Maiden High quarterback Bain Sipe throws downfield on Friday night at East Rutherford, where the Cavs nipped the Blue Devils 17-10 in the first round of the state 2A football playoffs./PHOTO COURTESY OF OBSERVER NEWS ENTERPRISE
No. 16 seed East Lincoln upsets Canton Pisgah,
earns rematch with league foe North Lincoln
HobbsDailyReport.com
LENOIR — Hibriten High won its 28th straight game handily on Friday night, opening defense of its state 2AA football title with a 63-0 home romp over East Henderson.
The second-seeded Panthers (12-0) will face No. 10 South Point (9-3) in the second round on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in Lenoir.
South Point advanced by winning 28-7 at seventh-seeded Mount Pleasant, earning its second trip to Hibriten in three seasons. The Red Raiders beat the Panthers 26-0 in the West 3A final in 2016.
Hibriten, unbeaten last year (16-0), got three rushing scores each from running backs McKinley Witherspoon and Marqwone Jones to eliminate No. 15 seed East Henderson.
With East Lincoln upsetting No. 1 seed Canton Pisgah, Hibriten will be at home as it tries to win three more games and return to the state 2AA title game.
If the Panthers beat South Point, they will face No. 6 West Stokes (11-1) or No. 3 Bandys (11-1) in the third round.
No. 16 East Lincoln 13, No. 1 Canton Pisgah 10
CANTON – After stopping the Black Bears on a fourth-and-1 to regain possession in the final minute of a state 2AA game, the Mustangs won when Jason Barnett threw a TD pass to Paulie Menegay.
The pass of approximately 30 yards earned East Lincoln (6-6) a second round game on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at South Fork 2A rival North Lincoln (9-3, No. 8 seed).
North Lincoln beat East Lincoln 24-16 at East Lincoln earlier this season.
Canton Pisgah finished 10-2.
The East Lincoln-North Lincoln winner meets No. 13 Ashe County (10-2) or No. 4 Shelby (9-3) in the third round.
No. 8 North Lincoln 42, No. 9 Smoky Mountain 6
LINCOLNTON – The Knights forced six turnovers and won at home in a first round state 2AA playoff game.
Playing only the second home postseason football game in school history, North Lincoln (9-3) recovered a fumble and had two interceptions in the first quarter, converting them to a 21-0 lead.
Running back Jake Soorus had 101 yards on nine carries and a TD and running back Clayton Cribb added 65 yards on 11 carries and scored once to spark the Knights.
Defensive back Jacob Cline had four interceptions for North Lincoln.
The Knights face South Fork 2A and Lincoln County foe East Lincoln in a second round game Friday at 7:30 p.m. at North Lincoln.
North Lincoln nipped East Lincoln 24-16 on the road in their conference game.
The East Lincoln-North Lincoln winner meets No. 13 Ashe County (10-2) or No. 4 Shelby (9-3) in the third round.
No. 6 West Stokes 36, No. 11 Fred T. Foard 27
KING – West Stokes won a state 2AA first round game with a late score, winning despite three rushing TDs by Foard running back Corey Siemer.
Jack Colosimo added a rushing score for the Tigers, who finished 6-6 to post back-to-back non-losing seasons for the first time since going 10-2 in 1982 and 8-2-1 in 1983.
Foard is 15-10 in the last two seasons and 18-18 after head coach Derrick Minor’s third season.
The Tigers had won 16 games in seven seasons before Minor arrived.
No. 4 Shelby 27, No. 13 West Lincoln 8
SHELBY – Cannon Bridges had the only score for West Lincoln – a 54-yard run –as it fell on the road to the Golden Lions in a first-round state 2AA playoff game.
Shelby limited West Lincoln’s offense to 251 yards, all of it rushing.
Dashaun Christopher had two interceptions for Shelby, returning one for a TD.
The Rebels finished 9-3, setting a school record for single-season wins, but West Lincoln still has not won a postseason game.
Shelby (9-3) is at home Friday night at 7:30 p.m., playing a second round game against No. 5 Ashe County (10-2), a 49-14 winner over No. 12 Salisbury.
2A
No. 7 East Rutherford 17, No. 10 Maiden 10
BOSTIC – A 2-yard TD run by Demetrius Mauney with 36.9 seconds to play carried East Rutherford past Maiden in a first-round 2A playoff game.
An interception after Mauney’s score by Calvin Jones, his second of the game, sealed the victory for the Cavs.
East Rutherford (10-2) travels to No. 2 Reidsville (12-0) for a second round game Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Maiden, denied its 51st postseason win, finished 8-4.
