Forestview Wins Big Following An Emotional Week Of Loss and Grief

                The Jaguars took a break from conference play in their game against East Gaston. Coming into this game, the two teams had one win between them and that was Forestview’s 20-7 win over East Lincoln on the opening week. The game also started out on an emotional note as both teams faced each other with linked arms and joined for a moment of silence on the field to honor long-time Forestview teacher and cross country coach John Hunsucker, who had passed away Monday morning. The cross country team released balloons in the air afterward.

                After that, it was time to play some football. East Gaston got the ball first but were stopped on their first drive. After stopping Forestview on their first drive, the Warriors gave it right back to the Jaguars inside their own 15-yard line. Forestview would make them pay with a one-yard run by Jamarion Dawkins (PAT good).

                The Jaguars went on a tear in the second quarter. Jake Lee would throw for three touchdowns. His first was an 18-yard touchdown pass to Trey Bolch. He also connect with Kyra Peterkin for a three-yard touchdown pass and Cameron Carter for a 13-yard touchdown pass. Dawkins scored his second rushing touchdown from three-yards out. Holt Cloninger’s 26-yard field-goal made it 38-0. A holding penalty in the end-zone would score a safety for the Jaguars. Forestview would lead 40-0 at half-time.

                Jaylen Mims would score Forestview’s only touchdown in the second half with a three-yard touchdown run (PAT good). Holt Cloninger was 6-for-6 for extra point kicks. East Gaston did avoid the shutout when D.J. Maultsby connected with K.J. Dagout for a ten-yard touchdown pass (PAT good).

                “It’s good to get a win. Proud of them. I thought they played well, played hard.” said Forestview head coach Chris Medlin “I appreciate East Gaston and the way they handled things pregame. I thought they were extremely classy and extremely respectful. I told Coach Joyce that he’s got a good group.”

                “We lost a good man this week.” Said Medlin over the passing of John Hunsucker “He touched a lot of kids here and he impacted a lot of our kids, some guys on our football team and they entire cross-country team. It’s been a tough week.”

                Forestview will return to conference play next week as they host North Gaston next week. East Gaston will begin conference play against South Point.

                “They run the option. They’re hard to stop at times. They have a good quarterback and good fullbacks. We’re going to have our hands full. Better get ready.” Medlin said about North Gaston.

                “I felt that early on Forestview did everything they could to keep us in the game. Offensively, there were things there early on that we did not execute at all.” said East Gaston head coach Sean Joyce “We didn’t execute the way we need to execute. Obviously 47-7, there’s a lot of improvement still. I’m hoping with each week that we can continue to get better. I felt like we were playing hard defensively. We were able to get a turnover here and there. Offensively, we got to execute better.”

                “It does not get any easier.” Joyce said heading into conference “South Point comes to our place. It’s a big game for our kids. I hope that emotionally, we can keep that in check and work on things that we can get better.”

                Forestview improves to 2-4 (0-2). East Gaston falls to 0-6.

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland County Week 7 Picks

Big South 3A/Southwestern 2A

Kings Mountain 42 @ North Gaston 14

Hunter Huss 48 @ Burns 21

Crest 35 @ Stuart Cramer 14

South Point 42 @ Ashbrook 28*

East Gaston 7 @ Forestview 55*

Shelby 28 @ Mount Pleasant 7*

East Rutherford 45 @ Polk County 13*

Avery County 14 @ Chase 28*

South Fork 2A

West Lincoln 14 @ Maiden 35

East Lincoln 42 @ Lincolnton 14

Bandys 42 @ Newton-Conover 21

Lake Norman Charter 7 @ North Lincoln 55

Southern Piedmont 1A

Mountain Island Charter 41 @ Union Academy 14

Community School of Davidson 21 @ Cherryville 38

Highland Tech 14 @ Bessemer City 28

Thomas Jefferson Academy 45 @ Pine Lake Prep 20

(*) = non-conference game

Mallard Creek Tops Vance In Battle Of Undefeated Teams

                Coming into this game, many felt that this would be a defensive knockdown drag-out battle. It lived up to the billing. The Mavericks would get things started offensively. Quarterback Casey Kelly would throw a long 48-yard pass to Elijah Metcalf to set up the Maverick’s first score. Kelly would connect with Nick Treco for a ten-yard touchdown pass (PAT good) to give the Mavericks an early 7-0 lead.

