Huskies Win Big, Shut Out Chargers Again

                The Hunter Huss Huskies and the Crest Chargers played in a rematch from a game that the Huskies won 14-0 earlier in the year. Both teams played in rematches last week. The Huskies beat Burns 45-6, a team they beat earlier 41-0. The Chargers beat Stuart Cramer 41-14, a team they beat 27-7 earlier in the year. So if that was any indication, it would not bode well for Crest as they sought to avenge their loss in the regular season.

                The Huskies took a 7-0 lead with a three-yard touchdown run by quarterback Zo Wallace (PAT good) on the first play in the second quarter. The Chargers started to get a drive going of their own, but a fumble near the Husky 20-yard line stalled the drive. The Huskies were poised to extend the lead when Zo Wallace connected with Jaheim Mullen for a 58-yard pass play that placed the ball at the Chargers’ eight-yard line. But the Huskies would fumble it the Chargers recovered. They were unable to do anything with it however. Wallace was intercepted by Landon Zanders on the next drive, but the Chargers could not capitalize. As the half was coming to a close, the Huskies got into field goal range but procedure penalties and a sack by Rae-Kwon Young-Turner kept the Huskies from putting points on the board as the half expired.

                In the second half, the Huskies got the ball and got a long drive going that took nearly nine minutes. The drive was capped off on a fourth-and-goal play. That was a one-yard touchdown run by Malik Corry (PAT good). The Chargers would self-destruct from that point forward. A fumble late in the third quarter set the Huskies up near the Chargers’ ten-yard line. Wallace would connect with Jamal Littlejohn for a ten-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter.

                The onslaught was on from there. A Wallace 25-yard touchdown pass to Jaheim Mullen seemingly put the nail in the coffin. The defense would also get in on the scoring. Chase Williamson picked off a pass Crest quarterback Peyton Kemmerlin and took it 46 yards for a touchdown. Trevor Hargett was 5-for-5 on his extra point kicks. Zo Wallace led the Husky offense with 136 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown. He was only intercepted once. Jaheim Mullen amassed 124 yards receiving and a touchdown.

                “It was a heavy weight fight for a while. We just couldn’t get anything going. They are really good defensively.” said Crest head coach Nick Eddins “(The drive in the third quarter) was kept alive by an unsportsmanlike penalty which was the story of the first two touchdowns. Can’t do those kinds of things and expect to win big football games. That’s a credit to them. They stuck it to us.”

                “Great team win. The state tournament is alive and in full effect. One down, one more to go.” Said Hunter Huss head coach Jamar McCoy “We will celebrate this win tonight and get ready to exchange film with Charlotte Catholic “We felt that drive in the third quarter was the turning point of the game. We wanted to come out in the second half and just drive the ball and grind it. So Wallace took charge and did a wonderful job.”

                “The nail in the coffin was definitely the interception by Chase Williamson. There were some wonderful blocks up the sideline from some of the guys to spring him for the long run.” McCoy said about the interception return for a touchdown and the defensive performance “Coach Mauney and the defensive staff do a marvelous job of coaching those kids up and having them prepared on Friday nights. We did it tonight without our star linebacker Prince Bemah who will be back in action next week. So we are definitely proud of the output from the defense tonight. He’s not only a great inside linebacker. He’s the emotional leader and he does a wonderful job.”

                The Huskies won 35-0 and have now outscored the Chargers 49-0 in two both games. Hunter Huss will host Charlotte Catholic, a 42-0 winner over Monroe.

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland County Round 2 Playoffs

 

3A

#7 Crest @ #2 Hunter Huss – Hunter Huss 14-7

#5 Kings Mountain @ #4 Statesville – Kings Mountain 35-14

2AA

#5 Ashe County @ #4 Shelby – Shelby 28-14

#10 South Point @ #2 Hibriten – Hibriten 27-24

#16 East Lincoln @ #8 North Lincoln – North Lincoln 24-21

1AA

#5 Bessemer City @ #4 East Surry – East Surry 31-14

Late Fumble Dooms Cherryville In Loss To Community School of Davidson

                The state playoffs feature a lot of conference rematches. One of those rematches is the Community School of Davidson Spartans at the Cherryville Ironmen. The Spartans defeated the Ironmen earlier this year 42-36 so they were hoping for some payback.

