8)(0-4)

Turnovers, stingy Raider defense plague Jaguars

                     Coming into this game, the Forestview Jaguars knew they had to slow down South Point’s potent triple-option attack. However, it was the Red Raiders’ defense that proved to be more deadly. The Red Raiders force five Jaguar turnovers throughout the game. The Red Raiders stalled on their first drive, but made something happen with their second drive. Devon Robbins got South Point on the board with a 68-yard dash for a touchdown. Dayton Rogers extra point made it 7-0.

                  The Jaguars would try to answer, but could not get anything going. The Jaguars’ 1000-yard rusher Octavious Wallace was bottled up and would eventually have to leave the game with an ankle injury. A Wallace fumble and a Logan Bradley tipped interception would facilitate two more South Point scores. The Red Raiders would kick a field-goal to go up 10-0, but a roughing the kicker call gave South Point a chance to put four more points on the board. And they did with a 10-yard run by Tyler Bray.

                  Troy Leeper got in on the action late in the second quarter with a 39-yard touchdown run. Rogers was 3-3 on extra points in the first half. South Point got the ball first in the second half and drove deep into Forestview territory, but fumbled inside the red-zone. However, Forestview would give the game right back as Logan Bradley threw an interception to Josh Allman that was returned 15 yards for a touchdown.

                  It only got worse from there. Leeper punched another touchdown in from the one-yard line to make it 35-0 and Devon Robbins 39-yard dash for another touchdown gave South Point a dominant 42-0 lead. Back-up wingback Dan Johnson finished off the scoring for South Point with a 45-yard touchdown run and Dayton Rogers remained perfect on the night with his extra points. He was 7-7.

                  The Jaguars did have a bright spot and were not shut out. With just less than a minute left, Bradley hit Mykelti Armstrong for a 24-yard touchdown pass. That would be it, though.

                  Leeper ended the night with 110 yards and two touchdowns. Devon Robbins amassed 105 yards and two touchdowns.

                                  Forestview will travel to take on Ashbrook next Friday. South Point is idle, but will resume the following Friday at North Gaston.

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland County Week 8 Picks

 Game of the Week: Kings Mountain (3-4)(1-1) @ Ashbrook (3-3)(1-2): Ashbrook is looking to get back on track after being bounced by South Point 56-7 last week. Kings Mountain looks like they have turned their season around just in time. After two straight losses to South Point and Shelby, the Mountaineers decided that was enough. They turned around and throttled Hunter Huss 31-3. Ashbrook lost three of their last four after starting the season 2-0 and hopes to stop the bleeding against a resurging Kings Mountain team. Kings Mountain has taken the last two games from Ashbrook.

My pick: Kings Mountain 21 – Ashbrook 20

South Point (7-0)(3-0) @ Forestview (2-4)(1-1): The Red Raiders continue their tear through the Big South 3A. The Jaguars are coming off their second win of the year with a convincing 48-14 win at North Gaston. But after having their most lopsided win of the year, they have their most fierce challenge of the year as South Point and the high-powered red-bone offense and stifling defense pay a visit to Forestview. Only two teams have been competitive with South Point this year. Both teams are ranked real high in the state polls, though. Can the Jaguars find a formula to slow down South Point or will this be over before they even crown their Homecoming queen?

My pick: South Point 56 – Forestview 14

North Gaston (0-7)(0-3) @ Crest (5-2)(2-0): The Chargers continue to improve as the year progresses. They handed A.C. Reynolds their third straight loss en route to a 27-14 victory and won four straight since starting the season 1-2. Crest resumes conference play as they host North Gaston. With just three games left and no wins, the Wildcats are mathematically eliminated from post-season contention, but can still play for pride. However, they will have a very slim to none shot at taking down Crest.

My pick: Crest 34 – North Gaston 7

Hunter Huss (5-2)(1-2) @ Freedom (6-1)(2-1): Hunter Huss is spiraling down. After a promising 5-0 start, they lost two straight games and by big margins. The Huskies have only scored 6 points these past two weeks and have allowed 73 points. Now they have to travel to face a red-hot Freedom team. The Patriots’ only loss of the year came against Burns by a score of 28-27.

My pick: Freedom 28 – Hunter Huss 7

Garinger (0-7)(0-3) @ East Gaston (2-5)(0-3): Both teams are desperately seeking their first conference win this season. Garinger is seeking their first win of the season, period. Garinger is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs being winless and having only three games left. East Gaston is in danger of falling out of playoff contention. A loss against the Wildcats could be the dagger. Do look for east Gaston to get the victory though.

My pick: East Gaston 24 – Garinger 7

Lincolnton (6-1)(2-0) @ Cherryville (3-4)(2-1): Lincolnton got past what should have been their toughest challenge of the year as they defeated East Lincoln 55-35. Could the Wolves be in for a let-down as they travel to face a struggling Cherryville team? The Ironmen have dropped two straight home games and hope to avoid dropping a third. To do that, they must stop Lincolnton’s high-powered offense and get their own offense going.

My pick: Lincolnton 41 – Cherryville 14

North Lincoln (1-6)(1-2) @ Lake Norman Charter (3-3)(0-3): The North Lincoln Knights picked up their first win of the season against Highland Tech last week. They will travel to Huntersville to take on Lake Norman Charter Knights. Of all the wins Lake Norman Charter picked up, none were conference wins. Can North Lincoln get their second straight victory or will Lake Norman Charter be poised to get their first conference victory? Which Knights team will prevail?

My pick: Lake Norman Charter 20 – North Lincoln 14

Bessemer City (3-3)(3-0) @ Highland Tech (0-7)(0-3): Bessemer City is in an unusual situation. Last week, they picked up two wins. One was their 21-18 victory over Lake Norman Charter and the other was hours earlier when East Lincoln had to forfeit their 56-13 win over the Yellow Jackets. Bessemer City has a chance to remain undefeated (though not on the field) in conference play headed into Highland Tech. The Rams still have not won a game this year so far.

My pick: Bessemer City 35 – Highland Tech 7

West Lincoln (3-4)(2-1) @ East Lincoln (3-4)(1-2): West Lincoln dropped their first conference game of the year against Cherryville. East Lincoln was basically dealt two losses in one day. They were defeated 55-35 by Lincolnton and also found out they had to forfeit their 56-13 win over Bessemer City hours earlier. All that is behind them and they must focus on county rival, West Lincoln. The Mustangs should be able to get back on track since the Rebels have been struggling lately.

My pick: East Lincoln 42 – West Lincoln 14

Shelby (3-4)(1-1) @ Chase (6-1)(2-1): The Golden Lions just a few weeks ago looked like their season was headed down the drain, but after two straight wins there seems to be more excitement surrounding Shelby. Their two-game winning streak will be put to the test as they travel to face 6-1 Chase. The Trojans lost for the first time this year last week as they were defeated by Burns 28-14. History is on Shelby’s side as Chase has never beaten Shelby. Could this be the year that the Trojans end that streak?

