GAME PREVIEWS: N-C, Maiden battle for first; Alex Central goes for 10-0 start

By CHRIS HOBBS

HobbsDailyReport.com

Previewing tonight’s varsity football games (all statistical references are unofficial totals):

SOUTH FORK 2A

NEWTON-CONOVER (8-1, 5-0) at MAIDEN (9-0, 5-0), 7:30 p.m.

Not many high school rivalry games rise to the level of the Red Devils versus the Blue Devils, a series that can boast: a) it once had a future NASCAR champion under center (N-C’s Dale Jarrett) and b) it still has the intensity that spouses will sit on opposite sides of the field based on which high school they attended.

Maiden leads the all-time series with Newton-Conover 25-21-1 with the first game played in 1973.

Like many of the battles in a series that reaches 48 games tonight at Thomas E. Brown Stadium, the game is for sole possession of first place in a conference race (South Fork 2A).

The teams have appeared on a path for a collision, and it took Maiden beating East Lincoln 44-43 in double overtime last Friday in Maiden to keep both teams unbeaten in conference play.

QB Keygan Mayfield and dangerous WR Caleb McDaniel have led the Blue Devils offensively while QB Shamar Baker’s been a highlight film to watch most of the season for the Red Devils.

Newton-Conover’s depth served it well last week in a home win over North Lincoln and it was needed with RB Tylor Stinson sidelined by a suspension for violating a team rule. There’s no official word – school officials aren’t saying anything beyond he was suspended for last week’s game – on whether Stinson will be back tonight.

Maiden leads the all-time series 25-21-1 and 15 of those wins have been in Maiden.

Both schools have storied football traditions and are nearing benchmarks – Maiden can reach 10 wins in a season for the 25th time in school history by winning while Newton-Conover can win and have its 20th team (since 1974)with nine or more wins.

BANDYS (3-6, 1-4) at LAKE NORMAN CHARTER (3-6, 0-5), 7:30 p.m.

The Trojans and Knights play varsity football for the first time, with Bandys needing a victory to keep its (hopeful) state playoff dreams alive.

Bandys played well last week, especially with Ja’Tay Culliver back at QB, and beat West Lincoln. The Trojans also feature bullish RB Ethan Howard, who has cleared 1,000 rushing yards.

Lake Norman Charter began the season with about 30 players on its varsity roster, which will make beating the Trojans a challenge.

Bandys has something to play for as head coach Trent Lowman’s fifth season continues – the Trojans are vying for their 23rd postseason bid and, without a win tonight, they’re likely headed to a third straight losing season for the first the 1990 through 1993 seasons.

WEST LINCOLN (3-6, 1-4) at EAST LINCOLN (5-4, 4-1), 7:30 p.m.

East Lincoln played well enough to win its sixth straight game last Friday night in Maiden before falling 44-43 in double overtime.

Winning tonight at home would realistically carry with it a 13th straight year in the state playoffs for the Mustangs, who are 46-8 in their last 54 games.

RB Chandler Jones and QB Chase Jones are a viable 1-2 punch offensively, and Ryan Matz is a nicely-sized, athletic force on defense.

The Rebels, who have reached the playoffs five times in the last seven seasons, must win to keep alive a chance to get back into the postseason.

RB Nathakan Phanshook is one of West Lincoln’s leaders.

The Rebels, who have lost three straight, will have to play well to slow down the Mustangs.

LINCOLNTON (4-5, 3-2) at NORTH LINCOLN (2-7, 1-4), 7:30 p.m.

The Wolves go for their third straight victory and can reach five or more wins for the 17th straight season by beating the Knights tonight on the road.

RB Tyshaun Harris leads Lincolnton’s offense and its running game, while the Wolves’ secondary must be ready to try to slow down Knights QB Reed McRorie and RB Clayton Cribb, who just made a visit to Navy last weekend.

North Lincoln usually doesn’t have the upper hand in playmakers on the field when facing the Wolves but may have a few more this time around.

It’s game No. 40 for Ledford Gibson as Lincolnton’s head coach, and he’s 29-10 and trying to get the Wolves to the state playoffs for the 17th consecutive season.

The last time Lincolnton failed to win five games Bill Clinton roamed the White House halls (1999).

NORTHWESTERN FOOTHILLS 2A

BUNKER HILL (1-9, 1-4) at PATTON (7-2, 4-0), 7:30 p.m.

The Bears and Panthers play for just the second time with their only other meeting coming at Patton in 2008 and the Panthers winning 30-22.

Things are pretty cut and dried for both teams – Bunker Hill’s season ends tonight (it has a bye next week), and Patton needs a victory to stay tied for first place in the league and set up a showdown next Friday at co-leader Hibriten.

Slice and dice it anyway you like, Patton has been a gutsy team this season and hasn’t let losing QB Joe Eakin to an early-season injury derail a promising year.

QB Ty Causby has emerged as a leader for head coach Tom Eanes, whose team could play him into consideration for N.C. Associated Press Coach of the Year – given the challenges faced — if it makes some noise in the postseason.

Eanes, coaching game No. 45 at Patton, can gain career victory No. 147 if his team wins tonight.

Bunker Hill needs a win to close head coach David Haynie’s second season. If the Bears don’t get it, they will post a 10-loss season for the sixth time in school history (2006, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2016).

FRED T. FOARD (6-3, 2-2) at EAST BURKE (1-8, 0-4), 7:30 p.m.

The Tigers aren’t going to win a conference championship but they still have a lot riding on tonight’s game.

It’s the first Tigers-Cavs matchup since 2007 and the 10th game in a series led by East Burke 5-4.

Foard has won only one of five trips to Icard — the last in 2007 — and all of those games except that one in 2007 were season-openers.

