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By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
A brief look at Friday’s varsity football games involving teams from the South Fork 2A, Northwestern Foothills 2A and Northwestern 3A-4A:
North Lincoln faces challenge
from Maiden; Hibriten, Draughn
battle for the conference lead
Maiden running back Amarion Craig (3) is unofficially averaging 95.7 yards rushing per game for the Blue Devils, third-best in the South Fork 2A. The Blue Devils (5-2, 2-1) play tonight at North Lincoln (6-1, 3-0)/PHOTO COURTESY OF GENE LEATHERMAN, OBSERVER NEWS ENTERPRISE.
SOUTH FORK 2A
MAIDEN (5-2, 2-1) at NORTH LINCOLN (6-1, 3-0), 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY’S BROADCAST: Maiden at North Lincoln, 7:30 p.m.
North Lincoln will need its second win over the Blue Devils to remain atop the South Fork 2A standings, where it shares the league lead with Newton-Conover.
Maiden — up 9-1 in the series after the Knights won last year at Maiden — has won all four of its previous games at North Lincoln.
QB Ethan Rhodes leads Maiden and the conference 1,575 yards passing and 20 TDs, and the Blue Devils have the top two WRs in the conference – Dylan Abernethy, averaging 114.5 yards per game with a league-best 11 TD receptions and Brennan James, averaging 60.2 yards per game with seven TD catches.
The Knights feature two of the league’s top rushers in RB Ty Williams (71.7 yards per game) and RB Jake Soorus (65.1).
BANDYS (4-2, 1-2) at EAST LINCOLN (6-1, 2-1), 7:30 p.m.
It’s a key conference game for both teams, especially East Lincoln if it wants to remain in the chase for a conference title.
While Bandys still leads the all-time series at 26-23-1, the Mustangs have won four straight at East Lincoln and seven of eight against the Trojans there and they’ve won eight of the last 10 match-ups.
East Lincoln is going for win No. 20 (in 33 games) for head coach David Lubowicz.
The game features two of the league’s top rushers – RB Cole Barber of East Lincoln averages 91.2 yards per game (with five rushing TDs) and is fourth in the conference and RB Isaiah Gilchrist of Bandys is fifth in the league at 85.1 yards per game (with one rushing TD).
East Lincoln QB Justin Barnett is within striking distance of 1,000 for the season tonight (931 yards with 12 TD throws).
NEWTON-CONOVER (5-2, 3-0) at
LAKE NORMAN CHARTER (1-6, 0-2), 7:30 p.m.
The Red Devils need a road win to remain in at least a first place with North Lincoln, heading to Huntersville with a 2-0 lead in their series with the Knights.
Newton-Conover RB Allen Wilfong has been steady, as always, and has 671 yards on 135 carries to rank No. 2 in the league in rushing yardage, and QB Justice Craig has thrown for nearly 1,200 yards and had 12 TD throws.
Craig is second in the league in passing with Lake Norman Charter QB Jeff Womack next with 1.079 yards and eight TDs and WR Jason Goodman has (39-358, 5 TDs), second in catches to only Maiden’s Dylan Abernethy.
LINCOLNTON (2-5, 0-3) at WEST LINCOLN (5-2, 1-2), 7:30 p.m.
The Rebels have three of the top 10 rushers in the South Fork 2A, led by league-leading RB Canon Bridges (126-1,072 yards, 16 TDs). He averages 163.1 yards per game and has a league-best 16 rushing TDs.
RB Xander Pendergrass (77.8 yards per game, 10 TDs) ranks sixth in conference rushing and QB Mason Huitt is ninth at 47 yards per game and five rushing scores.
Lincolnton has just gotten QB E.J. Manjarres back in the lineup from an injury and he is averaging 77.3 yard passing after three games (his first back was last week).
Quarterback Carson Elder (6) will lead Bunker Hill tonight as it goes for its third straight victory in a Northwestern Foothills 2A battle in Icard against East Burke, kicking off at 7:30 p.m./MICHELLE THOMPSON PHOTO (purchase her photos by emailing her at luvinlkn@gmail.com)
NORTHWESTERN FOOTHILLS 2A
HIBRITEN (6-1, 3-0) at DRAUGHN (5-3, 3-1), 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY’S BROADCAST: Hibriten at Draughn, 7:30 p.m.
The conference lead is on the line tonight in Valdese with the Panthers – defending conference champions – the only team in the league without a conference loss.
Hibriten beat Draughn 70-0 last season in Lenoir and has a history of playing well in Burke County (11-7 since 1982).
The Panthers have allowed a league-low 79 points.
Draughn QB Braxton Cox had played well all season long; he threw for 111 yards in last year’s loss and came out of that game with 1,926 passing yards at that point.
BUNKER HILL (3-4, 2-1) at EAST BURKE (2-5, 1-2), 7:30 p.m.