My pick: Shelby 17 – Chase 14

East Rutherford (5-2)(2-0) @ Burns (6-1)(2-0): The Bulldogs are looking to stay hot and are looking for their second straight conference title in the South Mountain 3A/2A conference. After snapping Chase’s six-game winning streak, they face another Rutherford County team looking to make a run at the conference title. The Cavaliers, though, are coming off a 35-14 loss to Providence Day. This game won’t be a walk in the park either.

My pick: Burns 34 – East Rutherford 14

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 7 Recap and Standings

 South Point 56 – Ashbrook 7: The Red Raiders continue to roll through conference play. This time they completely dispatch Ashbrook 56-7. The Red Raiders led 35-7 at the half. Troy Leeper was held to a season low 50 yards, but did manage two touchdowns. Patrick Horne, Devon Robbins and Tyler Bray did most of the dirty work. Ashbrook’s only score of the game came when Trey Brice hit B.J. Vanderpuye for a five-yard touchdown pass.

Forestview 48 – North Gaston 14: The Jaguars defense allowed a season low 14 points in the game, but the Wildcats still managed over 300 yards of offense. Octavious Wallace and Dominique Adams each accounted for three scores. Corey Staley scored two touchdowns for North Gaston. The Wildcats came close to punching another score in but fumbled at the one-yard line.

Kings Mountain 31 – Hunter Huss 3: Was the South Point loss the beginning of the end for Hunter Huss? Because Hunter Huss has been held to six total points these past couple of weeks and have been outscored 73-6. It does not get any easier for the Huskies as they face Freedom and Crest these next two weeks. Could they rebound in either of those two games?

Crest 27 – A.C. Reynolds 14: Crest extends their winning streak to four wins. Crest is looking to keep pace with South Point in the Big South 3A Conference race. The Chargers resume conference play as they host North Gaston this Friday.

Lincolnton 55 – East Lincoln 35: If you love offense, you would love this game. Lincolnton and East Lincoln were in an offensive shootout, but in the end the Wolves would have too much firepower. With the win, the Wolves should run away with the SP2A/1A Conference Title. They get a little more separation thanks to East Lincoln having to forfeit their win over Bessemer City.

Harding 27 – East Gaston 20: East Gaston has dropped three straight games and have not won a conference game as of yet this year. Friday is their best shot to get their first conference win of the season as they host Garinger. The Warriors are in danger of falling out of the playoff hunt.

Cherryville 13 – West Lincoln 7: West Lincoln drops their first conference game of the year. Cherryville, coming off their 20-14 loss to Bessemer City was desperate for another win and they did just enough to get it. Now, they must turn their attention to front-runner, Lincolnton.

Bessemer City 21 – Lake Norman Charter 18: Bessemer City squeaked out another win. One should note that this was their second win in just one day due to East Lincoln forfeiting their win over the Yellow Jackets earlier that day. Now, they hope to extend their winning streak to four as they take on Highland Tech.

Burns 28 – Chase 14: Chase had their six game winning streak snapped last Friday as they fell to Burns. However, Chase showed that just because they haven’t played top-tier teams yet that does not mean they are not for real. Now, Burns is set to play another tough Rutherford County team as they host East Rutherford.

Shelby 49 – Patton 6: Shelby redeemed their season two weeks ago as they defeated Kings Mountain 24-21. They built on that momentum and blew out Patton 49-6. Their winning streak will be put to the test as they travel to Chase. History is on Shelby’s side as they have never lost to the Trojans.

North Lincoln 23 – Highland Tech 6: One of these teams were going to get their first win of the season. It turned out to be the North Lincoln Knights. The Knights hope to add at least one more before the season is through, but the easiest game they got coming up is Lake Norman Charter and even that looks doubtful.

Big South 3A

South Point (7-0)(3-0)
Crest (5-2)(2-0)
Kings Moutain (3-4)(1-1)
Forestview (2-4)(1-1)
Hunter Huss (5-2)(1-2)
Ashbrook (3-3)(1-2)
North Gaston (0-7)(0-3)

Southern Piedmont 2A/1A

Lincolnton (6-1)(3-0)
Bessemer City (3-3)(3-0)*
Cherryville (3-4)(2-1)
West Lincoln (3-4)(2-1)
East Lincoln (3-4)(1-2)^
North Lincoln (1-6)(1-2)
Lake Norman Charter (3-3)(0-3)
Highland Tech (0-7)(0-3)

MEGA-7 4A/3A

Berry Academy (6-1)(3-0)
Charlotte Catholic (6-0)(2-0)
Olympic (6-1)(2-0)
Harding (3-4)(1-1)
West Mecklenburg (3-4)(1-2)
East Gaston (2-5)(0-3)
Garinger (0-7)(0-3)

South Mountain 3A/2A

Burns (6-1)(2-0)
East Rutherford (5-2)(2-0)
Freedom (6-1)(2-1)
Chase (6-1)(2-1)
Shelby (3-4)(1-1)
R-S Central (0-6)(0-3)
Patton (0-7)(0-3)

* = forfeit win
^ = forfeit loss

Jaguars Get First Conference Win of the Year

                Forestview found themselves in a tight game in the first half, but pulled away in the second half with a 48-14 trouncing of North Gaston. The Jaguars ruined North Gaston’s Homecoming and improves to 2-4 and 1-1 in Big South Conference play.

                Forestview’s Octavius Wallace had another big night scoring on touchdown runs of 57, 31 and 11 respectively. Fellow runningback Dominique Adams also had three scores. One was from 30 yards, and from one-yard. Adams also had a long receiving touchdown pass from quarterback Logan Bradley.

                Corey Staley accounted for North Gaston’s two scores. Staley scored first, giving North Gaston a 7-0 lead with a 31-yard run. Staley scored from 66-yards out midway through the second quarter to cut Forestview’s lead to 21-14.

                However, that would be as close as North Gaston got. The Wildcats would sniff the end-zone late in the third quarter, but fumbled at the one-yard line. The Jaguars wouldn’t capitalize on the turnover but they would pull away later. 

Adams’s one-yard run into the end-zone extended Forestview’s lead to 35-14. The Jaguar would put the game away with Freshman Montavis Rogers one-yard plunge for a touchdown. Wallace closed out the night with an 11-yard scamper into the end-zone.

                “We needed a win. We needed to get back some confidence.” Forestview head coach Chris Medlin said “They executed and I thought we did well allowing only 14 points.”

                Forestview will be back home as they host conference favorite, South Point.

                “We’re going to enjoy this one tonight. We’ll worry about them tomorrow and the kids will worry about them Monday.”

                “Our kids work hard and we have the support of the community.” North Gaston head coach Mike Patton said “We need to eliminate ourselves as an opponent. We turned the ball over too many times. If we can stop doing that, we can play with anybody.”

                It does not help the young Wildcat squad that they play in such a rigorous conference. “It’s one of the toughest, if not the toughest, conferences in the state.”

