Friday, September 4, 2015

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 3 Picks

Game of the Week: Shelby (2-0) @ South Point (1-1): The South Point Red Raiders meet another familiar powerhouse tonight at William Lineberger Stadium. This is the Red Raiders' home opener. Shelby comes in with a 2-0 record, coming off wins against powerful teams in Freedom (40-28) and A.C. Reynolds (56-39). Can Shelby have that same success against South Point. The Red Raiders have taken the last two games from the Golden Lions.

South Point started last season 1-3 and their only win was 44-39 shootout at Shelby. The year before, South Point found themselves down 24-14 before rallying late in the second half for a 35-24 victory. South Point is coming off a 42-20 victory at Lincolnton. After being down 20-14 in the first half, the Red Raiders held the Wolves scoreless in the second half.

The Red Raiders will need a performance like that second half to tame the Golden Lions.
My pick: South Point 38 - Shelby 35

Forestview (1-1) @ Kings Mountain (2-0): Kings Mountain has started the year off on fire. The Mountaineers have dominated their first two opponents. Forestview is coming off a disappointing 23-20 loss at Clover. The Jaguars will need to up their game as they travel to John Gamble Stadium to face the Mountaineers. In their two victories, the Mountaineers averaged 51 points. Forestview, on the other hand, averaged 24 in their two games. Kings Mountain dealt Forestview their first loss last year 35-21. Can Forestview return the favor to the Mountaineers or could this be a tough night for the Jaguars?

Note: In this series, the road team has won 9 out of the last 11 games.
My pick: Kings Mountain 42 - Forestview 35

Lincolnton (1-1) @ North Gaston (1-1): Lincolnton fell hard to South Point last week 42-20 after holding a brief 20-14 lead in the first half. North Gaston's last minute field-goal last week helped the Wildcats edge East Rutherford 15-13. North Gaston will have to muster up some offense in this game, however. The Wildcats have scored 11 and 15 in their two games. The Wolves have scored 62 and 20.
My pick: Lincolnton 34 - North Gaston 20

Q Foundation (0-2) @ Ashbrook (0-2): After playing stiff competition in Davidson Day and Crest, the Green Wave will take on a lesser opponent in the Q Foundation. The Q Foundation is yet to beat a team from the area and it's unlikely that they will change that tonight. Look for Ashbrook to get their first win of the season tonight.
My pick: Ashbrook 42 - Q Foundation 8

Hunter Huss (0-2) @ Monroe (2-0) (Sat.):
Hunter Huss will have a unique priveledge in participating in one of the Union Power Cooperative Gridiron Clash at Monroe this Saturday. The Huskies will no doubt face another test as they go against the Monroe Red Hawks. The Huskies showed improvement from week one to week 2 narrowly losing to Burns on a last minute touchdown 29-26. The week before, they took a pounding by defending 2AA State Champ, East Lincoln. Will the Huskies be able to shock the Red Hawks or are the Huskies looking at the possibility of starting 0-3?
My pick: Monroe 35 - Hunter Huss 21

North Lincoln (0-2) @ East Lincoln (2-0):
Last year, both of these teams were 2-0. This year, that is not the case. The Knights have struggled this year opening the season with a 62-8 thumping at the hands of Lincolnton and losing to West Lincoln 13-6. East Lincoln has not only been winning, but winning handily. East Lincoln escaped last year's matchup with North Lincoln 28-27. The score this year will not be anywhere near as close.
My pick: East Lincoln 54 - North Lincoln 14

West Iredell (0-2) @ Stuart Cramer (1-1):
Stuart Cramer opened the season with a 42-0 blowout win over Cherryville, but stumbled against R-S Central last week 28-21. The Storm are in position to surpass their win total from last year. The West Iredell Warriors have struggled so far this year, losing to St. Stephens (32-7) and Wilkes Central (35-20). This looks like a winnable game for the Storm.
My pick: Stuart Cramer 35 - West Iredell 21

Cherryville (0-2) @ West Lincoln (1-1):
This was not how Cherryville expected to start the season. The Ironmen have been outscored 83-6 in their first two games. West Lincoln has scored only 20 points in their two games combined. After starting the season off with a 23-7 loss to Jimmy Draughn, the Rebels were able to rebound with a 13-6 win over county rival, North Lincoln. The game favors the Rebels.
My pick: West Lincoln 21 - Cherryville 6

Chase (1-1) @ Bessemer City (1-1)(1-0):
Both teams suffered season-opening losses and both teams rebounded last week. Chase is coming off a 47-6 victory over Cherryville and Bessemer City played their first conference game against Mountain Island Charter and came out with a 28-7 win. The Trojans and the Yellow Jackets are hoping to keep the momentum going. This should be a hard-fought game between the two.
My pick: Chase 28 - Bessemer City 20

Mountain Island Charter (0-2)(0-1) @ Thomas Jefferson Academy (2-0):
Mountain Island Charter came up two points short in their season opener against Central Academy (20-18), but fell even harder in their conference loss to Bessemer City 28-7. The Gryphons will be another test for the Raptors. The Gryphons wins include a 27-6 victory over Peculiar Generation and a 49-18 thumping over Hickory Grove Christian.
My pick: Thomas Jefferson 35 - Mountain Island Charter 14

Burns (2-0) @ Central Cabarrus (1-1)(0-1):
Burns is off to a better start than last year and should make some noise in the South Mountain Athletic 3A/2A Conference. Burns's victories include last week's 29-26 come-from-behind victory over Hunter Huss and a 28-0 shutout of Q Foundation in the opening week.  First, they have to focus on the Central Cabarrus Vikings. The Vikings are hoping to rebound from last week's 35-7 conference loss to Jay M. Robinson.
My pick: Burns 34 - Central Cabarrus 24

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