By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
A look at tonight’s season-opening games:
BUNKER HILL at NEWTON-CONOVER, 7:30 p.m.
The Red Devils begin their fourth season under head coach Matt Beam wearing the favorite’s tag in the South Fork 2A – or bull’s eye, depending on how you look at it – and first face a Catawba County rival at Gurley Stadium.
Newton-Conover is expected to have another lively offense and be better defensively as it battles for a conference title.
These old rivals didn’t play until the next-to-last playing date in the Southern District 7 Athletic 2A last season, and the Red Devils won 36-24 when Shamar Baker, who returns, ran for two scores and threw for two others. Baker and RB Tylor Stinson, who also returns, had 306 rushing yards in that win.
Bunker Hill was hit hard by graduation and also lost one of its better players, Bernie Briley, when his family moved to Iredell County (he’s playing for West Iredell).
Newton-Conover has won three straight in the series and 11 of the last 12 matchups with the Bears, who are 5-12 in Gurley Stadium since 1982.
Beam got his 100th career win to end last season, beating Bandys 31-29 in Newton, and a win tonight would give him 20 with the Red Devils.
MAIDEN at FRED T. FOARD, 7:30 p.m.
Head coach Derrick Minor is building some excitement at Foard. He has two key offensive players returning, and he’s ready to take a shot at the Blue Devils.
Maiden is always a big challenge for the Tigers, maybe even their toughest when all the numbers are collected.
The Blue Devils have won six straight over Foard, 28 of the last 29 meetings and is 14-2 at Foard since 1982.
Foard last beat Maiden at Foard in 1985, and the Blue Devils have since won 14 straight times on the Tigers’ field.
Last season — with now graduated Caleb Farley leading an explosive offense — Maiden beat Foard 53-0 at Maiden.
The Tigers have RB Tate Beaver and QB Jack Colisimo back in the lineup. They had all 106 rushing yards Foard posted in last year’s loss.
BANDYS at ST. STEPHENS, 7:30 p.m.
The Trojans open their fifth season under head coach Trent Lowman, a former starting QB at his alma mater, by going for their 15th first-game victory in 17 seasons.
Both teams went 3-8 last season, and Bandys beat St. Stephens 46-24 behind 348 yards of total offense from QB Hunter Burkett (he now plays for the Hickory Hawks).
Lowman is excited about his team’s speed – pay attention when Ja’Tay Culliver gets the ball in his hands because he can get to the house quickly – and lots of signs he says he’s seen that his team is ready to play together.
The Indians, who have won just one of their last eight season-openers, have among their scoring threats Teavius Henry, the top returning receiver in the Northwestern 3A-4A after 63 catches for 847 yards and seven TDs a year ago.
Bandys has won 12 of its last 13 visits to St. Stephens – after the Indians won at home in 1991, the Trojans won 11 in a row out of Springs Road before St. Stephens won the last meeting on its home field,, 16-14 two years ago.
BURNS at ALEXANDER CENTRAL, 7:30 p.m.
The Bulldogs and Cougars meet for the first time since 2000, and Burns is 4-0 against Alexander Central.
Coach Butch Carter returns for his second year in Taylorsville, and head coaches in the Northwestern 3A-4A have welcomed him by tabbing his team the favorite to win a conference title.
The Cougars, 7-5 last season, should be fun to watch. They’re generally a high-scoring team – led by RB Bryson Godfrey – and the experience Gunnar Anderson gained last year (after having to play as a sophomore after injuries left the Cougars little choice) should give Alexander Central a formidable offense.
Carter, previously head coach at South Caldwell, is approaching his 200th game as a head coach – he’s 111-84 in 16 seasons.
STATESVILLE at HICKORY, 7:30 p.m.
Big night for the Red Tornadoes for many reasons, chief among them the debut of Russell Stone as head coach.
Stone is in his 39th year as a head coach and is known for improving teams quickly.
He is excited about finding ways to use some talented athletes – including returning QB Darrien Phillips – to get the Red Tornadoes back on track.
Hickory has finished tied for fifth and seventh (twice) in conference play over the last three years.
Tonight’s opener is the eighth straight between the Greyhounds and the Red Tornadoes, who first played in 1924.
Statesville has won three straight in the series and 10 of its 17 games in Hickory since the 1982 season.
WEST CALDWELL at EAST BURKE, 7:30 p.m.