                South Point won the state title in 2003 and 2009. Crest won it in 2003 and 2004 and was runner-up just last year. Kings Mountain made a deep run in 2008. Ashbrook won their state title in 2002.

                North Gaston will face two of the conference toughest teams in the following weeks. They travel to Crest next before traveling to Kings Mountain. North Gaston will end their regular season play a week early as they host South Point.

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland County Week 7 Picks

Game of the Week: East Lincoln (4-2)(2-0) @ Lincolnton (5-1)(2-0): No doubt, this should decide the Southern Piedmont 2A/1A Conference Title. The Mustangs did have a two-game slide earlier this year, but it appears that it’s now a distant memory. Lincolnton has been running on all cylinders lately. In fact, none of their games since their South Point loss have been close at all. They have averaged 49 points a game, but have allowed only 10. These past two weeks, the Mustangs have outscored their opponents 103-20. Look for this to be a shootout, but look for the Wolves to pull away in the end.

My pick: Lincolnton 35 – East Lincoln 23

Ashbrook (3-2)(1-1) @ South Point (6-0)(2-0): Ashbrook got back to their winning ways last week as they trounced North Gaston 42-7. But, the South Point Red Raiders will be a much different breed. South Point has been in only two tight matches this year. Both of those team, though, are ranked high in the state poll in their respective classifications. Ashbrook will have their hands full trying to stop Leeper and company. The Green Wave will also find it a challenge to move the ball on South Point’s defense. South Point held a potent Hunter Huss offense to just three points and less than 100 yards of total offense.

My pick: South Point 45 – Ashbrook 13

Forestview (1-4)(0-1) @ North Gaston (0-6)(0-2): There is only one win between these two programs this year. North Gaston is hungry for their first win since 2009 and their first conference victory since 2007 when they advanced all the way to the 3A State Title Game. A win on Homecoming would boost the morale of the young Wildcats squad. With one win under their belts this year, Forestview hopes to build momentum and possibly make a late run for the post-season. A loss would put a big damper on those plans.

My pick: Forestview 34 – North Gaston 27

Hunter Huss (5-1)(1-1) @ Kings Mountain (2-4)(0-1): Hunter Huss watched their perfect season come to a crashing halt last week. That loss was a 42-3 slamming by South Point. Now, it’s time to rebound as they travel to Kings Mountain. Kings Mountain is currently on a two-game losing skid. The schedule does not really get any easier for either of these teams. Kings Mountain will have to face Ashbrook, North Gaston, Crest and Forestview while Huss will have Freedom, Crest, Forestview and Ashbrook. With only two wins for the season, Kings Mountain finds themselves in danger of falling out of playoff contention with a loss.

My pick: Hunter Huss 21 – Kings Mountain 17

Crest (4-2)(2-0) @ A.C. Reynolds (3-2)(0-2): Crest takes a break from conference play and rolls up to Asheville to face A.C. Reynolds. The Rockets started the season 3-0, but have dropped two straight. The Chargers started the season 1-2, but have won three straight. The Rockets have taken the last two from Crest. The Chargers hope to put an end to that. It’s usually a competitive game between the two and this year should be no exception.

My pick: A.C. Reynolds 27 – Crest 24

Highland Tech (0-6)(0-2) @ North Lincoln (0-6)(0-2): one of these 0’fers will get their first win of the season. The question is which one? North Lincoln has only reached double-digits once and has been shut out once. The Rams have been shutout twice, but have scored double-digits twice. Something is going to have to give in this one.

My pick: North Lincoln 20 – Highland Tech 13

Cherryville (2-4)(1-1) @ West Lincoln (3-3)(2-0): West Lincoln hopes to remain perfect in SP2A/1A conference play. Cherryville hopes to get another win. After dropping a tough one to previously winless Bessemer City, the Ironmen are hoping to save face against another rival. West Lincoln has been a Jekyll and Hyde team. Before winning at Lake Norman Charter last week, the Rebels dropped two straight home games. Look for them to move to 3-0 in conference play.

My pick: West Lincoln 27 – Cherryville 14

Lake Norman Charter (3-2)(0-2) @ Bessemer City (1-4)(1-1): Lake Norman Charter is looking for their first conference win in the SP2A/1A. Outside the conference however, they are 3-0. Bessemer City got their first win of the season last week as they took down Cherryville 20-14. Can the Yellow Jackets make it two in a row or will Lake Norman Charter have a little too much for Bessemer City?

My pick: Lake Norman Charter 17 – Bessemer City 14

Patton (0-6)(0-2) @ Shelby (2-4)(0-1): The Golden Lions salvaged their season in time when they took down Kings Mountain 24-21 in overtime. Shelby is now looking to win two straight when they host winless Patton. Last year, Patton was Shelby’s breakout game and the game when Shelby snapped a four-game losing streak. Shelby won that game 51-21. Look for similar results in this game.

My pick: Shelby 41 – Patton 6

Burns (5-1)(1-0) @ Chase (6-0)(2-0): On paper, this should be a really exciting match-up. However, Burns may have a little too much for the Trojans. Chase has not faced anybody of the same caliber as Burns. Look for the Bulldogs to take down their second undefeated team in a row.

My pick: Burns 34 – Chase 14

East Gaston (2-4)(0-2) @ Harding University (2-4)(0-1): The Warriors are hoping to snap their two-game losing streak and get their first win in the MEGA-7 this year. The Rams are also looking to end their two-game losing streak as well. The loser of this game could find themselves fighting to even have an outside chance at contending for a post-season berth.

My pick: East Gaston 27 – Harding 20

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland County Recap and Rankings

Crest 47 – Forestview 28 – Octavius Wallace had another big game for the Jaguars, rushing for 255 yards and 3 touchdowns. Wallace also registered 21 tackles on defense. However, that was not enough as Forestview dropped their conference opener to Crest. Chargers quarterback Michael Gullatte passed for 170 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for a touchdown. Quortez Wright rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns. The Chargers scored their highest total for the year at 47. Their previous was 34 against Q Foundation.

South Point 42 – Hunter Huss 3 – South Point jumped out to a 21-3 lead at half-time and never looked back, cruising to an easy 42-3 victory over Hunter Huss. Troy Leeper scored all but one of South Point’s touchdowns. Tyler Bray scored the last one. Leeper, at this pace, will have 2,000 yards rushing before the regular season is even over.

Ashbrook 42 – North Gaston 7 – Ashbrook got back on track after two straight losses, beating North Gaston 42-7. After being able to muster up 28 points in a come-from-behind bid that fell short against Hunter Huss, the Wildcats saw no such success against Ashbrook.

Shelby 24 – Kings Mountain 21 (OT) – Shelby may have saved their season with the overtime win over Kings Mountain. A loss in this would have put them behind the 8-ball. The Golden Lions will resume conference play as they host Patton.

Bessemer City 20 – Cherryville 14 – The Yellow Jackets got their first win of the season at the expense of arch-rival, Cherryville. That could prove to be huge later.

