Shelby Holds Off Freedom Rally To Get Shelby's 800th Win

               The Shelby Golden Lions and the Freedom Patriots kicked off the season by having the game on a Wednesday night due to the American Legion World Series starting this weekend in Shelby. The first quarter would end up being a scoreless stalemate. But the Golden Lions broke the ice when kicker Caden Sheeley kicked a 27-yard field goal to put Shelby on top 3-0. But it would not end there. Soon quarterback Isaiah Bess connected with Jahari Mitchell for a screen pass that he took 67 yards for a touchdown. Sheeley’s kick made it 10-0.

                More disaster hit for Freedom as they were backed inside their own five yard line. Their punt would only reach the 20-yard line. But the Golden Lions would not capitalize as Sheeley’s next field goal attempt was blocked. But it would not matter. On their next drive, Bess would connect with Mitchell for another touchdown, this time from 39 yards out. Sheeley’s PAT kick made it a three score game at 17-0.

                The Patriots found a spark on the ensuing kickoff when Dezmond Caldwell returned the kickoff 97 yards for the Patriots’ first touchdown. Brandon Pieto’s extra point kick cut the lead to 17-7 and that’s what the score would be at halftime.

                Freedom would receive the second half kickoff but would not be able to seize momentum. It got worse before it got better for the Patriots as Shelby tailback George Dunlap punch it in from the one-yard line. Sheeley’s kick was good. It was 24-7, Golden Lions.

                Freedom would find some holes in the Shelby defense and take advantage. Patriot quarterback Jayden Birchfield connected with Dezmond Caldwell for a 34-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead back to ten. Early in the fourth quarter, Birchfield took it in from the one-yard line. Pieto’s extra point kick, cut the lead to three points. But that would be as close as the Patriots would get as Shelby’s Isaiah Bess would do a quarterback keeper for a touchdown of their own from 11 yards out. The extra point kick made the final 31-21. This would be win 800 for the Shelby football program.

                “I’m excited! I thought both teams played hard. I thought it was a great first ball game for both of us. I thought we both did some good things. It was the 800^th for Shelby.” said Shelby head coach Lance Ware “There were some things we’d like to do over again but we’re proud about how our quarterback played. (Bess) made some plays with his arm and with his feet we weren’t expecting. I thought Jaylon Scott did a great job all night on defense leading us. Jack’s (Hollifield) first game at linebacker, I thought he did some good things. We got some things to shore up. Our kicking game, of course, gave up a kick return. Those kind of things happen early in the season.”

                “We started off as bad offensively as we could. I don’t know if we had 30 yards offensively in the first half but our defense held us in the game.” said Freedom head coach Luke Little “A couple key adjustments at half-time, we decided to go over the middle a little more. We had a drive at the end, but could not come up with a couple of plays.”

                In his debut at QB, Bess amassed 323 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown and an interception. Jahari Mitchell amassed 175 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Jayden Birchfield led Freedom’s offense with 168 yards, a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown.

                Shelby will travel to take on A.C. Reynolds. Freedom will host county rival, Draughn.

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Best to Last

1.       Kings Mountain

2.       Crest

3.       Hunter Huss

4.       Shelby

5.       South Point

6.       East Lincoln

7.       Lincolnton

8.       Mountain Island Charter

9.       Ashbrook

10.   Burns

11.   West Lincoln

12.   Stuart Cramer

13.   Cherryville

14.   Forestview

15.   Bessemer City

16.   North Lincoln

17.   Thomas Jefferson

18.   North Gaston

19.   East Gaston

20.   Highland Tech

 

My pick for tonight’s game!

Freedom 14 @ Shelby 21

Pre-Season Area Conference Rankings

Big South 3A

1.       Kings Mountain

2.       Crest

3.       Hunter Huss

4.       Ashbrook

5.       Burns

6.       Stuart Cramer

7.       Forestview

8.       North Gaston

 

Southwestern 2A

1.       Shelby

2.       South Point

3.       East Rutherford

4.       R-S Central

5.       East Gaston

6.       Chase

 

South Fork 2A

1.       Maiden

2.       Lincolnton

3.       East Lincoln

4.       West Lincoln

5.       Bandys

6.       North Lincoln

7.       Newton-Conover

8.       Lake Norman Charter

 