                Things started off good for Cherryville as they would score on their first drive with a four-yard touchdown run by Jayden Blanton (PAT good). Davidson would tie it up in the second quarter with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Austin Fekete to Ryan Renshaw (PAT good). The Ironmen retook the lead with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Dylan Harden to Sean Kostiuk (PAT good).  

                The teams would exchange turnovers late in the first half. A fumble near midfield kept the Spartans from being able to tie the game. Andrew Beam of Cherryville intercepted a half-back pass from Langston Samples. The Spartans' Devin Carbonaro intercepted a pass from Dylan Harden near the goal line toward the end of the half. The Ironmen would lead 14-7 at half-time.

                In the second half, the Spartans tied the game up again when Fekete connected with Langston Samples for a six-yard touchdown pass (PAT good). The Ironmen retook the lead early in the fourth quarter with a one-yard touchdown run by Jayden Blanton (PAT good). But the play that seemed to turn the game around took place on the next drive. In punt formation, kicker/punter Caden Bonoffski made a 28-yard pass to Brandon Ellington to keep the Spartans in business. They capitalized on the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run by Cameron McDonnell (PAT good).

                The Ironmen were unable to get a drive going after that. The Spartans took the lead for the first time with 4:35 to go when Fekete connected with Ryan Renshaw for another touchdown pass. This one was from 35 yards out (PAT good). The Ironmen made a key fourth down pass when Harden connected with Matt Cain to keep the potential game-tying drive alive. But the fumble that took place a play later would seal the deal.

                Jayden Blanton led the Cherryville offense with 149 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Austin Fekete led the Sparans offense with 182 yards passing and three touchdowns.

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland First Round Playoff Picks

3AA

#16 Ashbrook @ #1 Watauga – My pick: Watauga 35-14

3A

#15 Burns @ #2 Hunter Huss – My pick: Hunter Huss 48-14

#10 Stuart Cramer @ #7 Crest – My pick: Crest 24-7

#13 West Rowan @ #4 Kings Mountain – My pick: Kings Mountain 42-21

2AA

#13 West Lincoln @ #4 Shelby – My pick: Shelby 28-14

#16 East Lincoln @ #1 Pisgah – My pick: Pisgah 24-14

#9 Smoky Mountain @ #8 North Lincoln – My pick: North Lincoln 31-21

#10 South Point @ #7 Mount Pleasant – My pick: South Point 35-7

1AA

#9 Mountain Island Charter @ #8 Swain County – My pick: Mountain Island Charter 48-21

#12 Highland Tech @ #5 Bessemer City – My pick: Bessemer City 35-12

#10 Community School of Davidson @ #7 Cherryville – My pick: Cherryville 45-38

Vance Capitalizes On Early Turnovers, Trounces Hough

                On a field that was soggy and messy due to the rains that have hit the area, you had to figure that this would be a sloppy game. That would be the case early on as Hough would fumble two straight kickoffs. Vance would capitalize on both of them.

                Andre White got Vance on the board first with a three-yard touchdown run (PAT failed). Following the second Husky turnover, Joseph Morris extended the Cougars’ lead to 13-0 with a ten-yard touchdown run (PAT good). White would score another rushing touchdown later in the quarter with an eight yard run (PAT failed). Quarterback Nigel Summerville got in on the action when on fourth down, he connected with Nyier Clark for a 35-yard touchdown pass (kick blocked).

                All that scoring was in the first quarter alone. Vance would get into Hough territory in the second half, but would be unable to turn the drive into points. The Cougars fumbled four times throughout the game, losing only two of them. But the Husky offense never got on track.

                “We wanted to slow them down a little bit and get them playing in the mud a little bit.” Said Vance head coach Aaron Brand “We thought we had a good game plan. We knew the field conditions weren’t going to get better. We thought if we can get ahead and make those guys play comeback, then we’d be in a good situation. We got some early touchdowns. We are just happy we were able to come out of here with a victory. Another ten wins for the program. We thought we had the advantage in the run game, especially on this surface. Joe Morris got us set early. Jahlik Cooper had great runs toward the end. Andre White carried the load for most of the game. Nyier Clark and Nigel (Summerfield) made some good throws when we chose to throw the football. We’re super excited about our opportunities.”

                With the win, Vance locked up the #2 spot in the conference and Hough finished third.

               

Maiden Downs Lincolnton 13-0 In Defensive Struggle

                It was not a pretty win for the Maiden Blue Devils on Senior Night, but it was a win indeed. The Blue Devils beat the Wolves 13-0 and ended the regular season on a high note. Lincolnton’s season ends at 2-9.

