Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 8 Picks

South Point 20 – Ashbrook 7

Forestview 48 – North Gaston 14

Hunter Huss 47 – East Gaston 14

Stuart Cramer 34 – Lake Norman Charter 7

Lincolnton 41 – Bandys 6

Newton-Conover 34 – West Lincoln 13

East Lincoln 48 – Bunker Hill 7

Shelby 48 – East Rutherford 14

Crest 28 – Kings Mountain 10

Bessemer City 48 – Community School of Davidson 13

Thomas Jefferson 34 – Cherryville 12

Pine Lake Prep 38 – Highland Tech 7

Mountain Island Charter 51 – Sandhills Titans 13

Area Conferences In Tight Races

Big South Conference Up For Grabs

When many people talk Big South 3A/2A football, you typically talk about the South Point Red Raiders and how they have dominated the conference. The Red Raiders have only lost two conference games since 2007. Both of those were to Forestview (2009, 2014). They have won 8 of the last 9. But with South Point’s 21-16 loss to Hunter Huss, the conference is up for grabs.
Forestview and Stuart Cramer are also in the picture. Cramer opened up conference play with a 21-14 win over Ashbrook, but stumbled against Forestview 13-6 in a defensive battle. The Jaguars and the Huskies are 2-0 in conference play. South Point, Cramer, Ashbrook and East Gaston are 1-1. Ashbrook finally broke through last Friday with a 53-25 win at North Gaston. But can they keep that momentum up against a dangerous South Point squad? With East Gaston giving up over 40 points a game, it is unlikely they will contend for the title unless they can make some big adjustments on defense.

Southern District 2A Is Also In The Air

With Lincolnton’s 42-35 over defending conference champ, East Lincoln, the Wolves are likely in the driver’s seat for the conference title. However, Maiden and West Caldwell are also undefeated in league play and could challenge for the title later on. The Warriors travel to take on the Blue Devils this week in a key matchup.
The Mustangs are not out of the running yet. If one of these teams knocks off the Wolves and East Lincoln does not lose again the rest of the way, there could be a logjam at the top. With two losses in the conference already, Newton-Conover is likely out of the running but they are dangerous enough to play spoiler down the stretch.
As with the Big South, the Southern District conference is one to keep an eye on.

Shelby Still Favored In South Mountain, But Burns and Crest Keep Pace

One thing that has remained constant this year is the dominance of the Shelby Golden Lions.  Shelby (7-0)(4-0) scores just over an average of 42 points a game while surrendering less than 9 points. Burns is also 7-0 overall and 4-0 in conference play. Could the Bulldogs give Shelby a run for their money later on in the year?
Crest (5-1)(3-0) socred the most they have scored all year in a 35-0 win over Chase. The Chargers have not been as dominant as in years past, but they usually play their best toward the end of the season. Will that be enough to topple this year's Shelby squad?

Jaguars Weather Storm In Defensive Battle

Coming into this game, many people expected a tight defensive battle. They got it, too. Stuart Cramer took a 6-0 half-time lead with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Jaylen Rocquemore to Isaiah Foust. They scored that touchdown with just over half a minute left in the first half.

Forestview would keep trying to pound the ball with their Power-I set. Eventually, they would break through. Jayveon Love would get the Jaguars on the board with a nine-yard touchdown run. The game would stay tied at 6-6. The Storm threatened to strike again early in the fourth quarter. But Rocquemore was intercepted by Aveon Reid near the end-zone. That would be their first of three fourth quarter turnovers.

Chapperal Smith gave Forestview the lead with less than three minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Dylan Disarro’s extra point kick would make it 13-6. Desperate to keep the game alive the Storm drove down the field, but the Jaguars’ Jared Carter ended Cramer’s drive with an interception. But the Storm caught a break when Adam Hannibal recovered a Nate Whitaker fumble. But Cramer was not able to capitalize. Rocquemore was intercepted a third time, this time by Rhett Jenkins.

Jayveon Love led Forestview with 106 rushing yards and a touchdown. Chapperal Smith amassed 86 yards and a touchdown. Jaylen Rocquemore led Stuart Cramer with 172 passing yards and a touchdown, but had three interceptions.

The Storm will host Lake Norman Charter. The Jaguars will be home for the first time in over a month as they host North Gaston.

"I think it's one of those games you can't say anything negative on either side." said Forestview head coach Chris Medlin "Right now, the strength of our team is our defense playing well. I think we can run the ball at times on people and we're going to try and keep working that out. We're going to add some passes in there as well. It's just a great game all the way around. A lof of credit to (Cramer) for fighting. We just kept plugging and plugging and finally found a way. That's what I'm proud of."

