HobbsDailyReport.com
TAYLORSVILLE – Alexander Central High gained just shy of 500 yards and withstood a big game by North Lincoln quarterback Reed McRorie to remain unbeaten on Friday night with a 40-36 victory over the visiting Knights.
Cougars quarterback Gunnar Anderson ran for 178 yards and threw for 69 as Alexander Central (4-0) handed Butch Carter a win in his 199th game as a head coach (115-84, 17th year).
Eight of the non-conference game’s 11 scores came in the first half, and the Cougars led 34-22 at that point after Steven Montgomery, who ran 12 times for 124 yards, ran a kickoff back 94 yards for a score with eight seconds left in the half.
ALEXANDER CENTRAL 40
NORTH LINCOLN 36
There was no scoring in the third quarter.
DaeKwon Camp caught a 56-yard TD pass from McRorie, who went 17 of 32 for 262 yards with four TDs, with seven minutes, 41 seconds to play. That pulled the Knights (1-2) within 34-29.
About 2 ½ minutes later, Alexander Central’s Devon Weiss (17 carries for 87 yards) ran 16 yards for a TD and a 40-29 lead.
Camp caught a 15-yard scoring pass from Reed with 3:04 to play but the Cougars won, running their series win streak to three games (they lead the series 4-1).
McRorie hit Caleb Holley five times for 111 yards and two TDs in the loss for North Lincoln, and Camp had four receptions for 78 yards and two TDs.
Alexander Central rushed for 422 yards and gained 491, and the Knights gained 348 yards (just 86 rushing on 26 carries).
The Cougars overcame six penalties for 177 yards and three lost fumbles by going six of nine on third-down conversions and scoring on five of their six trips into the red zone.
Jordan Brown had nine tackles (1.5 for lost yardage), Tevin Clark added eight tackles and Jesse Schronce made six for the Cougars.
For North Lincoln, Holley had 11 tackles, nine of them solos, and Carter Reardon added nine tackles.
Alexander Central now heads into its bye week and will prep to start Northwestern 3A-4A play on Sept. 22 at West Caldwell.
The Knights play their second of four straight road games on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Bessemer City. They then play at West Lincoln to start their South Fork 2A schedule on Sept. 22, followed by a league game at Lake Norman Charter.