The Bears go for their third straight victory and enter the game tied for third place with West Iredell.
Bunker Hill has won three of its last four against the Cavs, including last year 26-21 in Claremont, and have been winning by playing well together.
The Bears are 2-5 in Burke County since 1980 and last won in Icard in 2011 (27-14).
RB Josh Moore leads the Cavs, who are 5-24 under Mark Buffamoyer as they enter his 30th game as their head coach.
FRED T. FOARD (1-7, 1-3) at WEST CALDWELL (0-7, 0-3), 7:30 p.m.
In their first match-up since 2008, the Tigers go for their fourth straight win in the series in games played at West Caldwell.
This is the ninth game of the second tenure of Ryan Gettys as Foard head coach and his 100th game in that position (31-68 record).
The Tigers are led by RB Corey Siemer, who has three straight games with at least 161 rushing yards.
West Caldwell hasn’t beaten Foard in Lenoir since 1990 and is still chasing the first win of Mike Biggerstaff’s second tenure as head coach. He has not won since returning, coming in with a school-best 75 career wins (75-33, ninth season)
PATTON (2-5, 1-2) at WEST IREDELL (4-2, 2-1), 7:30 p.m.
West Iredell is in third place, tied with Bunker Hill, and could move into second place alone if it wins tonight and Hibriten beats Draughn.
Patton is 2-0 against the Warriors, winning 23-15 on the road two years ago and 23-7 at home last season.
QB Weston Fleming and RB Bryson Ratliff led Patton, 9-10 under second-year head coach Jonanthan Browning.
West Iredell has several of the league’s most athletic skill position players, including QB Eli Kitchens.
South Caldwell, shown early in the season celebrating a big road win at Maiden, has a key Northwestern 3A-4A game at home tonight at 7:30 p.m., facing explosive Freedom’s offense led by quarterback Jayden Birchfield./SOUTH CALDWELL HIGH PHOTO
NORTHWESTERN 3A-4A
FREEDOM (5-3, 2-1) at SOUTH CALDWELL (4-3, 1-1), 7:30 p.m.
In their 30th game against the Spartans since 1980, the Patriots need a victory to remain at least tied for second place.
Freedom has won six straight in the series and seven of the last eight with the last win at Hudson coming in a season-opening game in 2012 (21-12).
QB Jayden Birchfield leads Freedom’s offense and he has hand a hand in a conference-best 172 points scored. He is averaging 177.2 yards passing per game with 17 TD throws and goes in with 1,418 passing yards.
His favorite targets – WRs Desmond Caldwell (30-610 yards, 7 TDs) and Damien Dula (28-321, 4 TDs) rank No. 2 and No. 4 among Northwestern 3A-4A receivers.
South Caldwell, expected to ride last week’s win to the league’s lone 4A state playoff bid, is led by versatile QB Avery Raynor, who has thrown for more than 800 yards on 52 completions and for five scores.
McDOWELL (1-6, 0-3) at ALEXANDER CENTRAL (4-2, 0-2), 7:30 p.m.
The Cougars, who now face an uphill challenge to get into the state playoffs, will try to snap a two-game skid when they play the Titans for the 14th time since 1998 (lead series 9-4).
Alexander Central has won seven straight in the series since snapping McDowell’s four-game win streak, and the Cougars have won four in a row in Taylorsville.
RB Steven Montgomery of Alexander Central, averaging 142.4 yards per game, can clear 1,000 yards for the season tonight. He needs three more yards.
McDowell has scored a league-low 92 points and is led by RB Quantavion Moore, who has 610 rushing yards on 100 carries and five rushing TDs.
The Titans have not won in Taylorsville since 2002 (8-7).
WATAUGA (7-1, 3-0) at ST. STEPHENS (4-3, 1-1), 7:30 p.m.
The Pioneers are alone in first place as they head to play the Indians in Hickory, the 18th game in the series since 1981 (Watauga leads 9-8).
Watauga has won six of the last seven games but is 2-3 at St. Stephens, where the Indians have had a tendency to play well against the on-paper-better Pioneers.
QB Anderson Castle sparks Watauga as the conference’s leading rusher (152.1 yards per game with 17 rushing TDs) and he is averaging 210.6 yards per game of total offense.
Watauga RB Jaiden Bond has 801 yards on 53 carries (9 rushing TDs) and also averages 31.2 yard per game receiving with three TDs.
The Indians’ passing game offers every defense a challenge with QB Connor Williams averaging 116.1 yards passing per game (eight TDs) and the top WR in the league is Zach Lee (46-631 yards, 7 TDs).
St. Stephens also has two of the top 10 rushers in the conference with Zak McLauchlin third at 110.4 yards per game with seven scores and Matthew Hancock ninth in the league at 67.2 yards per game with two TDs.