Maiden scores in final minute, nips West Lincoln by one point
By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
Newton-Conover High rode its defense and four rushing scores by running back Allan Shade to victory on Friday night, downing visiting Bandys 32-14 in a South Fork 2A football game at Gurley Stadium.
SHADE
Shade, a 6-foot, 220-pound senior, unofficially ran for 201 yards and eclipsed 1,000 career rushing yards (1,198). The yardage on his scoring runs was 45, 31, 2 and 1, and he unofficially has 55 carries for 439 yards in two games this season.
The Red Devils (1-1), rebounding from a season-opening loss at Lincolnton, beat the Trojans on Senior Night and homecoming.
Newton-Conover has won back-to-back games in the series, five of the last six and leads the all-time series 34-15.
Quarterback Justice Craig went nine for 13 for 119 yards and a TD, throwing five times Zach Redmond for 82 yards.
The Red Devils’ defense held the Trojans (0-2) to 64 rushing yards and overcame 116 passing yards by Trey Shearer, who completed 11 of 20.
Bandys had the early lead when Dylan Thompson scooped a fumble and returned it 15 yards for a TD.
The Red Devils’ took a 7-6 lead when Shade broke a 45-yard run with about three minutes to go in the opening quarter.
Shade’s 31-yard TD run with 4:07 left in the half helped Newton-Conover lead 14-6 but Bandys tied it at 14 when Shearer threw 8 yards to Thompson and tacked on Shearer’s conversion run with 35 seconds left in the half.
The Red Devils drove 63 yards on nine plays after a high snap on a punt gave them the ball at their 37 in the third quarter. Shade got the final 2 yards with 4:41 to go in the quarter.
Ahead 20-14, Newton-Conover extended the lead to 26-14 on a 1-yard run by Shade with 8:42 to play.
Craig threw 20 yards to Ben Watson with 2:20 to play for a 32-14 lead.
Shade came into the season with no 100-yards games and gained 40 on 10 carries with a rushing TD in a victory at Bandys.
Newton-Conover’s next game is Friday at 7 p.m. at West Lincoln while Bandys is at home on Friday at 7 p.m., facing Lincolnton.
BANDYS HIGHLIGHTS: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/7884699/6043bab90660e9106ccdcaef
Maiden 21, West Lincoln 20
Carson Foard kicked an extra point after a 3-yard scoring run by quarterback Ethan Rhodes with less than a minute to play as the Blue Devils nipped the visiting Rebels in a South Fork 2A game.
The last-minute heroics came after West Lincoln was drawn offside when Maiden faced a fourth-and-1.
Maiden (2-0) snapped a two-game losing streak in the series and improved to 25-4 against the Rebels since 1980.
West Lincoln beat Maiden two years ago at Maiden — ending a 20-game losing streak in the series – and the Rebels won at home last season 28-27.
Friday’s game was tied at 6 at halftime after Brennan James grabbed a 7-yard TD pass from Rhodes for Maiden and Mason Avery scored on a 2-yard run for West Lincoln (0-2).
Mason Huitt’s 2-yard run and conversion run gave the Rebels a 14-6 edge with about nine minutes left in the third quarter.
Maiden tied it at 14 on a 9-yard TD run by Ben Gibbs and conversion pass from Rhodes to Chayson Bass. That came after Amarion Craig recovered a fumble when West Lincoln, trying to punt, snapped the ball over the punter’s head.
A rushing TD put the Rebels ahead but the PAT was blocked, making it 20-14.
Maiden is open Friday and faces North Lincoln at Maiden on March 19.
West Lincoln will battle Newton-Conover next with a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday at West Lincoln.
Bunker Hill 32, Fred T. Foard 7
Carson Elder completed 20 of 26 passes for 163 yards and two TDs and Jay Abrams intercepted two passes as the host Bears rolled in a Northwestern Foothills 2A game.
Bunker Hill (1-1) led 20-0 by halftime.
Kaden Robinson added nine carries for 51 yards and a rushing TD and caught three passes for 39 yards for the Bears. Chadz Stevenson (seven carries for 32 yards) also had a rushing TD for Bunker Hill.
Kaliq Ramseur contributed nine catches for 89 yards and two scores and Abrams had seven catches for 31 yards for Bunker Hill.
Elijah Boston also had an interception for the Bears, whose next game is Friday at 7 p.m. at Draughn.
Fred T. Foard is at home Friday at 7 p.m., facing Hibriten.
East Lincoln 41, Lincolnton 0
Tyler Mizzell threw four TD passes, sparking the Mustangs’ road win in a South Fork 2A game at Lincolnton.
East Lincoln (2-0) led 21-0 at the half after Mizzell threw a 10-yard TD pass to Preston Cox with about 2 ½ minutes left before intermission.
The Mustangs stretched the lead to 34-0 in the third quarter when Mizzell threw 53 yards to Austin Smith for a TD and 15 yards to Devean Huskey for a score.