"Our defense has played exceptionally well. Our guys improved tremendously." said Cramer head coach Ben McMillan "(Offensively) Our five guys up front did a good job. We got some people we can spread the ball around to. The penalties hurt us and the interceptions hurt us. I feel like we can be one of the top teams in the conference. We just got to stay together and keep working hard. Future is still bright for us."

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 7 Picks

Lincolnton 35 – East Lincoln 28

Forestview 28 – Stuart Cramer 21

South Point 27 – Hunter Huss 13

Ashbrook 20 – North Gaston 13

Lake Norman Charter 21 – East Gaston 20

West Lincoln 31 – Bunker Hill 13

Shelby 41 – East Burke 6

Crest 27 – Chase 14

Kings Mountain 30 – Jimmy Draughn 13

Burns 34 – East Rutherford 20

Mountain Island Charter 51 – Highland Tech 6

Blacksburg, SC 31 – Thomas Jefferson 21

Mooresville 35 – North Lincoln 10

 

Game of the Week: East Lincoln’s home game against Lincolnton is likely going to decide the conference championship. Although, conference foes, Maiden, Newton-Conover and West Caldwell may have something to say about that. The Mustangs defense has pitched two shutouts this year and have held two of their opponents to less than seven points. Lincolnton’s offense, on the other hand, has only scored less than 40 points only once this year and that was in their 25-24 overtime win over South Point. In the other games, the Wolves are averaging 56 points a game. Something is going to have to give in this matchup.

Other Games Of Interest: South Point, Hunter Huss, Forestview and Stuart Cramer all began conference play with a win and they are playing each other. Hunter Huss will travel to South Point while Forestview travels to Stuart Cramer. The Red Raiders probably had the stiffest competition in non-conference play going up against Shelby (6-0), Lincolnton (5-0), Clover (5-0) and Crest (4-1). South Point beat Crest, but fell to the other three. Their only lopsided loss was to Shelby, 24-0. Hunter Huss faced East Lincoln (5-0), Burns (5-0), Porter Ridge (3-2) and Hickory (0-5). The Huskies only nonconference win was against Hickory. The Huskies lost the others by a combined nine points. So this looks to be a competitive matchup.

Forestview had their ups and downs in non-conference play with wins over Providence Day and Kings Mountain and with losses to Clover and East Lincoln. Cramer is off to their best start ever with a 4-1 record. Their win last week over Ashbrook was the first time they opened league play with a win. Can they maintain the momentum or will the Jaguars be too tough for the Storm.

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland County Best To Last

1. Shelby (6-0)(3-0) - The Golden Lions are still the undisputed #1 team in the area. Doesn't look like anyone will take that from them anytime soon.

2. Lincolnton (5-0)(1-0) - The Wolves are still favored to win their conference, but will face their biggest test this week in #3 East Lincoln.

3. East Lincoln (5-0)(1-0) - The Mustangs have not missed a step so far this year. Could they take down #2 Lincolnton and retain their dominance in the District 7 2A?

4. Burns (6-0)(3-0) - Burns has quietly put together an undefeated season. But they got some bigger tests down the line.

5. South Point (2-3)(1-0) - The Red Raiders got back on track with a dominant 58-7 crushing of #17 East Gaston.

6. Crest (4-1)(2-0) - The Chargers have been winning, but they have not been as dominant as they have been in the past. Makes their week 11 matchup with #4 Burns that more intriguing.

7. Stuart Cramer (4-1)(1-0) - The Storm began conference play with a win for the first time in school history with a 21-14 win over Ashbrook. They will have another tough task against #8 Forestview.

8. Forestview (3-2)(1-0) - The Jaguars got back on the right track last week with a 35-7 win against Lake Norman Charter. #7 Cramer will give the Jaguars a tougher game though.

9. Kings Mountain (3-3)(1-2) - The Mountaineers have been bit by the injury bug and it has hurt them as they lost their last two games to #1 Shelby (39-9) and #4 Burns (28-17).

10. Bessemer City (4-2)(1-0) - The Yellow Jackets conclude nonconference play with a 48-12 win over Highland Tech. They are poised to take their conference. They are off this Friday, though.

11. Mountain Island Charter (4-1)(3-1) - The Raptors have gotten their conference games out of the way early and should be in position to take second place. They play their final league game at Highland Tech this week.