Debuts are on tap tonight in Icard, as the Cavs’ new head coach, Mark Buffamoyer, battles a familiar foe. He was head coach at West Caldwell for four years, starting in 2004.
On the other sideline will be Devore Holman, the Warriors’ new head coach. He came to Lenoir from Davie County.
West Caldwell is coming off a 10-win season and a share of a league title (Southern District 7 Athletic 2A) but isn’t expected to be a conference favorite as it moves up to class 3A and the Northwestern 3A-4A.
The Cavs are young and restricting their offense after graduation took most of their scoring threats.
“Everybody that we will play will be a challenge,” Buffamoyer said after a scrimmage earlier this month. “Every week we’re going to have to be at the top of our game.”
The Cavs and Warriors haven’t met sincce 2012, and East Burke has won two straight in the series and five of the last six.
In 11 games between the two since 1983, the Cavs have won six and the Warriors won five.
SHELBY at FREEDOM, 7:30 p.m.
The first time out as a head coach has a special feel and can be a fun night. Jim Bob Bryant, Freedom’s new skipper, will have a bit of an unusual start.
His opponent, Shelby, has won four straight state titles and shows no signs of not being a power again this season.
Freedom went 6-6 last season after winning 10 or more games in six straight seasons and is young.
Bryant won three state titles at Havelock, where he also had to beat powerful teams, but the Golden Lions are a handful even when a team with talent is playing deep into a season.
Freedom fans can use tonight’s game as a bit of a measuring stick by seeing how competitive their team is against Shelby.
Last season in Shelby, the Golden Lions won 49-0 when the Patriots’ three top running threats gained a combined 18 yards.
The Patriots and Golden Lions have opened the season against each other 17 times since 1991. And in 12 overall games in Morganton, regardless of the playing date, each team has won six times.
CONCORD ROBINSON at HIBRITEN, 7:30 p.m.
With another highly anticipated start, Hibriten meets Robinson for the first time as head coach Clay Lewis begins his eighth season calling the shots in Lenoir.
The Panthers may not have a level of depth they’ve had in the past, but that really doesn’t mean much. Why? Depth can sometimes be described for Lewis as him having anywhere from six to eight different backs who could start on any given night. Now that’s depth.
Hibriten is coming off a 14-1 season that ended with a loss to South Point in a Western title game, and the Panthers have enough of a nucleus – and momentum in their program – to certainly contend now for a state 2A title (they’re in the Northwestern Foothills 2A now).
DRAUGHN at WEST LINCOLN, 7:30 p.m.
The Wildcats and Rebels open the season against each other for the fourth straight year. They’ve split their four games, Draughn winning the last two.
QB Bryson Lambert hit A.J. Juhnke twice on TD throws last year when the Wildcats won 27-14 at Draughn.
Draughn head coach Scott Lambert, in his second tenure in that game, leads the Wildcats for the 70th time tonight. His counterpart, Tom Sain, starts his eight season guiding the Rebels.
HICKORY HAWKS at WEST IREDELL, 7:30 p.m.
Former Hibriten assistant Monte Simmons begins his third season as West Iredell’s head coach and with a promising team that was already blessed with returning skill position stars and then got Bernie Briley (Bunker Hill last year) when his family moved into the community.
The Warriors have won three games since Simmons arrived and it would be a big surprise if they don’t get anywhere from six to 10 or more wins this season.
The Hawks have a new starting QB with some noted experience, as Hunter Burkett (started some games last season at Bandys) is now under center for head coach Jim Ruark.
OTHER AREA GAMES
East Lincoln at Forestview, 7:30 p.m.: David Lubowicz debuts as the Mustangs’ new head coach.
Hunter Huss at Patton, 7:30 p.m.: The Huskies and Panthers meet for the first time as Tom Eanes begins his fourth season at Patton and 29th as a head coach. Of the head coaches who were at their school last year, Eanes leads the area with 139 career wins.
Lincolnton at Stuart Cramer, 7:30 p.m.: The might Wolves start their third season with Ledford Gibson as the head coach. They’re 25-5 since he became the boss.
McDowell at R-S Central, 7:30 p.m.: The Titans return to the Northwestern 3A-4A, beginning Andy Morgan’s second season as head coach in Marion.
Asheville Roberson at Watauga, 7:30 p.m.: Ryan Habich goes for his 34th win (in 50 games) since coming to Watauga.
Southlake Christian at Lake Norman Charter, 7 p.m.: The Knights are 12-23 under head coach Mark Steele, who begins his fourth season as their head coach.