Tre Burns’ 4-yard run with 6:18 to go finished the scoring.
Lincolnton, after beating Newton-Conover to open the season, dropped to 1-1.
East Lincoln will be at home Friday at 7 p.m., playing North Lincoln, and the Wolves travel to Bandys for a Friday game (7 p.m.).
North Lincoln 34, West Mecklenburg 0
Kyle Kovalchuk had two rushing scores and threw for another as the Knights (2-0) picked up a home non-league win.
North Lincoln added the game to its schedule when Lake Norman Charter (South Fork 2A) decided it would not field a varsity football team this year.
Jack Carter and Brenden Rogers each added a rushing TD and Seth Whitley caught a 41-yard pass from Kovalchuk for a TD.
Liam Sutton and Cooper Wray added conversions for North Lincoln.
The Knights had 243 rushing yards and 105 passing.
North Lincoln’s next game is a South Fork 2A battle on Friday at 7 p.m. at East Lincoln.
Hibriten 62, West Caldwell 6
The Panthers had a 25-point opening quarter and their defense finished with three safeties in a Northwestern Foothills 2A game at Hibriten.
Hibriten (2-0) scored in a variety of ways, including an 86-yard kickoff return, a fumble return, punt return and via four rushing plays.
After sandwiching safeties around a 14-yard TD run by Taylib Howell, the Panthers made it 25-0 when Marcus Jones returned a fumble for a TD.
Ahead 39-0, they extended the lead when Daren Perry returned a punt 36 yards for a score. After a third safety, Noah Isbell ran 3 yards for a TD and 55-0 lead.
Hibriten’s final TD was a 5-yard pass from Perry to Cedric Shuford with about seven minutes to play.
The Panthers meet Fred T. Foard on the road on Friday at 7 p.m., and the Warriors (0-2) will be at home Friday at 7 p.m. against West Iredell.
Freedom 28, Hickory 16
The Patriots rallied from a two-point deficit to score twice and edge visiting Hickory in a Northwestern 3A-4A game.
After Hickory (0-2) kicked a field goal to lead 16-14, the Patriots (2-0) grabbed the lead for good on a 1-yard run by Thad Reid and conversion run by B.G. Hampton.
A 26-yard scoring run by Demarcus Lowrance put Freedom ahead 28-16.
The Red Tornadoes wiped out the Patriots’ early lead, which came on a 9-yard pass from Reid to Desmond Caldwell in the first quarter and Hampton’s 22-yard scoring run and his conversion run in the final 20 seconds of the opening quarter.
Freedom picked up its eight win in the last nine meetings with Hickory, which has not won in Morganton since 2009.
The Patriots go for a 3-0 start under new head coach Justin Hawn, a Maiden graduate, when they play at Alexander Central on Friday at 7 p.m.
Hickory will be at home on Friday at 7 p.m., facing Watauga.
East Burke 43, West Iredell 6
The Cavs gained their first win in a four-game series by beating the Warriors on the road in a Northwestern Foothills 2A game.
Blaine Fulbright and Dawson Langley each ran for two scores and Carter Crump ran for a TD and returned an interception for another to spark East Burke (2-0).
Langley had the first and final Cavs TDs, on runs of 14 and 19 yards, and Fulbright ran 4 and 9 yards for TDs. When Langley ran for two after each Fulbright score, East Burke was up 22-0.
Langley’s second score, with nearly nine minutes to go in the third quarter, completed the Cavs’ scoring (they led 43-0).
East Burke will be at home Friday (7 p.m.), playing Patton, while West Iredell (0-2) has a Friday 7 p.m. game at West Caldwell.
Watauga 21, Alexander Central 7
The Pioneers won for the third straight time in the series and kept the Cougars without a win in Boone since 2010 by winning a Northwestern 3A-4A game.
Sebastian Best ran nine times for 87 yards, breaking a run for a 69-yard TD with 5:34 left in the first quarter, to spark Watauga (1-0).
About four minutes after Best’s score, Jake Gragg returned an interception 51 yards to help the Pioneers lead 14-0 by halftime.
Carter Everett’s 13-yard run with 8:26 to go in the third quarter and his third PAT boosted Watauga’s edge to 21-0.
Alexander Central’s only score was a 4-yard run by Lance Justice and a PAT by Daniel Specht with 4:30 left in the third quarter.
Watauga outgained the Cougars 208-155.
Isaiah Shirley led the Pioneers with nine tackles – three for lost yardage – with Ben Myers adding eight tackles and Gragg and Logan Johnson each with eight.
Rhyeem Craig had a game-high 10 tackles for Alexander Central, Dalton Beck added eight, Dayente Calhoun had seven and Landon Dula had five. Three of Calhoun’s hits went for negative yards.
Alexander Central has not won in Boone since it beat Watauga 20-0 in 2010 in a game played at Appalachian State.