12. Hunter Huss (2-3)(1-0) - The Huskies have won two in a row after starting off 0-3 and are off to a good start in conference play. They will travel to #5 South Point.

13. Thomas Jefferson (4-1)(0-1) - Since their 31-13 loss to Mountain Island Charter, the Gryphons have won three straight, but they will face a tough test against 4-1 Blacksburg.

14. Ashbrook (1-4)(0-1) - The Green Wave have struggled this year. But in three of their losses, they have not lost by anymore than seven points.

15. West Lincoln (3-2)(0-1) - The Rebels took a hard fall a couple of weeks ago to #2 Lincolnton 46-9. The Rebels are coming off a bye week and are looking to rebound against Bunker Hill.

16. North Lincoln (1-4)(1-0) - The Knights got their first win of the season with a 25-17 win over North Iredell, but they will have a tougher time against Mooresville this week.

17. East Gaston (1-4)(0-1) - The struggles continue for the Warriors. Last week's 58-7 loss to South Point was the epitome of it. They are hoping to rebound against Lake Norman Charter.

18. North Gaston (1-4)(0-1) - The Wildcats have also had a tough time of it this year. They face #14 Ashbrook who has also struggled.

19. Cherryville (0-6)(0-0) - The Ironmen are still winless on the season. They will be off this week before starting conference play.

20. Highland Tech (1-4)(0-0) - The Rams are still looking for their first on-the-field win since 2013.

After Slow Start, Jaguars Trounce Knights

                Today began conference play for all Big South teams. Two of them squared off at Lake Norman Charter. The Knights entered the night 4-0. The Jaguars entered at 2-2. The Knights wound up taking their first loss of the year. Forestview won 35-7.

Things looked promising for Lake Norman Charter early on with some dink and dunk pass plays from quarterback Teddy Spooner and some tough running by Sean Dugan. The Knights had the ball most of the first quarter and made it all the way to the Jaguars’ seven yard line. The defense stiffened, however, and the Knights came away empty.

The Jaguars went on a tear in the second quarter. It started with Jayveon Love returning a punt all the way to the Lake Norman Charter 20-yard line. Chapperal (Ral) Smith scored on the next play with a 20-yard touchdown run. Love would return another punt into the Knights red zone. This time, it was at the 14-yard line. Nathan Whitaker took it in a couple plays later for a 12-yard touchdown run. Love would get a score of his own later in the half with a six-yard touchdown run. Dylan Disarro was 3-for-3 for extra point kicks in the first half. The score was 21-0.

The Knights received the second half kickoff and drove down the field. This time, the Knights would score. Teddy Spooner hit Will Watts for a four-yard touchdown pass to cut the Jaguars’ lead. Garrett Mitchell’s extra point made it 21-7. After pushing Forestview back to their own two-yard line, Lake Norman Charter got the ball back. But the drive would end as Jared Carter intercepted a pass by Spooner.

Forestview pulled away in the fourth quarter with a nine-yard run by Nathan Whitaker. Disarro’s extra point was good. Jayveon Love’s 11-yard rushing touchdown capped off the night. Holt Cloninger’s extra point kick made the final 35-7.

“It’s a good game, won by 28. It’s a conference win. We’re 1-0 so were pleased with that. We got some things we got to work on. Give (Lake Norman Charter) a lot of credit. They were a good team. They are scrappy.” Said Forestview head coach Chris Medlin “We had too many (penalties). We got to get that corrected. Overall, I am pleased. We just got to get ready for another one next week.”

“We just needed to start strong that second half. We got the kind of spark that we needed. We started to turn some momentum. But unfortunately, late in the third quarter it just did not go our way.” said Knights head coach Mark Steele “I’m proud of our guys for being right there in the third quarter.”

Forestview (3-2)(1-0) will be on the road for their third consecutive game against Stuart Cramer (4-1)(1-0). Lake Norman Charter (4-1)(0-1) travels to East Gaston (1-4)(0-1).

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 6 Picks

Ashbrook 26 – Stuart Cramer 21

South Point 49 – East Gaston 14

Hunter Huss 41 – North Gaston 14

Forestview 34 – Lake Norman Charter 14

East Lincoln 55 – Bandys 13

Shelby 48 – Kings Mountain 13

Crest 24 – R-S Central 7

Burns 48 – East Burke 7

North Lincoln 21 – North Iredell 17

Bessemer City 48 – Highland Tech 6

Forbush 24 – Cherryville 21

Mountain Island Charter 38 – Community School of Davidson 14

Thomas Jefferson 42 – Carolina Crusaders 13