South Piedmont 1A

1.       Mountain Island Charter

2.       Union Academy

3.       Cherryville

4.       Bessemer City

5.       Thomas Jefferson

6.       Pine Lake Prep

7.       Community School of Davidson

8.       Highland Tech

Area Jamboree Results

Gaston County

Ashbrook 14 - Berry Academy 6

Hunter Huss 29 - Garinger 6

Clover, SC 34 - North Gaston 7

East Lincoln 17 - Stuart Cramer 10

Cleveland County

Kings Mountain 21 - Newton-Conover 0

Crest 34 - Independence 13

Burns 14 - A.C. Reynolds 7

Jay M. Robinson 12 - Shelby 10

Other

Marvin Ridge 37 - Forestview 7

Cougars Return To Finals; Bulldogs’ Run Ends At 12-3

               Coming into this game, the Charlotte Catholic Cougars were heavily favored. The Robinson Bulldogs would not lie down however. The Bulldogs received the opening kickoff and drove down the field on their first drive. Quarterback Chase Orrock capped off the opening drive with a five-yard touchdown run. The extra point kick by Luis Escorza was good.

                The Cougars stormed back with a touchdown drive of their own. Christopher Walton capped off the drive with a three-yard quarterback run into the end-zone. The extra point was no good so the Bulldogs retained a one-point lead. However, in the first quarter mistakes killed Robinson. Two turnovers (a fumble and an interception) turn into to two scores for the Cougars. Lamagea McDowell gave them the lead with a one-yard plunge into the end-zone.

                First play in the second quarter, Milan Howard ran it in from 13-yards out. George Griggs made both extra point kicks. Then the scoring went cold from there. While the Bulldogs were hurt with turnovers, the Cougars were hit with penalties. The score would remain 20-7 at half-time.

                On their second drive in the second half, the Cougars were in position to put the game away but a holding penalty backed them up and the field goal attempt by Griggs was missed. The third quarter would remain a stalemate. After being pinned at their own one-yard line early in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs made another deadly turnover. Chase Foley hit Orrock near the end zone causing a fumble. Ty Foley recovered in the end zone for a Catholic touchdown. The two-point conversion attempt failed however.

                Robinson would not go away however. Down but not out, the Bulldogs cut into Catholic’s lead with a one-yard plunge by Dawson Williams. The two-point conversion pass from Chase Orrock to Bryson Furr cut the lead to 26-15. But the onside kick was unsuccessful and two unsportsmanlike penalties and a five-yard touchdown run by Lamagea McDowell put the nail in the coffin. The Bulldogs tried to score an oh-by-the-way touchdown, but Orrock’s Hail Mary pass was intercepted in the end zone by Brian Jacobs. Jacobs also recovered a fumble earlier in the game. Jacobs, Riley Berger, Adam Robbe, and Billy Brewer all came up with interceptions.

                Milan Howard amassed 124 yards from scrimmage (76 rushing, 48 receiving) and a touchdown. McDowell rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns.

                “Our team works so hard. It’s a hard fought game. Both teams gave the fans what they came to see.” Said Catholic head coach Mike Brodowicz “We hurt ourselves with penalties. It’s something that we’re going to have to clean up in the state championship game. When you’re 1^st-and-20, it’s hard to get in anybody’s offense and Jay M. Robinson did a good job in dropping back in our passing lanes. So they’re giving us 5 or 6 yards a play and we still end up 4^th-and-4.”

                “Our defense has been phenomenal all year. We’re basically giving up three points a game from our starting group. We’ve leaned on our defense. It’s been the defense’s time to step up and help out when we were struggling a little bit and finding a rhythm on offense. It’s been like that all year. We have a well-rounded team in all three phases.”

                “We worked on something they haven’t seen which is flex-bone option.” said Robinson head coach Joe Glass “We run down the field and go and they made the adjustment like that and that’s a great coaching job by them. We thought we were going to attack some certain things and they were really good on the perimeter. We just didn’t get the job done tonight.”

                “We had a couple of things that I thought went our way with some turnovers. We didn’t get them. The biggest difference in the game was special teams and turnovers. If we don’t turn the ball over, we’re in the ball game.”

                Charlotte Catholic will play Havelock at Duke University next week. Havelock defeated Western Alamance 41-14.

Mountaineers Stumble In Overtime

               This time of year, it gets down to the nitty gritty. The winner of this game is one game closer to having the right to travel to Duke for the 3A state title. It would be Jay M. Robinson that would earn that right as they upended Kings Mountain 47-46 in overtime.

                Things started off rocky for the Mountaineers as they were stopped on their first drive at the Bulldog 31 yard line. Robinson got on the board first with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Chase Orrock to Que Reid. The extra point kick by Braden Tautkus was good. The Bulldogs initially stopped the Mountaineers on their next drive but a roughing the punter call gave the Mountaineers new life and they would capitalize.