Lincolnton 49 – Highland Tech 0 – No surprise here and it wasn’t even that close as Lincolnton was up 35-0 in the first quarter and 42-0 at half-time.

West Lincoln 35 – Lake Norman Charter 20 – The Rebels gave Lake Norman Charter another dose of what the SP2A/1A conference is like. In fact, the Rebels led 28-7 at half-time. West Lincoln remains undefeated in SP2A/1A action.

East Lincoln 47 – North Lincoln 7 – Talk about another team calling it an early night after being up so high. The Mustangs jumped out to a 41-0 half-time lead and scored only one more time after that. The Knights did get on the board late though.

Burns 28 – Freedom 27 – The Bulldogs escaped a tight game with a win. Those two teams are supposed to be the top 3A teams in the South Mountain 3A/2A conference. Burns will face another undefeated team this Friday. They will take on 6-0 Chase.

Olympic 48 – East Gaston 14 – With the game tied at 8-8 early on, the Trojans seized control and never looked back as they handed East Gaston their second straight loss. The Warriors are now 2-4 and 0-2 in the MEGA-7 conference.

Big South 3A

South Point – 6-0 (2-0)
Crest – 4-2 (2-0)
Hunter Huss – 5-1 (1-1)
Ashbrook – 3-2 (1-1)
Kings Mountain – 2-4 (0-1)
Forestview – 1-4 (0-1)
North Gaston – 0-6 (0-1)

Southern Piedmont 2A/1A

Lincolnton – 5-1 (2-0)
East Lincoln – 4-2 (2-0)
West Lincoln – 3-3 (2-0)
Bessemer City – 1-4 (1-1)
Cherryville – 2-4 (1-1)
Lake Norman – 3-2 (0-2)
North Lincoln – 0-6 (0-2)
Highland Tech – 0-6 (0-2)

South Mountain 3A/2A

Chase – 6-0 (2-0)
East Rutherford – 5-1 (2-0)
Burns – 5-1 (1-0)
Freedom – 5-1 (1-1)
Shelby – 2-4 (0-1)
R-S Central – 0-5 (0-2)
Patton – 0-6 (0-2)

MEGA-7

Charlotte Catholic – 6-0 (2-0)
Berry Academy – 5-1 (2-0)
Olympic – 5-1 (1-0)
West Mecklenburg – 3-3 (1-1)
Harding – 2-4 (0-1)
East Gaston – 2-4 (0-2)
Garinger – 0-6 (0-2)

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 5 Recap

 South Point 45 – Kings Mountain 9: South Point got off to a slow start only leading Kings Mountain 17-9 at the beginning of the third quarter. But once the Raiders got rolling, Kings Mountain had no answers. South Point rolled up 28 straight points to blow the Mountaineers out. Troy Leeper, in just week five, now has over 1,000 yards rushing. At this rate, he will hit 2,000 before week 11.

Lincolnton 50 – Forestview 18: Lincolnton continues to show why they are #1 in 2A in the state. Forestview, on the other hand, continues to struggle. The Wolves jumped out to a 28-0 on the Jaguars and led 36-6 at half-time. Forestview did cut the lead to 36-12 at the start of the third quarter, but would get no closer. Forestview starts conference this week as they host Crest.

Hunter Huss 36 – North Gaston 28: Up 30-0 in the third quarter, the Huskies looked like they would cruise to an easy victory. However, the Wildcats stormed back outscoring the Huskies 28-6 the rest of the way. Huss is 5-0 to start the season, but will more than likely see that streak come to a screeching halt as they take on South Point.

Crest 24 – Ashbrook 13: Crest has won two straight games. Ashbrook has lost two. After struggling offensively their first  two out of three games, it looks like the Chargers have put it together. The 2010 3AA Runner-ups look to build on their offense as they travel to Forestview. Ashbrook will be striving to get back on track as they host North Gaston for Homecoming.

East Lincoln 56 – Bessemer City 13: The Mustangs got back on track after losing two straight heart-breakers. After putting up 42 points last week, the Yellow Jackets did not score their first points until the fourth quarter after East Lincoln did all their damage.

Berry Academy 45 – East Gaston 38: For the second straight week, the Warriors found themselves behind 20+ points in the first half. This time they were down 25-0 in the second quarter before they started storming back. Unfortunately, they were not able to complete the comeback like they did against East Lincoln.

Cherryville 43 – North Lincoln 14: The Ironmen opened up conference play with a win after suffering two straight blowout losses. If there are any silver linings for the Knights, it’s the fact they reached double-digit scoring for the first time this year. However, it does not get any better from there. The Knights travel to county rival, East Lincoln, this Friday.

Burns 38 – Q Foundation 12: Nothing surprising about this score. The Bulldogs continue to roll and will take their 4-1 start to unbeaten Freedom as they begin conference play. This will, no doubt, be for the conference title. It’s highly unlikely anyone else in the conference will challenge either one of these two teams.

Freedom 35 – Shelby 21: This is probably the worst start a Shelby team has ever seen. Last year, they were 2-4 before winning four of their last five regular season games en route to a fourth round playoff appearance. They lost that game 21-14 to Salisbury. Now the Golden Lions are hoping to at least make the playoffs. They host Kings Mountain Friday night and both are looking to rebound from both of their losses last Friday. It will get a little easier for the Lions as they have winless teams, Patton and R-S Central, coming up.  But they also have unbeaten Chase and 4-1 teams, Burns and East Rutherford.

Standings

Big South 3A

South Point (5-0)(1-0)
Hunter Huss (5-0)(1-0)
Crest (3-2)(1-0)
Forestview (1-3)(0-0)
Ashbrook (2-2)(0-1)
Kings Mountain (2-3)(0-1)
North Gaston (0-5)(0-1)

Southern Piedmont 2A/1A

Lincolnton (4-1)(1-0)
East Lincoln (3-2)(1-0)
West Lincoln (2-3)(1-0)
Cherryville (2-3)(1-0)
Lake Norman Charter (3-1)(0-1)
Bessemer City (0-4)(0-1)
Highland Tech (0-4)(0-1)
North Lincoln (0-5)(0-1)

South Mountain 3A/2A

Freedom (5-0)(1-0)
Chase (5-0)(1-0)
East Rutherford (4-1)(1-0)
Burns (4-1)(0-0)
Shelby (1-4)(0-1)
R-S Central (0-4)(0-1)
Patton (0-5)(0-1)

Wolves show no signs of a let-down, roll Forestview

Any Lincolnton fan or coach that worried about the Wolves having a let-down after their 42-14 beating of Shelby, quickly saw those fears dissolve as the Wolves jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and a 36-6 lead at half-time.

Lincolnton quarterback, Patrick Rendlemen, accounted for four out of Lincolnton’s seven scores. Three of them were passing touchdowns and one of them was a rushing touchdown. He also accounted for 148 yards passing and 64 yards rushing making it 212 yards total. Lincolnton tallied a total of 307 yards total offense.