                That would be pretty much all the offense we would see in the first quarter. Vance would answer that score in the second quarter when Nigel Summerville connected with Power Echols for a three-yard touchdown pass (PAT good).   The Mavericks would go back on top when Kelly hit Coleman Jeffcoat for a 14-yard touchdown reception (PAT good). The Cougars would make a critical mistake with less than two minutes to go in the first half. They muffed a punt near their own 40-yard line. But the Mavericks were unable to capitalize as time would run out.

                The third quarter would be a stalemate. The Cougars were knocking on the door in the third quarter as they made it inside the Mavericks’ 20-yard line. But a fumble kept them from putting points on the board. In the final quarter, the Mavericks would put the game away with a two-yard touchdown run by Kelly (PAT no good). That would make the score 20-7. The Cougars appeared to get within striking distance when Nyier Clark ran 85 yards for a touchdown. But a holding penalty brought it back and Vance would not get another chance. The Cougars lose for the first time this year and the Mavericks remain undefeated.

 

                Mallard Creek will host Lake Norman. Vance will travel to Hopewell.

Hickory Ridge Surges In Second Half, Hammers Independence

                From the early going of the opening game at UNC Charlotte’s Jerry Richardson Stadium, it looked like Independence was poised to take this one. The Patriots got on the board early with a three-yard touchdown run by Antwan Watson midway through the first quarter (PAT good). The Ragin’ Bulls offense was not able to get going in the first half.

                The Patriots were in position to extend their lead over Hickory Ridge later in the second quarter. But that’s when the Ragin’ Bulls defense rose to the challenge. Chris Massey picked off a Luke McPhail pass and took it 77 yards for a touchdown. The Bulls would go for two, but it would be stopped. The Patriots would hold a 7-6 advantage going into half-time.

                That lead would not last very long because the Hickory Ridge offense got going in the second half. Isaiah Littlejohn’s nine-yard touchdown run gave the Bulls a 12-7 lead. The two point conversion try was stopped, however. But it didn’t seem to matter. Logan Cruce would score two touchdowns for the Ragin’ Bulls before this one was over. His first was a 12-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dylan Ellis (PAT no good). His second was an eight-yard touchdown run. He was also score on a two-point conversion to help Hickory Ridge take a commanding 26-7 lead.

                Ick Cirino would ice it with a 31-yard touchdown run (PAT good) to make the final score 33-7. The defense would not allow Independence to get any drives going in the second half. Nick Campany would record the Ragin’ Bulls second interception of Luke McPhail in the second half.

                Independence will host East Mecklenburg. Hickory Ridge will travel to Garinger.

Ashbrook’s Power Rushing Offense, Stifling Defense Too Much For Burns

There were two big questions as Ashbrook hosted Burns for a key conference match-up. Which Burns team would show up? Would Ashbrook continue to start off slow as in previous games? Both questions seemingly got answered as the Green Wave found themselves up 14-0 early in the second quarter and turned a tied ball game at 21 apiece into a 42-21 victory at William Eccles Field.

The Green Wave would capitalize on a Burns fumble midway through the first quarter when Tyresse Nicholas took the ball 29-yards for his first rushing touchdown of the night (PAT good). In the second quarter, quarterback Jakai Grier got in on the fun and scored on a 34-yard rushing touchdown (PAT good) to make it 14-0. The Bulldogs would storm back with a 50-yard touchdown run by Kujuan Pryor (PAT good).

The Bulldogs were in position to tie the game late in the second quarter, but Pryor would fumble and and Ashbrook’s Elijah Batts would return the loose ball 74-yards for a touchdown (PAT good) to make the score 21-7. But they would commit a critical mistake on a personal foul which would be assessed on the kickoff. Jaquan Degree would return it to the Ashbrook 22-yard line. Three plays later, quarterback Cam’Ron Sweezy would connect with Rayshun McDowell for the 22-yard touchdown pass (PAT good).