                Being backed up to the Bulldog 35 yard line due to penalties did not seem to faze the Mountaineers. On 2^nd-and-29, Kaylon Wade connected with Kobe Paysour for a 35-yard touchdown pass. Michael Randall’s extra point tied the game up at 7-7. The Mountaineers struck again with another touchdown pass. This time, Wade would connect with Dontavious Hughes from 18 yards out. Randall’s kick made it 14-7.

                Robinson would storm back. The Bulldogs fumbled the ball on a pitch between Orrock and Reid. It looked like the Mountaineers recovered but it was ruled 2^nd-and-17 for the Bulldogs. The following play, Reid broke through the defense and turned it into an 83-yard touchdown scoring run. The extra point was missed so the Mountaineers maintained a 14-13 lead. Right before half-time, the Mountaineers would poor it on. Ricaylen Mack got in on the scoring fun with a one-yard touchdown run with just five seconds to go before half-time. Michael Randall was 3-for-3 on his extra point kicks in the first half so the score was 21-13.

                The Bulldogs got the second half kickoff and would cap it off with a touchdown pass from Orrock to Bryson Furr from six-yards out. The two-point conversion to tie it failed, however. Things would get worse before they got better for Robinson. Ricaylen Mack’s three-yard touchdown run widened the Mountaineers lead and Randall’s extra point kick made it a two possession game at 28-19.

                The remainder of the third quarter would be a turnover fest. As Kings Mountain was headed for the jugular, Wade was intercepted by Que Reid. The Bulldogs would give it right back as Orrock was intercepted by Kobe Paysour. Wade would throw another interception. It would turn into a Pick-6 by Jahari Young. Robinson would go for the two-point conversion again and this time, Que Reid’s run for the two-point conversion run cut the Mountaineers’ lead to 28-27.

                The Mountaineers offense would come back to life. A jet sweep by Christopher Britton turned into a 66-yard touchdown run for the Mountaineers. The extra point kick was missed however and that was big. The Bulldogs would tie the game up at 34-34 with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Orrock to Chris Caldwell and Luis Escorza’s extra point kick. On 4^th-and-goal from the nine, Robinson would take the lead with another Orrock touchdown pass. This time, he connected with Joel Kacan for the nine-yard touchdown pass. The extra point kick would be no good.

                The Mountaineers would tie the game up with just over three minutes to go. Kaylon Wade connected with Hughes for a 30-yard touchdown pass to tie the game up at 40-40. Randall’s extra point sailed wide however. Neither team got anything going on offense after that so the game went into overtime. The Bulldogs got the first crack at it in overtime and on the first play, Orrock took it in himself for a ten-yard touchdown run. Kings Mountain would also score on their first down in overtime. Mack would take it in for the ten-yard touchdown run. The Mountaineers would go for the win on the two-point conversion try but Mack was stopped just short and the Bulldogs came away with the 47-46 win.

                Robinson will travel to take on Charlotte Catholic. They beat Weddington 42-7.

                “They are a heck of a football team and for us to walk away from here in this stadium as cold as it is and with their fans is a big thing for us.” said Robinson head coach Joe Glass “Our kids don’t give up. They may get their head bloodied but they won’t bow down. They’ll keep playing and that’s what they did tonight.”

                “We played hard. We made a lot of plays both sides. They ended up making one more than we did.” said Kings Mountain head coach Greg Lloyd “Give those guys credit. They played hard. Both were evenly matched tonight.”

                Chase Orrock led the Robinson offense with 205 yards and five touchdowns (four passing, one rushing). He was intercepted three times however. Que Reid amassed 209 yards from scrimmage (142 yards rushing and 67 yards receiving) and two touchdowns (one rushing and one receiving). On defense, Reid and Jahari Young intercepted Kaylon Wade and the Bulldogs also recovered a muffed punt in the third quarter.

Kaylon Wade led Kings Mountain’s offense with 233 yards passing and three touchdowns. Ricaylen Mack amassed 164 yards rushing for Kings Mountain and three touchdowns. Kobe Paysour and Dontavious Hughes combined for 256 receiving yards and three touchdowns (Paysour 143 yards, one touchdowns. Hughes 113 yards, two touchdowns). Christopher Britton amassed 149 all-purpose yards (85 rushing, 11 receiving and a 53 yard half-back pass to Paysour) and a rushing touchdown. On defense, Charles Osbourne, Paysour and Reese Reinhardt each intercepted Chase Orrock. A.J. Austin, Jerdon Pressley, JT Cash and Stefan Chisholm registered a sack.

               

Area High School Week 3 Picks

Jay M. Robinson 14 @ Kings Mountain 35

Shelby 41 @ Mount Pleasant 14

Bessemer City 14 @ Mount Airy 35

Thomas Jefferson 28 @ Cherrokee 31