HobbsDailyReport.com
Butch Carter, in his second season as head football coach at Alexander Central High, has the Cougars in first place in the Northwestern 3A-4A this season. They are 14-5 since he came to Taylorsville./TAYLORSVILLE TIMES PHOTO
MORGANTON – Alexander Central High — getting more than 300 rushing yards from Devon Weiss and Gunnar Anderson — emphatically removed something from its we-have-not-done list on Friday night.
Weiss, a running back, ran 25 times for 181 yards and two touchdowns and Anderson, a quarterback, ran four times for 137 yards and two scores as the Cougars took over sole possession of first place with a 33-27 road victory over Freedom.
ALEX CENTRAL 33
FREEDOM 27
The win — Alexander Central’s first at Freedom in 15 tries dating back to 1985 – put the Cougars atop the Northwestern 3A-4A football standings. They are 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the league and a game up on three teams that share second place (Watauga, Freedom and West Caldwell).
Freedom had beaten Alexander Central three straight times coming in and in 14 of the last 15 matchups, but that all changed in one night that also featured the Cougars holding the Patriots (5-2, 2-1) to 82 rushing yards.
The Patriots made their run at winning behind quarterback Jayden Birchfield, who completed 24 of 37 passes for 221 yards and four TDs, but Weiss and Anderson’s running proved to be too much to overcome.
COUGARS UNDER CARTER
Alexander Central High has won 14 of its 19 games since Butch Carter became the head coach in Taylorsville. Here’s a look at the win margin in those games, listed in the other they were played:
2016
Opponent Win/loss margin
Watauga Won by 11
at S. Caldwell Won by 47
Bandys Won by 43
at Ashe County Won by 40
at S. Iredell Lost by 18
N. Iredell Won by 47
at N. Lincoln Won by 41
Lake Norman Lost by 24
Mooresville Lost by 21
at Statesville Lost by 1
W. Iredell Won by 33
at Grbo Dudley Lost by 44
2017
Opponent Win/loss margin
Burns Won by 5
at Wilkes Central Won by 22
at N Iredell Won by 46
N. Lincoln Won by 4
at W. Caldwell Won by 24
Watauga Won by 5
at Freedom Won by 6
SOURCE: HobbsDailyReport.com research/files.
The victory, the 14th in 19 games for the Cougars since Butch Carter became their head coach, produced Carter’s 118th career victory.
Anderson opened the scoring with a 30-yard scoring throw to Kendall Flowers less than two minutes into the game.
About three minutes later, the Cougars were up 13-0 after Anderson ran 5 yards for a TD.
Birchfield’s 4-yard TD pass to Christian Fox, the only score of the second quarter, and a PAT by Onyx Velez made it 13-7 at the half.
Early in the third quarter, Anderson broke a run 51 yards for a TD to extend the Cougars’ lead to 19-7.
Freedom closed within 19-14 with 4:13 left in the third quarter when Birchfield hit Kelvis Dula with a 6-yard TD pass and Velez made a PAT.
About 40 seconds into the final quarter, Weiss scored on a 2-yard run to push the Cougars’ lead to 11 points.
Jax McMahon, who had 30 catches in his previous three games for 343 yards, caught an 11-yard pass from Birchfield with 10:24 to play to get the Patriots within 25-20.
Three minutes later, Weiss scored from the 4 and Anderson threw a two-point conversion pass to Curtis Evans for a 33-20 lead.
Tristan Somerville’s 10-yard reception from Birchfield with 4:34 to play, got Freedom within six points.
Birchfield, a sophomore, threw for more than 200 yards for the sixth straight game but the Cougars held Freedom’s running game in check. C.J. Hayden had 52 yards on 14 carries and Birchfield added 31 on eight carries.
There was only one turnover in the high stakes game, an interception of Anderson (4-of-10 for 43 yards).
The teams combined to go 14 of 25 on third-down conversions and they scored on seven of eight red-zone chances.
Jordan Brown had 14 tackles to lead the Alexander Central defense and Tevin Clark added eight.
For Freedom, which punted seven times to the Cougars’ one, Day Day Burgess had 10 tackles, Nathan Crowe made nine and K.K. Bristol and Ryan Woods each added eight.
Alexander Central won for just the fourth time in a 27-game series.
The Cougars have a home game next Friday against McDowell (7:30 p.m.) while Freedom goes to Hudson to play South Caldwell in a league game at 7:30 p.m.