                For the most part, this game was a defensive struggle. Both teams had trouble moving the ball. Maiden only led 6-0 at half-time. That was a result of a three-yard touchdown pass from Bain Sipe to Dylan Abernathy (PAT no good). Sipe would connect with Abernathy again in the third quarter for a 75-yard touchdown pass (PAT good).

                That would be all the scoring the Blue Devils would do but it would be enough. The Wolves were not void of highlights themselves as Dejarris Gash intercepted two passes from Sipe to keep Lincolnton in it. But they would not be able to get anything going offensively.

                “I think we played hard defensively. The kids gave us a good shot but offensively, we just made too many stupid mistakes and too many bad plays.” said Lincolnton head coach Ledford Gibson “We get something going then we shoot ourselves in the foot with something bad. We had good opportunities but just couldn’t take advantage of them and they played good defense against us. It just didn’t turn out our way.”

                “It wasn’t pretty. The field’s not pretty either. Had to get the game in.” said Maiden head coach Will Byrne “Defense played lights out. Coach Abernathy’s defensive staff did a great job in game-planning for what they’re doing. KK McDaniel being out and Bain Sipe coming back in at quarterback, with his injury he has not taken a snap in three weeks. But once he got some momentum going, he made some big throws. We scored just enough to get the win. That’s a good Lincolnton football team we just beat right there.”

                “We had the tough, emotional loss to Bandys and we came out flat against West Lincoln and we lose a close one to North Lincoln.” Byrne said about Maiden’s tough conference start “Then we started saying ‘Let’s just play one game at a time and let everything else take care of itself’. Because we had the high expectation of repeating as champions. Sometimes in those games that we lost, the ball doesn’t bounce your way. We’re starting to come together, play together and believe in each other at the right time. That’s the biggest thing moving forward now.”

                Maiden will wait to see who they play in the NCHSAA playoffs. The Blue Devils are expected to compete in 2A.  

Wade and Paysour Score Two Second Half Touchdowns To Take Down Crest

                With Hunter Huss having won the conference outright with an undefeated season. The Kings Mountain Mountaineers and the Crest Chargers were battling for second place and a better playoff position. It would be a defensive slugfest for most of the first half.

                Crest would hold a 3-0 lead after the first quarter with an Evan Davis 23-yard field-goal. Kings Mountain would tie it up in the second quarter with a 21-yard field-goal by Austin Browning. The Chargers would retake the lead midway through the second quarter with a 50-yard touchdown pass from Peyton Kemmerlin to Landon Zanders (PAT good). The Mountaineers would tie it again with a seven yard touchdown pass from Kaylon Wade to Ricaylen Mack (PAT good). The Chargers tried to retake the lead with a late drive that made it inside the Kings Mountain 30, but a bad snap would push them back and they were unable to get closer.

                In the second half, the Chargers retook the lead with a five-yard touchdown run by Kemmerlin (PAT good). The Mountaineers answered it later in the quarter with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Wade to Kobe Paysour. The kick was blocked however so the Chargers maintained a 17-16 lead.

                But late in the fourth quarter, the Mountaineers took the lead with another touchdown pass from Wade to Paysour. The two-point conversion failed however. But it would not matter as the Mountaineers would keep the Chargers from scoring as time ran out. Kings Mountain won 22-17.

                Raw-Kwon Young-Turner amassed 156 yards rushing for Crest (8-3)(5-2) while Peyton Kemmerlin passed for 82 yards and a touchdown along with his rushing touchdown. Ricaylen Mack amassed 124 scrimmage yards (111 rushing and 13 receiving) and a receiving touchdown for Kings Mountain (9-2)(6-1). Kaylon Wade passed for 169 yards and three touchdowns. Kobe Paysour was his top receiver with 98 yards and two touchdowns.

                “It was quite a ball game. Crest has an excellent team. I thought we played well. It came down to the very end.” Said Kings Mountain head coach Greg Lloyd “Either team could have won tonight. Kobe made a play right there. I thought our offensive line did a great job tonight. Crest has an excellent defense. They are a well-coached team.”

                “Our kids played hard. They played for 48 minutes and Kings Mountain just made one more play than we did right at the end.” said Crest head coach Nick Eddins “They got a great player. They got him the ball and we missed some tackles and that’s just how it was. It was back and forth. They got a good football team over there. They coach them up. Their kids played hard and our kids played hard.”

                Both are expected to compete in the NCHSAA 3A state playoffs.