Draughn prevails at E. Burke for first victory under Chris Powell
POWELL
HobbsDailyReport.com
ICARD – Draughn High’s running game, led by senior Tyler McKinney, delivered on Friday night as the Wildcats grabbed head coach Chris Powell’s first coaching victory.
Visiting Draughn beat East Burke 28-17 behind McKinney’s big game of 180 rushing yards and three receptions for more than 80 yards.
The Wildcats finished 1-10 overall and 1-5 in the Northwestern Foothills 2A, leaving East Burke in last place at 0-6, 1-10.
McKinney had an 80-yard TD run among his 15 carries and two mid-range receptions to set up a 1-yard scoring run by quarterback Braxton Cox. The first TD had Draughn up 13-3 with about 3 ½ minutes to go in the third quarter and the second one came with a bit more than 11 minutes to play.
Cox threw for nearly 125 yards, including a TD to Jesse Gullet, and cleared 2,100 yards passing for the season.
Running back Jake Moore ran for 220 yards and finished with more than 1,300 for the season for East Burke, whose only win came in the season opener against West Caldwell.
Turner Strong kicked a field goal and quarterback Seth Pruitt ran for more than 60 yards for the Cavs.
Both teams won’t reach the state playoffs, with Draughn finishing with one win for the third time in its 10 seasons of varsity football. The Wildcats are 5-28 in the last three seasons.
Powell was the only head coach in the Greater Hickory region without a career win until Friday night. He replaced Scott Lambert, who was in his second tenure with the Wildcats, before the season began.
East Burke is also 5-28 over the last three seasons and will miss the postseason for the third straight year, the seventh time and nine years.
The Cavs have failed to win a league game only twice before since 1978, going 0-5 in the Northwestern 4A in 1998 under head coach Mike Helms and 0-7 under head coach Jim Ruark in the Catawba Valley Athletic 2A in 2010.
Notes
Draughn and East Burke have now played 10 times with the Cavs leading 6-4 …East Burke had won four straight in the series… The Wildcats are now 3-2 in Icard, winning there 36-35 in 2010, losing 26-7 in 2012, winning 28-21 in 2013 and losing 33-14 in 2015… East Burke is 3-19 after two seasons under head coach Mark Buffamoyer; he also coached at West Caldwell and has a career mark of 13-54 in six seasons… Draughn’s varsity football record after 10 years is 32-81 with two state playoff teams (2011, 2012 under Lambert).