The Tigers’ offense should be a challenge for the Cavs, as opposing defenses have to worry about Foard’s 1-2-3 punch of QB Jack Colosimo and RBs Tate Beaver and Corey Siemer.

Foard head coach Derrick Minor, who now has 40 career wins and nine of them at Foard, came up with an approach this season that the Tigers have bought into … and he deserves consideration for Northwestern Foothills 2A Coach of the Year if the Tigers go 8-3.

First things first, though, and that is winning in Icard tonight. If they do, the Tigers will reach seven or more wins for the 10th time in school history (1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2006 and 2008).

HIBRITEN (9-0, 4-0) at WEST IREDELL (5-4, 3-1), 7:30 p.m.

In what may be the biggest game for West Iredell in many years, the Warriors get their shot at perhaps the most consistent program in the Greater Hickory area over the past 10 seasons.

Using their depth on offense and hard-nosed defense, Hibriten is again in line to reach 10-0 if it wins tonight on the road.

The Panthers have had nine others teams win 10 or more games – 1979, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2016 – and they have won three straight over West Iredell, the last two matchups in high-scoring games (69-37, 67-39), and in three consecutive games at West Iredell.

It’s likely a mixed-sort-of-feelings game for Warriors head coach Monte Simmons, who was a Hibriten assistant before going to West Iredell as the boss.

A win would be big for the Warriors, keeping alive their hopes of at least sharing a league title, as they also go for their first winning season since 2011. They have not made the state playoffs the last five seasons after reaching them 10 straight seasons before that.

NORTHWESTERN 3A-4A

ALEXANDER CENTRAL (9-0, 5-0) at HICKORY (6-4, 3-2), 7:30 p.m.

The Cougars get their first shot at nailing down an outright conference title tonight at Barger Stadium. They go in unbeaten and up two games on four other teams, including Hickory. They’ll close the regular season next Friday night at South Caldwell.

QB Gunnar Anderson and RBs Bryson Godfrey and Tevin Clark lead a high-scoring Cougars offense as Alexander Central attempts to post the third 10-win season in school history. The other big winners, both with 11 wins, were in 1983 and in 2009, and the Cougars have three previous league titles – outright in 1983 and 2009 and they shared another in 1982.

Alexander Central, down 7-16 in the series since the first game in 1985, has won three of the last four against Hickory.

The Red Tornadoes, with head coach Russell Stone calling the shots in his 415th game of a 39-year career, are capable of giving any team in the league a game. That’s primarily because of the athleticism of QB Derrien Phillips.

With Phillips at the controls, Hickory has a shot at reaching seven or more wins for the first time since 2012.

The Red Tornadoes were 4-29 in the previous three seasons.

Alexander Central head coach Butch Carter pursues career win No. 121 tonight in Hickory, where the Cougars are 4-8 in games at Barger Stadium (also 0-2 when the teams played at Lenoir-Rhyne University).

SOUTH CALDWELL (1-8, 1-4) at ST. STEPHENS (3-6, 2-3), 7:30 p.m.

It could be another competitive game in Hickory, although the outcome will probably have a greater impact on the Indians.

St. Stephens needs a win to have a shot at a postseason bid while the Spartans are going to the state playoffs as the top 4A team from the Northwestern 3A-4A by virtue of having beaten the only other 4A team, McDowell.

The Spartans have won six of the last seven matchups with the Indians, including the last five in Hickory, but will have to play a solid game to keep that going.

St. Stephens, led by QB Justin Bullock, could already be a five-win team with a few breaks along the way.

South Caldwell needs a win to avoid potentially winning one or fewer games for the 11th time in school history.

The Indians could get to 6-6 if they win tonight — then at home against Hickory and a state playoff game – but they appear headed to a losing record for the 34th time in school history.

WATAUGA(7-2, 3-2) at FREEDOM (6-3, 3-2), 7:30 p.m.

The Pioneers and Patriots are part of a four-way tie for second place in the conference standings, so tonight’s game has seeding implications for the state playoffs.

QB Anderson Castle leads Watauga while QB Jayden Birchfield, a sophomore, has emerged as one of the Northwestern 3A-4A’s top scoring threats for Freedom.

Since head coach Ryan Habich arrived in Boone five seasons ago, this series has changed dramatically.

The teams have played 32 games since 1981 with Freedom leading the series 28-4 and winning 13 of the 15 battles in Morganton.

Freedom once had a 24-game win streak against the Pioneers before Watauga won in Morganton in 2007. After Freedom then won four straight, Watauga won by 28 points last season in Boone.

Each of Habich’s previous four teams won at least eight games, and Watauga’s made six straight trips to the postseason.

The Patriots, trying to gain career win 167 for head coach Jim Bob Bryant in his first season in Morganton, have won at least seven games in six of the previous seven seasons (they were 6-6 last year).

WEST CALDWELL (6-3, 3-2) at McDOWELL (1-8, 0-5), 7:30 p.m.

The Warriors need a win to stay in contention to finish as high as second in the conference. They share that spot with Hickory, Freedom and Watauga going into tonight’s game in Marion.

RB Taye Dula has been the biggest spark of late for West Caldwell with two 300-yard rushing games, and the Warriors are looking to win seven or more games for the 14th time in school history.

The Warriors overcame not having their first-year head coach, DeVore Holman, early as he recovered from an injury he suffered during East-West practices in Greensboro over the summer.

McDowell’s only win is 43-6 over Avery County in the second game of the season.

West Caldwell has made a big turnaround – getting back to being competitive – by winning 23 of its last 35 games. Prior to that, the Warriors went 9-79 over an eight-season stretch.

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