The game was tied 3-all until the fourth quarter after a first-quarter field goal of 22 yards by Austin Roderick for the Cavs and a 26-yard field goal by Maiden’s Casey Ly with 3:23 to go in the third quarter.
East Rutherford went up 10-3 when Jayden Waddell took a screen pass from Cameron Simmons 37 yards for a TD with 6:11 to play.
The Blue Devils tied it at 10 about 3 ½ minutes later when Bain Sipe threw a scoring pass to Dylan Abernethy.
Maiden fell in the opening round for the third straight season and for the eighth time in its last 11 trips to the postseason.
The Blue Devils haven’t reached as deep as the third round since 2011.
No. 4 Wheatmore 24, No. 13 Patton 0
TRINITY – Playing the first home postseason game in school history, Wheatmore knocked Patton out of the state 2A playoffs and picked up its first playoff victory.
Wheatmore’s defense scored its fifth shutout of the season.
The Warriors (11-1) are at home Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the second round, facing No. 5 West Stanly (7-4), a 21-13 winner over Thomasville.
Wheatmore survived losing its starting quarterback to injury in the second quarter.
The Warriors gained an early lead on an 84-yard punt return for a TD by Jordan Kight. They padded that lead on an 11-yard scoring run by Alex Trexler (142 rushing yards).
Patton, in its first season under head coach Jonathan Browning, finished 6-6. The Panthers are 23-15 over the last three seasons and have been to the state playoffs in each of the last four.
After 11 varsity football seasons, Patton is 50-77 with six trips to the postseason.
3AA
No. 6 Asheville Erwin 48, No. 11 Alexander Central 21
ASHEVILLE – Quarterback Kendrick Weaver had 467 yards of total offense, including 363 passing for five scores, as Erwin eliminated the Cougars in a first round state 3AA playoff game.
Weaver ran 13 times for 104 yards and completed 16 of 21 passes, hitting Simeon Thompson for TDs three times and Rashod Chaffin for two scores. Thompson had seven catches for 207 yards and Chaffin caught two passes for 112 yards.
Erwin (10-1) had 519 yards, outgaining Alexander Central by 208, and led 21-7 by halftime.
Tevin Clark ran 17 times for 95 yards to lead the Cougars (9-3), who were eliminated in the opening playoff round for the eighth straight time.
Blaise Bailey had nine tackles and Landon Taylor had six to lead Erwin’s defense while Nick McNeely (8), Ryheem Craig (7) and Lucas Walker (7) led Alexander Central in tackles. McNeely had two hits for lost yardage, Craig had 1 ½ and Walker had 2 ½ for negative yards.
Erwin punted only once and converted seven of 11 third downs to the Cougars’ seven of 14.
No. 1 Watauga 49, No. 16 Ashbrook 0
BOONE – Running backs Bryce Satterfield and Jaiden Bond combined for 287 rushing yards and Satterfield ran for two scores as the top-seed Pioneers (12-0) rolled in a state 3AA playoff game.
Satterfield had 10 carries for 175 yards and scoring runs of 53 and 25 yards while Bond added 112 yards on nine carries.
Quarterback Anderson Castle had two scoring runs and threw for one for Watauga, which led 21-0 by halftime.
Watauga limited the Green Wave to 136 yards of offense and won handily even though Ashbrook had the ball for more than 30 minutes.
The Pioneers gained 449 yards.
Watauga is at home Friday at 7:30 p.m. against No. 8 Winston-Salem Parkland (11-1), a 32-19 winner over No. 9 Asheville.
4A
No. 5 Mooresville 51, No. 12 McDowell 10
MOORESVILLE – Wide receiver Sean Hill, shifted to quarterback because an injury kept the Blue Devils starter out, ran for two TDs and threw for another in a first-round state 4A playoff victory at home.
Hill’s scoring runs were 58 yards and from the 1 and he threw a 25-yard TD pass to Quamer Conner that had Mooresville ahead 35-10 at one point.
Hill started because Hunter DeBarardino was sidelined by a concussion suffered the week before.
McDowell, falling to 4-8 this season and 1-18 all-time in the postseason, had an early 3-0 lead after a 27-yard field goal by Seth Baird.
Mooresville led 14-3 after two scoring runs by Keshaun Black (60 and 25 yards) before the Titans’ closed within four points on a 25-yard fumble return for a TD by Tice Edwards.
McDowell’s Adam Randolph completed 15 of 27 passes for 97 yards to become the first Titans quarterback to throw for 2,000 yards. He finished with 18 scoring passes.