In the second play of the second half, the Bulldogs would tie the game up at 21 apiece with a 57-yard run by Pryor (PAT good). The Green Wave quickly answered with an eight-yard run by Tyresse Nicholas (PAT good). Nicholas would score two more touchdowns (59 ans 2) to help Ashbrook pull away. Korbin Proctor was 6-for-6 on PAT kicks. Nicholas also did a fake punt to help extend a Green Wave drive.

Besides Elijah Batts's fumble recovery for a touchdown, Quan Willis also recovered a fumble early in the game. Trey Byers intercepted a Cam'Ron Sweezy pass in the second half.

"They got a good team. Coach (Devine) does a great job. I think the world of him and his staff." said Ashbrook head coach Brian Andrews "It was good for our guys to get a win in the conference. We got a non-conference game against South Point and we get back into the frying pan against Crest and Kings Mountain so we got our work cut out for us. We got to have a super great week of practice this week coming up."

"I told our team that putting the ball on the ground is the wrong way to go from here on out. We can't afford to do that. If we can get rid of those mistakes, we have a chance to be really good." Andrews said regarding turnovers. His team committed none tonight "Our defense played great. I know they gave up some scores, but still they were tenacious and hard-nosed. Those guys had to earn every yard. I know I asked them to get us some turnovers and surely they responded. We even got a score on defense. I was so excited for them."

"(Nicholas) knew it was going to break sooner or later. Our linemen got the exact alignment that we wanted." Andrews said about Tyresse Nicholas's four-touchdown performance "They came off the ball low and hard. We didn't false start. We didn't fumble the snap. Everybody did their jobs. It's amazing what happens when all the other guys do that."

"I thought our kids played hard. The punt that they faked on us whenever it was, I thought that was the turning point of the ball game." said Burns head coach David Devine "I thought we had the momentum right there and it shifted back to them. I just thought we didn't respond well when it happened. Hats off to (Ashbrook). They're kids played hard and they got a great football team. We just got to go back to work on Monday."

Ashbrook is home again next week as they take on South Point in a nonconference game. Burns will host Hunter Huss.

Ashbrook’s Power Rushing Offense, Stifling Defense Too Much For Burns

There were two big questions as Ashbrook hosted Burns for a key conference match-up. Which Burns team would show up? Would Ashbrook continue to start off slow as in previous games? Both questions seemingly got answered as the Green Wave found themselves up 14-0 early in the second quarter and turned a tied ball game at 21 apiece into a 42-21 victory at William Eccles Field.

The Green Wave would capitalize on a Burns fumble midway through the first quarter when Tyresse Nicholas took the ball 29-yards for his first rushing touchdown of the night (PAT good). In the second quarter, quarterback Jakai Grier got in on the fun and scored on a 34-yard rushing touchdown (PAT good) to make it 14-0. The Bulldogs would storm back with a 50-yard touchdown run by Kujuan Pryor (PAT good).

The Bulldogs were in position to tie the game late in the second quarter, but Pryor would fumble and and Ashbrook’s Elijah Batts would return the loose ball 74-yards for a touchdown (PAT good) to make the score 21-7. But they would commit a critical mistake on a personal foul which would be assessed on the kickoff. Jaquan Degree would return it to the Ashbrook 22-yard line. Three plays later, quarterback Cam’Ron Sweezy would connect with Rayshun McDowell for the 22-yard touchdown pass (PAT good).

In the second play of the second half, the Bulldogs would tie the game up at 21 apiece with a 57-yard run by Pryor (PAT good). The Green Wave quickly answered with an eight-yard run by Tyresse Nicholas (PAT good). Nicholas would score two more touchdowns (59 ans 2) to help Ashbrook pull away. Korbin Proctor was 6-for-6 on PAT kicks. Nicholas also did a fake punt to help extend a Green Wave drive.

Besides Elijah Batts's fumble recovery for a touchdown, Quan Willis also recovered a fumble early in the game. Trey Byers intercepted a Cam'Ron Sweezy pass in the second half.

"They got a good team. Coach (Devine) does a great job. I think the world of him and his staff." said Ashbrook head coach Brian Andrews "It was good for our guys to get a win in the conference. We got a non-conference game against South Point and we get back into the frying pan against Crest and Kings Mountain so we got our work cut out for us. We got to have a super great week of practice this week coming up."

