By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
A look at tonight’s game in the second week of high school football for 2017:
FRED T. FOARD (0-1) at BANDYS (1-0), 7:30 p.m.
Bandys — after rallying from a 21-point deficit to beat St. Stephens 42-40 in double overtime last Friday night — goes for head coach Trent Lowman’s 20th victory at his alma mater.
Foard’s hopes for a good start were dashed a bit by Maiden, which beat the Tigers 37-14 last Friday at Foard.
The game could easily be the most entertaining of this week’s schedule because the teams are evenly matched in many respects, the Tigers with a solid backfield and the Trojans with threats like RBs Ethan Howard and Ja’Tay Culliver, so it could come down to which defense plays better.
Foard has won two straight in the series, including by seven points two years ago in its last visit to Butler Stadium, but is 5-10 there since 1982.
Bandys leads the series since that span (23-11) and had won six straight in the series before the Tigers’ current back-to-back wins.
A third straight win by Foard would be its most against Bandys in succession since four straight from 1980-83.
A stat they might give better insight into how close tonight’s game could be – in the Tigers’ five wins at Butler, the average win margin is 6.4 points.
ST. STEPHENS (0-1) at BUNKER HILL (0-1), 7:30 p.m.
The old nearby rivals meet for the 38th time since 1980 with the Bears up in the series in that span, 19-18.
St. Stephens goes for its fourth straight win over the Bears, who had won the four games before that stretch, and has the more proficient of the two offenses.
Last week, in a 51-0 loss at Newton-Conover, the rebuilding Bears had 63 yards of total offense and they were behind 44-0 by halftime.
St. Stephens, sparked by WR Teavius Henry, goes for its third straight win at The Hill but the Indians have won only six of 18 games there in the previous 37 years.
HIBRITEN (1-0) at WEST CALDWELL (1-0), 7:30 p.m.
Black and Blue Friday, version No. 38, pits old Caldwell County rivals, with Hibriten holding the upper hand with 14 straight wins in the series that includes its last seven visits to West Caldwell.
The Panthers are again loaded, beating Concord Robinson 33-6 last Friday to open the season, and the Warriors rolled 35-0 over East Burke in Icard.
West Caldwell’s new head coach, Devore Holman, has been out with complications after a surgery, and Neil Ramsey is guiding the Warriors. It was unclear earlier this week if Holman will be able to attend the game, but West Caldwell athletic director Stephen McMasters said Holman would, at best, sit in the pressbox.
Hibriten head coach Clay Lewis, in his eighth season, has 58 wins in his first 80 games.
FREEDOM (0-1) at DRAUGHN (0-1), 7:30 p.m.
The Patriots gave state power Shelby all it could handle (14-7 loss) last Friday night in the debut of Jim Bob Bryant as their head coach.
Draughn didn’t must much offense against West Lincoln last Friday, falling 43-6, and goes in having never beaten Freedom.
The Patriots and Wildcats have met eight times – four games at each place – and Freedom’s four wins at Draughn are by a collective 157-13 (or about 30 points per game).
Freedom is starting a sophomore QB, Jayden Birchfield, and he completed 10 passes for 68 yards against Shelby.
ALEXANDER CENTRAL (1-0) at WILKES CENTRAL (1-0), 7:30 p.m.
The Cougars, favored to win the Northwestern 3A-4A title in head coach Butch Carter’s second season in Taylorsville, go for their 15th straight victory over the Eagles.
This is Carter’s first trip to North Wilkesboro with the Cougars, who have won seven straight there and 10 of 12 since 1982.
The teams last met in 2008, and the Eagles haven’t beat Alexander Central since a 17-10 win in Taylorsville that opened the 1992 season.
Alexander Central won its season opener at home last Friday, beating Burns 28-23 behind QB Gunnar Anderson, and Wilkes Central edged North Iredell 21-0.
The Eagles are coached by Ron Turner, a former assistant at Alexander Central who was also head coach at Bunker Hill for three years (2007-09).
R-S CENTRAL (1-0) at PATTON (0-1), 7:30 p.m.
The Hilltoppers and Panthers meet for the first time since 2012 and fifth time overall.
R-S Central has won three of the previous four games, including both visits to Patton, and won its opener over McDowell last Friday, 20-14.
Patton lost its starting QB, Joe Eakin, to an injury in a 49-20 loss against Hunter Huss and he is not expected back for a while.
The Panthers have other weapons – most notably RB William Brawley – but they’ll have to rally and pull together while Eakin heels if they hope to match or surpass last season, when they won eight games.
KINGS MOUNTAIN (0-0) at SOUTH CALDWELL (0-0), 7:30 p.m.
A season-opener for both teams, and also the debut of Marc Kirkpatrick — a former starting South Caldwell QB — as head coach of his alma mater.
The Spartans are expected to be a bit different in their offensive approach, although sophomore QB Jason Martin will still throw often.
Tonight’s game is only the second Mountaineers-Spartans battle and the first since 1988, when the Mountaineers won 14-0 at home.
Kings Mountain beat South Caldwell 35-20 at South Caldwell in 1987, and this is just the third time the Spartans have played a Cleveland County team.
Kirkpatrick is a second-generation head coach. His father (Red) was the first head coach in South Caldwell history, and he is from a coaching family. His older brother, Donnie, is a longtime college coach who is now at James Madison and whose tenure includes a head-coaching stint at Chattanooga.
OTHER AREA GAMES
(all at 7:30 p.m.)
South Point (1-0) at Lincolnton (0-1): No one’s sure just yet what to make of Cramer beating Lincolnton 40-7 last Friday night.
South Point toughed out a 22-14 victory over Crest.
The Wolves lost their top offensive player, QB, Cordel Littlejohn, when he moved to Georgia.
Carolina Wildcats (0-1) at North Lincoln (0-0): Steven Pack, whose coaching stints include time at Fred T. Foard, Burns and Newton-Conover, debuts as North Lincoln’s head coach.
The Wildcats are from Pickens, S.C., and were beaten 34-8 last Friday by Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy.
Lake Norman Charter (0-1) at Pine Lake Prep (1-0), 7:30 p.m.: The Knights, beaten by Southlake Christian their opener, go for head coach Mark Steele’s 13th victory.
Pine Lake opened with a 14-6 victory last week over Northside Christian.
South Iredell (1-0) at West Iredell (1-0): Former Hibriten assistant coach Monte Simmons leads the Warriors for the 24th time, and it’s against a tough opponent.
West Iredell won its opener handily, 32-6 over the Hickory Hawks, while South Iredell opened with a 21-14 victory over Rocky River.
Avery County (1-0) at McDowell (0-1): Big night in Marion as the Titans play their first game on their new artificial turf.
Avery County can score – it beat Ashe County 56-35 last Friday night – and the Titans fell 20-14 on the road at R-S Central.
Watauga (1-0) at Ashe County (0-1): The Pioneers opened some eyes with a 35-34 victory over Asheville Roberson last Friday to open the season.
Watauga lost a lot to graduation, especially offensively, but they’ve generally been in all of their games since head coach Ryan Habich took over five seasons ago.
A win tonight gives Habich 35 in Boone and 85 in his coaching career (in his 10th year).