Jalen Littlejohn (44 yards) and Jonathan Gidney (12 yards and 2 yards) each accounted for receiving scores for the Wolves. Michael Cunningham (12 yards), Jaden Angle (13 yards) and Dee Littlejohn (one yard) each accounted for rushing touchdowns.

Octavious Wallace, who returned from missing last week’s game, shined once again. He rushed for 165 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught a 35-yard pass for a touchdown. The Jaguars mustered up 270 yards of offense.

Forestview was their own worst enemy at times. The Jaguars had two high snaps go over the punter’s head, one resulted in a touchdown. The other resulted in a missed field-goal. The Wolves were lined up to go for a field-goal toward the end of the first half but three straight off-sides penalties buried Forestview and the Wolves would capitalize with the Rendleman to Gidney two-yard touchdown pass.

“We really came into it wanting to control the clock a bit and get some first downs.” said Forestview head coach Chris Medlin “But, then they jumped on us with a couple of scores early and it’s tough. It’s hard to keep the team up and realize it’s a long game. So you want to keep it close early and that was our goal and to try and grind it out a bit, but unfortunately Lincolnton’s a great team. They just jumped on us quick.”

“We haven’t even started conference play. They haven’t crowed a champion that I know of.” Medlin said “We’re just going to keep fighting. We just got to get better every week. We got 7 games left. We got a busy week next week with 3 games in 8 days and all that good stuff. Even in a loss tonight you could see some positives. We had dome leaders step up.”

“I think we played really well. Forestview’s a very dangerous team.” said Lincolnton head coach Scott Cloninger “Those two tailbacks they have can fly all over the field. We were able to run the ball and have some success throwing the ball. (Patrick Rendleman) threw the ball well and threw it on time. We got the great receivers outside and I don’t use them near enough. That’s what we’ve trying to implement the last couple of weeks.”

About a possible let-down after beating Shelby last week, Cloninger said “That’s one thing we talked about. That’s what we’ve done before. We beat a quality Shelby team and we came back and loss next game to an inferior team. I think we came out focused and ready to play.”

Lincolnton resumes conference play next week at home against Highland Tech. Forestview begins conference play at home against Crest.

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 5 Picks

Game of the Week: Ashbrook (2-1) @ Crest (2-2): The winner of this game may lock up second place in the Big South 3A behind league favorite, South Point. Ashbrook suffered their first set-back in their home-opener against Olympic 34-28. The Chargers have been up and down. Nobody thought that Crest would have two losses under their belt at this point in the season. The Chargers will try and avoid having their third one in five games and avoid going 0-1 in conference play for two years straight. Ashbrook looks to extend their road winning streak to three games. Look for a defensive showdown in this match-up.

My pick: Ashbrook 21 – Crest 17

Kings Mountain (2-2) @ South Point (4-0): Kings Mountain gave South Point a run for their money last year before falling 24-21 in overtime. This year, the Mountaineers have struggled offensively and they will really need to step up in order to stop the Red Raiders’ potent offense. South Point’s FB Troy Leeper could be on pace to accumulate 2,000 yards this year as he has 800 in the first four weeks alone. Don’t look for this game to be as close as last year’s game.

My pick: South Point 42 – Kings Mountain 14

Forestview (1-2) @ Lincolnton (3-1): The Jaguars finally got in the win column last week in a wild and crazy game against Bessemer City. Forestview RB Dominique Adams broke the county record with 338 yards rushing and had 7 touchdowns (1 on a punt return). Bessemer City also had highlights in that game as Jalen Adams ran for 225 yards and accounted for 4 scores (1 receiving). The Jaguars defense will have to improve their game in order to have a shot in this game. The Wolves, except for their 35-21 loss to South Point, have not been held to any lower than 35 points so far this season. Their defense has allowed just 10 points average in those other three games.

My pick: Lincolnton 42 – Forestview 14

Hunter Huss (4-0) @ North Gaston (0-4): Could this be an offensive shootout? Both teams mustered up over 400 yards of offense last week. Both scored over 20. However, one of them gave up 41 points while the other only gave 21. The Huskies held a 23-0 lead over Concord before seeing the Spiders rally to put up 21. Did fatigue from a short week play a role in that? The Wildcats offense is getting better every week, but must improve their defense in order to be competitive in the Big South 3A.

My pick: Hunter Huss 42 – North Gaston 28

Berry Academy (3-1) @ East Gaston (2-2): These two teams were conference foes in 2003 and 2004 when Berry was in the Big South 3A. Now they are conference rivals again. This time, Berry is much improved since going 0-22 in those two seasons and they will pose a great challenge for the Warriors. East Gaston rebounded nicely after a 63-6 loss to South Point and beat East Lincoln 40-39 after trailing 21-0 against the Mustangs. The Warriors will have to put all four quarters together and remain persistent.

My pick: Berry 35 – East Gaston 31

Cherryville (1-3) @ North Lincoln (0-4): After suffering two straight blowout losses, the Ironmen are looking for a win to put those two setbacks behind them. The Knights are hoping to at least score in double-digits. Either way, look for the Ironmen to get back to their winning ways.

My pick: Cherryville 24 – North Lincoln 6

Shelby (1-3) @ Freedom (4-0): After winning 9-3 against Crest, the Golden Lions came back down to Earth as they were beaten handily by Lincolnton 42-14. This time, they travel to take on undefeated Freedom in their conference opener. The Golden Lions are in danger of haiving one of their worse starts in school history at 1-4.

My pick: Freedom 35 – Shelby 14

East Lincoln (2-2) @ Bessemer City (0-3): The Yellow Jackets scored a season-high 42 points in a 58-42 loss to Forestview and Coach Larry Boone is pleased with the team’s improvement. Now they must focus on their conference opener against East Lincoln. The Mustangs blew a 21-0 lead to East Gaston last week before falling 40-39. The Mustangs should be fired up for this game after losing two straight.

My pick: East Lincoln 49 – Bessemer City 14

Q Foundation (0-3) @ Burns (3-1): The Bulldogs faced their first loss of the season in a 45-42 overtime loss to South Point. The Bulldogs actually trailed 42-21 before mounting a comeback. No such effort may be needed against Q Foundation. The Bulldogs should pull away early in this one.

My pick: Burns 48 – Q Foundation 6

North Iredell (0-4) @ West Lincoln (2-2): The Rebels took one on the chin last week. They were shut out 28-0 by East Rutherford. The Rebels look to avoid being upset by winless North Iredell. Their closest game was a 32-30 loss to North Stokes so don’t think the Raiders aren’t capable of pulling the upset.

My pick: West Lincoln 27 – North Iredell 20

Davidson Community School (1-2) @ Highland Tech (0-3): Can Highland Tech get a win this week? The Davidson Chargers got their first win of the season last week against Kestrel Heights 39-9.

My pick: Davidson Community School 28 – Highland Tech 12

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 4 Recaps

South Point 45 – Burns 42 (OT): Who would not want to see this one again? Up 42-21, the Red Raiders looked like they had it in the bag. However, Burns came storming back and forced the game into overtime. Will anybody in the Big South give South Point that kind of game?