"I told our team that putting the ball on the ground is the wrong way to go from here on out. We can't afford to do that. If we can get rid of those mistakes, we have a chance to be really good." Andrews said regarding turnovers. His team committed none tonight "Our defense played great. I know they gave up some scores, but still they were tenacious and hard-nosed. Those guys had to earn every yard. I know I asked them to get us some turnovers and surely they responded. We even got a score on defense. I was so excited for them."

"(Nicholas) knew it was going to break sooner or later. Our linemen got the exact alignment that we wanted." Andrews said about Tyresse Nicholas's four-touchdown performance "They came off the ball low and hard. We didn't false start. We didn't fumble the snap. Everybody did their jobs. It's amazing what happens when all the other guys do that."

"I thought our kids played hard. The punt that they faked on us whenever it was, I thought that was the turning point of the ball game." said Burns head coach David Devine "I thought we had the momentum right there and it shifted back to them. I just thought we didn't respond well when it happened. Hats off to (Ashbrook). They're kids played hard and they got a great football team. We just got to go back to work on Monday."

Ashbrook is home again next week as they take on South Point in a nonconference game. Burns will host Hunter Huss.

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 6 Picks

Burns 28 @ Ashbrook 35

North Gaston 13 @ Hunter Huss 42

Forestview 13 @ Crest 35

Stuart Cramer 14 @ Kings Mountain 28

Bessemer City 14 @ Mountain Island Charter 45

Cherryville 20 @ Thomas Jefferson 27

Community School of Davidson 13 @ Highland Tech 31

West Lincoln 31 @ North Lincoln 21

Newton-Conover 14 @ Lincolnton 24

East Lincoln 48 @ Lake Norman Charter 13

Pre-Conference Records For The Big South, South Fork and Southern Piedmont

Big South

Ashbrook                           3-1 (1-0)

Hunter Huss                      4-0

Crest                                   3-1

Kings Mountain                3-1

Stuart Cramer                   3-1

Burns                                  2-2

North Gaston                     2-2

Forestview                         1-3 (0-1)

 

This Week’s Games

Forestview @ Crest

North Gaston @ Hunter Huss

Burns @ Ashbrook

Stuart Cramer @ Kings Mountain

 

 

South Fork

Maiden                                4-0

West Lincoln                      4-0

Bandys                                 3-1

East Lincoln                         2-2

Newton-Conover                2-2

North Lincoln                      2-2

Lake Norman Charter        2-2

Lincolnton                           1-3

 

This Week’s Games

Maiden @ Bandys

West Lincoln @ North Lincoln

Newton-Conover @ Lincolnton

East Lincoln @ Lake Norman Charter

 

 

Southern Piedmont

Thomas Jefferson                             4-0

Highland Tech                                   3-0

Mountain Island Charter                 3-1

Cherryville                                          3-1

Pine Lake Prep                                   3-1

Community School of Davidson     2-2

Union Academy                                 2-2

Bessemer City                                    1-3

 

This Week’s Games

Cherryville @ Thomas Jefferson

Bessemer City @ Mountain Island Charter

Community School of Davidson @ Highland Tech

Union Academy @ Pine Lake Prep

Shelby Snaps Skid, Stuns Kings Mountain

               Coming in at 1-3 and facing a great 3-0 team, very few people picked Shelby to win this game against county rival, Kings Mountain. The Golden Lions were up to the task as they raced out to a 21-3 second quarter lead and held on at the end of the game for a 28-23 victory. Things did not start off good for Shelby as their first two plays (a 20-yard pass and a 19-yard run) were both called back due to penalties. The Golden Lions punted and gave the Mountaineers short field.

                The Mountaineers were unable to get a touchdown out of it so they had to settle for a 31-yard field goal by Austin Browning. Shelby struck back with a drive of their own. Donye Fuller would cap it off with a 10-yard touchdown run. Caden Sheeley’s extra point made it 7-3. The Golden Lions would extend their lead when quarterback Isaiah Bess connected with Diavonni Daley for a 61-yard touchdown pass.

                It got worse before it got better for Kings Mountain. Fuller put another touchdown on the board for Shelby, this time from 13 yards out. Sheeley was 3-for-3 on his extra point kicks in the first half. The Mountaineers chipped away at the lead before half-time with a Kaylon Wade seven-yard touchdown run. Browning’s extra point was good!