Forestview 58 – Bessemer City 42: Forestview was just a touchdown away from a total record-breaking win. RB Dominique Adams amassed 338 yards and 7 touchdowns in the game. What looked like a fairly quiet first half with Forestview leading 21-6 turned into an all-out score-fest in the second half.

Olympic 34 – Ashbrook 28: Ashbrook lost their RB Angelo Crawford for the game and lost the game itself. Good news is he should be back this Friday in their conference opener against Crest.

Hunter Huss 23 – Concord 21: The Huskies only had less than three days to prepare for the Spiders, but those two days of practice were enough for them to muster up the win. The Huskies were up 23-0 before Concord stormed back to score 21 unanswered points, but they were able to hold off the Spiders’ rally.

Crest 26 – T.C. Roberson 15: Crest got back on track as they took down Roberson. Now the only burning question is can Crest keep that going as they host Ashbrook. Crest surprising has not been able to muster up consecutive wins so far this year after having great expectations for the season.

Hickory 41 – North Gaston 21: The Wildcats continue to improve offensively, but now it’s time to put something together defensively. The Wildcats may upset one of their Big South foes this year.

Kings Mountain 23 – Alexander Central 22: Kings Mountain’s win could not have come at a better time. With South Point, Shelby, Hunter Huss and Ashbrook in consecutive weeks, this may give the Mountaineers some new life heading into a daunting Big South Conference.

Lincolnton 42 – Shelby 14: Troubles continue for Shelby. After grabbing their first win of the season last week against Crest 9-3, they found no such luck against Lincolnton. It does not get any easier as they start conference next week at an undefeated Freedom team.

East Gaston 40 – East Lincoln 39: After suffering an embarrassing 63-6 loss to South Point last week, East Gaston saved face with a one-point win over East Lincoln. Down 21-0 in the first quarter, the Warriors rallied to outscore the Mustangs 40-18 the rest of the way.

Chase 52 – Cherryville 10: The Ironmen suffer their second straight blowout loss of the year. These past two weeks alone they have been outscored 94-10. If there is any consolation, they have an 0-4 North Lincoln team next week.
East Rutherford 28 – West Lincoln 0: The Rebels had no answer for the Cavaliers. They fall to 2-2, but are still hopeful to have a second straight winning season.

Bandys 54 – North Lincoln 7: After taking down East Lincoln 26-21, nobody could be surprised by this. The Knights once again are held to single digit scores. The Knights have only three wins in their past 26 games.

Metrolina Christian 64 – Highland Tech 18: Think the Rams are rethinking their decision to rejoin the public schools in football? They might be when they look at who their next opponent will be and that’s SP2A/1A favorite, Lincolnton. The good news is that they have an extra week to prepare.

Big South 3A Records
South Point 4-0
Hunter Huss 4-0
Ashbrook 2-1
Crest 2-2
Kings Mountain 2-2
Forestview 1-2
North Gaston 0-4

South Piedmont 2A/1A
Lincolnton 3-1 (1-0)
West Lincoln 2-2 (1-0)
East Lincoln 2-2
Cherryville 1-3
Bessemer City 0-3
North Lincoln 0-4
Lake Norman Charter 3-1 (0-1)
Highland Tech 0-3 (0-1)

South Mountain 3A/2A
Freedom 4-0
Chase 4-0
Burns 3-1
East Rutherford 3-1
Shelby 1-3
R-S Central 0-3
Patton 0-4

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Count week 3 Round-up

South Point 63 – East Gaston 6: The Red Raiders continue to show why they are picked to finish first in the Big South 3A and why they are a strong contender for the 3AA State Title. This is the second time this year that they have been up 42-0 at half-time and the second time they have scored 63 points in one game.

Bandys 26 – East Lincoln 21: The Trojans have snapped a five game losing streak to the Mustangs dating back to 2006. The last time Bandys beat East Lincoln was in 2005. The Trojans won 42-12. The Trojans improve to 3-0 on the season while the Mustangs fall to 2-1.

Lincolnton 55 – Lake Norman Charter 7: Lake Norman Charter got to see a hard dose of what the South Piedmont Conference will be like as they ran into a fierce Lincolnton squad. Not many teams in the SP2A/1A are as strong as Lincolnton and the Knights will win some games in the conference, but will take their lumps as well.

East Rutherford 55 – North Gaston 28: Challenges continue for the North Gaston Wildcats. They are making progress under new head coach Mike Patton, but it will take some time.

Chase 35 – Bessemer City 18: Bessemer City may not be as bad as previously thought. They suffered a 48-8 drubbing by Hunter Huss last week, but almost rebounded against an undefeated Chase team. The Yellow Jackets were down 14-12 early in the third quarter, but could not pull off the upset.

West Lincoln 9 – Fred T. Foard 6: Talk about a defensive struggle. Were the field conditions so bad that it kept both teams from moving the ball consistently or were the defenses that stout?

Burns 35 – Mooresville 14: Burns turned a 14-14 tie at half-time into a 35-14 blowout win over a powerful Mooresville team. Burns remains unbeaten at 3-0.

Shelby 9 – Crest 3 (OT): Shelby got into the winning column by upsetting city rival Crest. The Chargers find themselves in a shocking 1-2 start to being the 2011 season.

Weddington 25 – Kings Mountain 14: That’s the second straight home loss for the Mountaineers. It does not get any easier as they have to make a long trip to Taylorsville this Friday to take on Alexander Central.

Bunker Hill 44 – North Lincoln 0: The struggles continue for the Knights as they fall hard to Bunker Hill. The Bears have knocked out two SP2A/1A teams so far this year.

Draughn 42 – Cherrvyille 0: Draughn was just too good for the Ironmen on that night. The game wasn’t even that close as the Wildcats were up 35-0 at half-time.

Ashbrook 10 – Clover 7 (3OT): It took 3 overtimes to do it, but Ashbrook beats Clover 10-7. The win snaps a 6-year drought for the Green Wave against Clover. Gaston County is 2-1 vs. the Blue Eagles this year.

Hunter Huss 23 – Garinger 14: Hunter Huss stays unbeaten on the year, but they have a short turnaround before Concord comes to town on Friday night. Will Huss be allowed to play the game on Saturday?

Current Records:

Big South 3A
South Point 3-0
Hunter Huss 3-0
Ashbrook 2-0
Crest 1-2
Kings Mountain 1-2
Forestview 0-2
North Gaston 0-3

South Piedmont 2A/1A
Lincolnton 2-1 (1-0)
West Lincoln 2-1 (1-0)
East Lincoln 2-1
Cherryville 1-2
Bessemer City 0-2
North Lincoln 0-3
Lake Norman Charter 2-1 (0-1)
Highland Tech 0-2 (0-1)

South Mountain 3A/2A
Burns 3-0
Chase 3-0
Freedom 3-0
East Rutherford 2-1
Shelby 1-2
R-S Central 0-2

Black Saturday Blow-out

Anybody who expected this to be a close game left disappointed as the Red Raiders cruised out to a 42-0 half-time lead. Troy Leeper scored on runs of 25, 12 and 1 (twice). Devan Robbins scored twice as well, once with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Horne and his second touchdown was a three-yard run in the third quarter. Dan Johnson, Ramon Costner and Tyler Bray each accounted for one score.

In fact, it only took three plays to get South Point on the board. Patrick Horne runs of 38 and 6 set up a fullback Troy Leeper touchdown run at the Warriors one-yard line. The Warriors attempted to muster up a drive of their own on the ensuing drive, but would stall around the Red Raiders’ 35-yard line. South Point would make them pay on their next drive. Leeper scored his 12-yard touchdown run to cap off the drive.

The Red Raiders, it seemed, could do no wrong as they scored at will. Seemingly lulling East Gaston to sleep with their punishing ground attack, the Red Raiders took to the air as Patrick Horne hit Devan Robbins for a 40-yard touchdown pass. The defense would continue to smother East Gaston’s offense and the special teams would make their presence known. Ramon Costner returned a punt 58 yards for a touchdown to boost South Point to a 28-0 lead.

Things continued to get worse for East Gaston as Leeper would punch in his third touchdown of the night with a 25-yard run. The Warriors tried to make something happen as quarterback Jarke Hopkins appeared to break loose for a big gainer, but a costly fumble inside their 40-yard line did the Warriors in. The Red Raiders showed no signs of stopping as Leeper scored again, this time from the one-yard line.

In the start of the second half, the Warriors looked like a different team. Hopkins broke loose for a 42-yard run to get a big first down. Gary Gore capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run to put the Warriors on the board. The kick would be blocked, however

That would be the only thing that went the Warriors’ way the rest of the night. Tyler Bray answered East Gaston’s only score with a 33-yard dash into the end zone. The Warriors would get deep into the Red Raiders territory again late in the third quarter. They would attempt a field-goal early in the fourth, but the Red Raiders’ special teams stood tall again as they blocked the field-goal. That makes two blocked kicks by the special teams on this night.

South Point would add two more scores before this one was over and those were without Horne and Leeper in the line-up. Robbins’ three-yard touchdown run and back-up wing-back Dan Johnson’s four-yard run into the end zone late in the fourth quarter gave South Point a 63-6 victory.

The Red Raiders never punted on the night and Dayton Rogers was 9-for-9 on his extra points.

South Point will be home again next week as they host Burns. East Gaston will be back at home against East Lincoln.
Quotes from the South Point-East Gaston game

Sean Joyce

“They whipped all four quarters. The scoreboard is pretty evident of that. From the first play to the last play, they lined up and whipped us. We took it! I thought we would dig down a little bit deeper and fight. South Point’s a very good team. They beat a Lincolnton team last week that was pretty good and we knew coming in that they were very talented. I thought we were a little better than what we showed tonight. I told the guys at half-time that this is not the last game of the season but I would like for us to get better.”

“We came out (in the second half) and actually executed properly. It wasn’t scheme, it was sound football. Actually, South Point runs the same offense that we do and they do a better job of executing it and that’s my fault. I hold myself accountable for that because I’m the head coach. We got a lot of work to do.”

Mickey Lineberger

“It’s a total Red Raider victory. Our kicking game did well. We scored in the kicking game and on a punt return. Our kickoff coverage kept them deep. Our defense swarmed and got to the ball. We didn’t let them have a lot of breathing room. We played Red Raider defense. We probably had 8 or 9 people on the tackle and that was big. Offensively, I don’t think we punted. It was about as good a night offensively as we could have. We were able to throw the ball, we’ve been working on our passing game and working on some counters and things like that we were able to execute them today. Our reads were better. All in all, it was a total team win. The guys on the scout team did a great job in getting us ready. They imitated East Gaston pretty good and our boys had the right attitude and work ethic and I think we improved this week I think we got better. ”

“Our defense got after them (Chris McDowell and Jarkevius Hopkins). They made it happen. You know, our best defense is probably when we got the ball on offense and keep it away from people and go down and score. When people start looking up and they’re down a couple of scores or three scores, then people start panicking.”

“Burns is good in all phases of the game. This will be by far the biggest challenge we have had this year. We need to work hard and we need to play the best that we can play but it’s going to be a big challenge. We look forward to the match-up.”
“We can block better. We can read better. We’ve missed some tackles. We can improve on all phases of the game. We are not there yet. We got a long way to go. We’re working for perfection and hopefully we’ll get there.”
About this team and the 2003 team

“Two different teams. Two different personalities. A lot of water under the bridge. That team played 16 ball games, we’ve played three.”

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 2 Results and Standings

South Point 35 – Lincolnton 21

Ashbrook 17 – Shelby 7

East Gaston 27 – North Gaston 15

Clover, SC 35 – Forestview 16

Hunter Huss 48 – Bessemer City 8

Cherryville 28 – C.S. of Davidson 14

Burns 28 – Kings Mountain 0

Crest 34 – Q Foundation 0

East Lincoln 39 – Hopewell 24

West Lincoln 51 – Highland Tech 0

Maiden 53 – North Lincoln 6

Big South Standings

South Point 2-0
Hunter Huss 2-0
Ashbrook 1-0
Crest 1-1
Kings Mountain 1-1
Forestview 0-2
North Gaston 0-2

Southern Piedmont Standings

West Lincoln 1-1 (1-0)
East Lincoln 2-0
Lake Norman Charter 2-0
Lincolnton 1-1
Cherryville 1-1
Bessemer City 0-1
North Lincoln 0-2
Highland Tech 0-2 (0-1)

South Mountain Conference

Burns 2-0
Freedom 2-0
Chase 2-0
East Rutherford 1-1
R-S Central 0-1
Shelby 0-2
Patton 0-2

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 2 Picks

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 2 Picks

Game of the Week: South Point (1-0) @ Lincolnton (1-0): The Red Raiders of South Point showed why they were picked to finish first in the conference. They routed Clover and former head coach John Devine 63-0. The Red Raiders jumped out to a 42-0 lead and never looked back. Was that just a one game wonder or could the same thing be in store for Lincolnton? The Wolves are coming offa win that’s not quite as dominant as they trounced Maiden 35-10 after only leading 14-10 at half-time. Nonetheless, who could forget last season’s 43-42 Lincolnton overtime win at Lineberger Stadium? The Red Raiders will be looking for some payback after that heart-wrenching loss.

My pick: South Point 42 – Lincolnton 28

North Gaston (0-1) @ East Gaston (0-1): The Wildcats are hoping to put last week’s 63-14 thumping by Asheville behind them and make a new beginning as they travel to take on East Gaston. The Warriors lost a heart-breaker to Hunter Huss 39-32. The Wildcats may be a notch better than last year, but they still have an uphill battle in getting in the win column.