                The Mountaineers would cut the Golden Lions’ lead to 21-16 with a three-yard run by Wade. But the two-point conversion was stopped. In the second half, the Mountaineers were their own undoing. Wade was intercepted twice and the Mountaineers lost a fumble that Shelby’s Dorian Davis would return four yards for a touchdown. Davis and Jahari Mitchell also had the interceptions for Shelby. Sheeley’s extra point kick would give the Golden Lions a two touchdown lead at 28-16 early in the fourth quarter.

                Kings Mountain cut the lead to five with a ten-yard touchdown pass from Kaylon Wade to Kobe Paysour and Browning’s extra point with just over a minute left. The on-side kick attempt was unsuccessful.

                “We gave good effort. We just didn’t play polished. It came down to turnovers.” Said Kings Mountain head coach Greg Lloyd “We gave good effort. I’m proud of the kids. The defense played phenomenal in the second half. The only touchdown we gave up was a fumble. Shelby made some nice plays in the second quarter with the wind to their back but that’s not an excuse. They got a good defense.”

                “We got a tough game coming up against Stuart Cramer.” Lloyd said “Our conference is one of the toughest, if not the toughest 3A conference, in the state.”

                Kings Mountain running-back Ricaylen Mack returned to action after missing the previous two games with an injury. He amassed 75 yards rushing. “He’s not 100% yet. But we need to get him some work. It was nice to have him back.” Lloyd said on Ricaylen Mack’s return.

                Kings Mountain will host the Storm next Friday for the conference opener.

                “I thought our team really came together. They played well in all three phases.” Said Shelby head coach Lance Ware “The biggest difference was turnovers. We’ve been minus-eight in the last three weeks. We were able to cause some turnovers and take advantage of them. I thought we had some kids really grow up, mature and that we really played together. Kings Mountain is a great team. I thought our staff did a great job preparing and had a plan for what they did too.”

                “There’s a lot or pride here and they have not been real happy so we created some adversity for them in practice. They’ve responded well.” Ware said about the 1-3 start “I told them that they’re still a good football team even after those losses but we could be great. They’re taking the steps to get there. I’m looking forward to watching them grow throughout the season.”

                Shelby will have a bye week before concluding their non-conference schedule at Mount Pleasant. This will be a rematch from last year’s third round playoff game that the Golden Lions won 7-0. Mount Pleasant has won two consecutive games after starting 0-3. Shelby has now won eight straight games against Kings Mountain. The last time the Mountaineers beat the Golden Lions was in 2010 by a score of 20-17. Shelby also avoids going 0-3 against their county rivals.

South Point Ruins Stuart Cramer’s Home Opener

                The Red Raiders came into this game a little short-handed with two starters out including SE/DB Ray Grier. Grier will miss the next two games as well. The Red Raiders were hoping to rebound from their 30-21 loss to Clover last week. After stopping the Storm on their opening drive, the Red Raiders got a drive of their own going. On fourth-and-three at the five-yard line, Naseem Jones would get South Point on the board with the five-yard touchdown run. Cade Ratliff’s kick made it 7-0.

                It was a defensive bout for most of the first half after that drive. The Red Raiders were backed up on third-and-22 midway through the second quarter. That’s when Keaton Hale connected with Devon King for a 59-yard touchdown pass. Ratliff’s kick made it 14-0. But the Storm would storm back with a drive of their own. Kaiser Kayton got Cramer on the board with a four-yard touchdown run. Devin Baldwin’s kick cut the lead to 14-7 and that’s what it would be at half-time.

                But the Red Raiders would take the game completely over in the second half. Naseem Jones’s 34-yard touchdown run would extend the Red Raiders’ lead back to 13. The extra point kick was blocked however. Jones would score again later in the third quarter with a touchdown run from 25 yards out. The two-point conversion failed however. Jones would cap the night off with a one-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. Ratliff’s kick made the final 33-7.

                Naseem Jones led South Point’s offense with 254 yards rushing and four touchdowns.

                “It’s a good win. It’s a good bounce back from Clover. It was a hard-fought game down there. They have a good ball club.” Said South Point head coach Adam Hodge “It’s good to come back and put our nose down and battle a little bit. It’s a good game. We got going in the second half and I told them that I’m proud of the way we played. We played like South Point tonight.”

                “We got to be able to respond to some adversity.” Hodge said about the first half “First half, tight ball game. It’s a good game. We got going in the second half and I told them that I’m proud of the way we played. We played like South Point tonight.”

                “We got to be able to respond to some adversity.” Hodge said about the first half “First half, tight ball game (14-7). I told the guys we got to learn to play four full quarters. We have to play 48 minutes. We got to win the bye week. We don’t have a game next week but we have an opponent. You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse. Ashbrook’s got a great football team I’m sure and we got to get ready for conference after that.”

                “We felt like we had chances in the first half.” Said Stuart Cramer head coach Ben McMillan “We didn’t execute well offensively. They got their offense going and were hard to stop. We just couldn’t get our offense going. Hopefully, we learn from that and get better from it. Kings Mountain is a really good football team so we have to get ready to face a tough opponent next week.”

                The Storm travels to play Kings Mountain next week. South Point will have their bye before facing Ashbrook the following week.

Blue Eagles Capitalize On Ashbrook’s Miscues, Roll 40-18

                The Ashbrook Green Wave took their 3-0 record into Clover hoping to remain unbeaten. The Blue Eagles wanted to wrap up their tour of Gaston County teams with a winning record. At the end of the night, it was the Blue Eagles that were left standing. Clover had the first turnover of the game when Gabe Carroll was intercepted by Keonne Gibbs. But the Green Wave gave it back with a fumble.

                The Blue Eagles would make them pay when Carroll connected with Blackmon Huckabee for a 15-yard touchdown pass. Austin Clark’s extra point kick made it 7-0. The Green Wave would answer back early in the second quarter with a two-yard run by Kendall Massey. The extra point kick was blocked however. After forcing Clover to punt, the Green Wave made a deadly mistake on special teams when the ball touched one of the Ashbrook players. Clover recovered and was back in business.

                After some false start and off side penalties by both Clover and Ashbrook, Carroll connected with Heze Massey for a four-yard touchdown pass. Clark’s kick made it 14-6. Ashbrook was not done shooting themselves in the foot. The Green Wave tried for a half-back pass, but Clover was ready for it and Tyresse Nicholas was tackled for a 20-yard loss and the Green Wave was backed up inside their five-yard line. In the punt formation, the punt sailed over the punter’s head and out of the end zone for a safety. The score would be 16-6 at half-time.

                The Blue Eagles kept on pouring it on in the second half. At the first play from scrimmage, David Hall took the ball for a 62-yard touchdown run. Hall would score again from one-yard out of the Wildcat formation. That drive was set up by a 47-yard BJ Tims run. Both PAT kicks were good and the score was suddenly 30-6. But Ashbrook was not going to lay down. Green Wave quarterback Jakai Grier went to the air and connected with Kendall Massey for a 61-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion was stopped however.

                Blue Eagles’ kicker, Austin Clark, gave Clover a 21-point lead with a 31-yard field goal. The Green Wave would cut the Blue Eagles’ lead to 15 with a three-yard touchdown run by Tyresse Nicholas. The two point conversion run would fail however. But Ashbrook’s comeback attempt would be stifled as BJ Tims delivered the knockout punch with a 24-yard touchdown run by BJ Tims. Austin Clark was 5-for-5 on extra point kicks.

                “I’m not real pleased with how we played sloppy. I felt like we were better than that and I knew that they were going to be good.” said Ashbrook head coach Brian Andrews “We made some silly mistakes. We were much better than that. We have more intelligence than that on the football field. There was kicking game mistakes and the big plays on offense where we turned the ball over. I take full responsibility. We’re going to go back to work. Put it all on me because I’m going to take care of it and we’re going to be better prepared. Our fans and out parents are going to see a much better football team next Friday.”

                “We came out a little sloppy early. We picked up some things. They changed what they do defensively and we went into the half and adjusted. We came back in the second half and tried to put some points on the board and felt like we did a decent job there.” said Clover head coach Brian Lane “Defensively, those guys played lights out again. They played really hard. I think somebody said they held them to 16 yards in the first half offensively. That’s pretty good for an offense that had almost 300 yards last week.”