My pick: East Gaston 55 – North Gaston 14

Forestview (0-1) @ Clover, SC (0-1): The Blue Eagles may still be in shock over their season-opening 63-0 loss to South Point. One thing head coach John Devine has proven to be good at is having his teams rebound from losses. However, this appears to be a much different Clover team than in years past. Forestview lost their season opener to Nation Ford and is also looking to rebound. It’s usually a different game when teams from the Tar-Heel State travel to the Palmetto State and Forestview is winless when crossing the border. Could they make school history and break that trend?

My pick: Forestview 27 – Clover 20  

Ashbrook (0-0) @ Shelby (0-1): The Green Wave gets a late start on the season since they didn’t play last week. Shelby started their post-Chris Norman era with a 43-24 loss at Kannapolis A.L. Brown. Giving up 40+ points a game is not very characteristic of a traditional powerhouse like Shelby. On top of that, Shelby has switched their offense from the Double-Wing to a Spread-type offense. Can they adapt in time enough to withstand a very physical Ashbrook squad?

My pick: Ashbrook 21 – Shelby 17

Hunter Huss (1-0) @ Bessemer City (0-0): Bessemer City is another team getting a late start. The Yellow Jackets were set to play R-S Central until scheduling conflicts put the brakes on that. The Jackets, due to small numbers this year, will not field a JV squad at the moment and have many freshmen and sophomores on varsity. Hunter Huss is coming off a 39-32 win over East Gaston in a back-and-forth shootout. Don’t look for Huss to be challenged much in this game.

My pick: Hunter Huss 48 – Bessemer City 13

Lake Norman Community (0-1) @ Cherryville (0-1): The Ironmen play a very unfamiliar foe in the Lake Norman Community School. The only thing we know about them is that they lost 40-14 at Lake Norman Charter.  Expect similar results this week. Cherryville opened the 2011 season with their third straight loss to Bunker Hill 28-20.

My pick: Cherryville 45 – Lake Norman Community 14

East Lincoln (1-0) @ Hopewell (1-0): This could be a shootout. Both teams opened up the season with big wins. The Titans downed Providence 41-13 in their 2011 debut. The Mustangs got a huge monkey off their backs with a 55-13 beating of Newton-Conover. The Red Devils took 7 out of 8 from the Mustangs prior to last Friday’s game.  Look for this to be a very competitive ball game.

My pick: Hopewell 34 – East Lincoln 27

West Lincoln (0-1) @ Highland Tech (0-1): Believe it or not, this is a conference game. The Highland Tech Rams have joined the Southern Piedmont 2A/1A conference after being a private school for the last six years. The Rams probably got a dose of what it will be like playing with the bigger boys again given they lost 30-12 to Victory Christian Academy. The Rebels should be able to rebound from last week’s 35-20 loss at Chase.

My pick: West Lincoln 35 – Highland Tech 7

Maiden (0-1) @ North Lincoln (0-1): Maiden gets to face another Lincoln County school. The Blue Devils stumbled against Lincolnton 35-10 last week. North Lincoln and new head coach Zach Bevilacqua started the new era with a 25-6 loss at Fred T. Foard. Both are hungry for their first win of the season. On paper, Maiden should be the one that comes out on top, but that’s why the game isn’t played on paper.

My pick: Maiden 28 – North Lincoln 17

Burns (1-0) @ Kings Mountain (1-0): This time last year, Burns was coming off a season-opening 42-19 drubbing by Crest. They rebounded by pounding Kings Mountain 41-13. This time they are coming off a big 33-12 win over Crest. Could the Kings Mountain game prove to be a trap game for the Bulldogs? The Mountaineers are young on offense and could have a hard time with the Bulldogs’ stingy defense.

My pick: Burns 31 – Kings Mountain 13

Q Foundation (0-1) @ Crest (0-1): The Chargers have not started the year 0-1 since 2003 when they lost three straight. That was the year they won their first of two back-to-back champions (in 2003 and 2004). Don’t expect the Chargers to lose two straight this time around as they host Q Foundation out of Charlotte.

My pick: Crest 41 – Q Foundation 12

Did You know? As was stated earlier Forestview is winless when going south of the border. They are currently 0-7 against four different teams (Clover - 0-3, Nation Ford - 0-2, Fort Mill 0-1, and Byrnes 0-1). A win at Clover tonight would be considered a historic feat for the Jaguars.

Did you also know? Many streaks ended last Friday. The most notable streak was West Rowan's 47-game winning streak as they fell to Mooresville. Butler's 31-game streak came to an abrupt halt against Mallard Creek, Clover was riding a 15-game winning streak over Gaston County teams prior to their 63-0 loss at South Point. One team that was happy to see their streak end was Central Cabarrus. After 34 straight on-the-field losses, they get over the hump with a 31-22 win over South Rowan. If you count their forfeit win over Mallard Creek in 2008 then that streak is only 26.

Jaguars’ Rally Falls Short Against Falcons

                The Falcons of Nation Ford came to town looking for their first win at Forestview. The Jaguars were looking to defend their home turf. The Jaguars got off to a slow start and that proved costly. The Jags drew first blood with a 26-yard Cody Bridges field-goal. But quickly saw momentum swing in favor of the Falcons not too long after that.

                The Falcons answered back quickly with a 61-yard touchdown run by Daniel Jackson. The Falcons led 7-3 at that point. Cameron Wells would find Dijuan Ussery on their next drive with a 54-yard touchdown pass to extend that Falcons’ lead to 13-3. The kick would be blocked, however. The Jaguars would drive down the field in the second quarter, but had to settle for another Bridges field-goal. This time, it was from 30 yards.

                Wells and Ussery were not done with their first-half firepower because those two connected on a 29-yard touchdown pass before the half expired. The kick was no good. Things got worse before they got better for Forestview in the second half. After stopping Nation Ford on fourth down at the one-inch line, the Jaguars found themselves trying to get out of a tight spot. They could not move the ball and had to punt. Ussery made them pay with a 40-yard punt return for a touchdown and it appeared the rout was on.

                Somebody forgot to tell that to Forestview runningback Octavious Wallace, however. Wallace busted loose for a 66-yard touchdown run on the first play on the ensuing drive. The Jaguars defense started putting the clamps on the Falcons. A mishandled punt gave the Jaguars excellent field position inside the Falcons’ 20-yard line. The Jaguars cut Nation Ford’s lead to 27-20 with a Logan Bradley 4-yard pass to Dominique Adams and Bridges’s extra point.

                Wallace continued to carry Forestview on his shoulders in the fourth quarter. He scored with a 63-yard touchdown run. Cody Bridges tied the game up with the extra point. After stopping the Falcons on the next drive, Forestview appeared to be in control. However, Nation Ford’s defense stopped Forestview at the 50 and the Falcons blocked a punt.

                Wells and Ussery connected with a back-breaking 38-yard touchdown pass to take the lead 34-27. The Jaguars drove down the field, but were not able to punch another score in.

                Forestview travels to take on Clover next week. The Blue Eagles are coming off a major 63-0 loss at South Point.