                Clover’s starting quarterback, Gabe Carroll, was sidelined with a minor injury in the second half.

                “On one of the plays, he got hit on his knee. He was good to go but he was still kind of limping around. I said ‘let’s just hold him. This is a non-conference game.’ He was ready to go if we needed him to come back in. Markus (Nastase), our back-up quarterback, got some really good reps tonight. That’s what football is about.”

                Ashbrook will resume conference play next week as they host Burns. “It’s a conference match-up. Got to have it.” Said Brian Andrews about Ashbrook’s upcoming game with Burns “Those are the ones that really, really matter. Obviously, I want to win every game we play but the most important thing is getting wins in the conference. So we got to brush ourselves off and be ready to go against a really good Burns team.”

Clover will be at home again as they host Irmo. “Coach Kennedy is going to have those guys ready to play.” Brian Lane said about Clover’s opponent next week “Reggie’s a great coach and they have a really good running-back so we’re going to have to tackle and contain that guy and make sure we do things offensively to get points on the board.”

                Clover improves to 4-1 while Ashbrook falls to 3-1.

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 5 Best to Last

1. Kings Mountain
2. Crest
3. Hunter Huss
4. South Point
5. Ashbrook
6. Stuart Cramer
7. West Lincoln
8. Burns
9. Mountain Island Charter
10. Shelby
11. Forestview
12. East Lincoln
13. North Lincoln
14. North Gaston
15. Lincolnton
16. Highland Tech
17. Cherryville
18. Bessemer City
19. East Gaston

 

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland County Week 5 Picks (and date and times)

Crest 24 @ Weddington 14 - Wed. 7 p.m.

Highland Tech 54 @ Christ the King 6 - Wed. 6 p.m.

Ashbrook 14 @ Clover 28 – Wed. 7 p.m.

South Point 28 @ Stuart Cramer 17 – Thurs. 7 p.m.

Bessemer City 24 @ North Lincoln 28 – Thurs. 7 p.m.

East Burke 6 @ West Lincoln 42 – Thurs. 7 p.m.

East Gaston 6 @ East Lincoln 42 – Thurs. 7:30 p.m.

Burns 24 @ Hendersonville 21 – Thurs. 7 p.m.

Kings Mountain 27 @ Shelby 14 – TBD tomorrow

Ashbrook Overcomes Early Turnovers To Take Down Forestview

                The Ashbrook Green Wave and the Forestview Jaguars kicked off conference a little early. The Green Wave came in with a 2-0 record while Forestview was trying to keep from slipping to 1-3. The Jaguars would race out to a 13-0 lead with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Jake Lee to Kyra Peterkin and two field goals from Holt Cloninger (37 and 51). Korbin Proctor put Ashbrook on the board with a 31-yard field goal. The Green Wave would close the gap to three points with a Jakai Grier 10-yard touchdown run.

                Forestview would extend their lead in the second half after capitalizing off an Ashbrook fumble. Lee would connect with Trey Bolch for a four-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was mishandled and the Jaguars retained a 19-10 lead. Ashbrook’s Proctor would cut the lead with a 32-yard field goal. The Green Wave took the lead early in the fourth quarter with a 10-yard run by Kendall Massey. Proctor’s extra point kick gave the Green Wave the 20-19 lead.

                Forestview was not done yet. Jake Lee got the Jaguars back on top with a four-yard run for a touchdown. His two-point conversion pass to Kyra Peterkin made the score 27-20. But the Forestview defense could not hold Ashbrook down as Jakai Grier scored his second touchdown run from ten yards out. Tyresse Nicholas’s run for the two-point conversion put Ashbrook on top 28-27. A Jaguar fumble with just over two minutes left would seal the deal for Ashbrook.

                Jakai Grier led Ashbrook in 166 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Tyresse Nicholas added 125 yards rushing. Jake Lee led Forestview with 245 yards passing, three touchdowns (one rushing) but would throw an interception.

                “I’m proud of our kids. Our kids didn’t lay down. We had some tough situations in that game that we put ourselves into.” said Ashbrook head coach Brian Andrews “We found a way to overcome it. I’m so proud of our team and coaching staff with everything we did tonight. We put the ball on the ground three times in the first half. We had to overcome that second week in a row. What I’m seeing out of this group now is that they are starting to believe and they are starting to fight harder. They believe that they can win the second half.”

                “It was a hard fought game. We left it all out there.” said Forestview head coach Chris Medlin “We played hard. Ashbrook played well and didn’t give up. We’re getting better every week and playing good. It just may not show up right away. It’s not going to get easier.”

                Forestview will be off next week before resuming conference play at Crest. Ashbrook will travel to Clover, SC next week. Ashbrook improves to 3-0 on the season and 1-0 in conference play. Forestview falls to 1-3 and 0-1 in conference play.

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 4 Picks

South Point 20 @ Clover 17

Ashbrook 28 @ Forestview 21

Hunter Huss 31 @ Hickory 14

East Lincoln 24 @ North Gaston 21

Shelby 10 @ Crest 28

Cuthbertson 14 @ Kings Mountain 49

Burns 35 @ East Rutherford 21

Lincolnton 42 @ East Gaston 14

Fred T. Foard 14 @ West Lincoln 45

Alexander Central 45 @ North Lincoln 7

Cherryville 35 @ Jimmy Draughn 7

Victory Christian Center 8 @ Mountain Island Charter 68

Highland Tech 28 @ Lake Norman Charter 35

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Best to Last

1.       Kings Mountain
2.       Crest
3.       Hunter Huss
4.       South Point
5.       Ashbrook
6.       Stuart Cramer
7.       West Lincoln
8.       Burns
9.       Mountain Island Charter
10.   Shelby
11.   Cherryville
12.   Forestview
13.   North Lincoln
14.   East Lincoln
15.   North Gaston
16.   Lincolnton
17.   Bessemer City
18.   Highland Tech
19.   East Gaston

 

South Point Dominant In Victory Over Forestview

The Red Raiders, with their tough triple-option offense and smothering defense, gave the Jaguars fits all night. Ray Grier amassed three first half touchdowns, two of them receiving and one of them a 66-yard punt return. Naseem Jones did a lot of the dirty work with 155 yards rushing and a touchdown. Along with Jamani Leeper’s two first half touchdown passes to Grier, Leeper scored two touchdown runs in the third quarter. His second touchdown put the Red Raiders up 40-7. Forestview did score two late touchdowns to make the final 46-20.

Turnovers weren’t plenty but when they happened, they happened close together: Up 6-0, the Red Raiders were poised to go up two scores early in the second quarter. But Jones fumbled at the one yard line, but Forestview would give it back one play later as Devon King recovered a Forestview fumble. South Point did score on that drive. Following a Forestview kickoff return to the South Point seven-yard line by Jamarion Dawkins, Jake Lee would be intercepted by Tre Glen. But a Red Raider fumble recovered by Cameron Bame a couple plays later would put Forestview back in business. The Jaguars were able to make it pay off on that drive with a two-yard touchdown run by Jake Lee. That broke the shutout and made the score 26-7.

South Point’s Defense Was Stout: In the first half, the South Point Red Raiders only surrendered two first downs. The defense did give up a touchdown early in the third quarter, but that was after the Red Raiders fumbled near their own ten-yard line. The starters were pulled early in the fourth quarter after the Red Raiders went up 40-7.

“I think we got better this week and that’s the goal every week.” said South Point head coach Adam Hodge “Ray’s a special kid and we’re proud of him and all he does for our school. It was a good night for three touchdowns. But someone had to block for the punt return and someone had to block for throwing touchdowns. We’re proud of him but you have to be proud of the other guys too. Jamani is a good kid. He took over for the last two weeks. He filled in for Keaton (Hale) and he’s done a good job.”

Hodge said about the defense “They bowed their neck one time on that turnover. I was proud of that. We had two goal line stands and we gave one up. But two out of three at the goal line, that’s pretty good defense.”

The Red Raiders expect Keaton Hale to be back soon. South Point travels to Clover next week. The Blue Eagles lost to Hunter Huss 21-14 in overtime. Forestview will be back home against Ashbrook for an early conference game. The Green Wave beat East Lincoln 30-14.