NORTHWESTERN 3A-4A: Alex Central scores 63, snaps losing streak at 2 games

NORTHWESTERN 3A-4A ROUNDUP

Castle has 443 yards of total offense as Watauga pounds St. Stephens

 

PREMIUM CONTENT
For a more detailed and expanded look at Friday night’s varsity games purchase a premium content subscription — $8.95 monthly or a full school year for $85, a savings of nearly $23. For more details and to register: https://hobbsdailyreport.com/register/

HobbsDailyReport.com

Alexander Central High roared back from a two-game losing streak in a big way Friday night, overpowering visiting McDowell 63-0 in a Northwestern 3A-4A game that included the Cougars gaining 399 yards.

Running back Steven Montgomery scored on half of his six carries – on runs of 27, 3 and 51 yards – and added a TD reception to spark the Cougars (5-3, 1-2), who had lost back-to-back games to Watauga (42-10) and Freedom (46-42) to open conference play.

Daniel Morgan added four carries for 102 yards and a TD for Alexander Central, and quarterback Lance Justice went 4-for-4 for 94 yards and threw for TDs to Montgomery, A.J. Miller, Kobe Burns-Ceasar and Colston Yount.

McDowell (1-7, 0-4) had only six first downs and minus-21 yards rushing on 32 carries and 89 yards of total offense.

Titans quarterback Riley Moore completed eight of 11 passes for 110 yards.

Alexander Central led 21-0 after one quarter on scores by Montgomery – a 30-yard pass from Justice and a run – and Justice’s 20-yard scoring throw to Miller.

Alexander Central plays a league game Friday at St. Stephens, and McDowell is at home to face Watauga.

Freedom 52, South Caldwell 14

Chase Young, a junior running back, posted his best career totals – 18 carries for 168 yards with five rushing TDs – to lead the Patriots (6-3, 3-1) to a league victory in Hudson.

Freedom grabbed a 24-22 lead on Young’s third TD, a 3-yard run about a half-minute before halftime.

Young also had rushing scores of 22, 3, 2 and 39 yards as Freedom won for the seventh straight time in the series and eighth time in nine games against the Spartans.

The Patriots are 12-2 at South Caldwell since 1982 and 24-6 overall against the Spartans since 1980.

Freedom quarterback Jayden Birchfied completed 17 of 21 passes for 246 yards and two scores. He hit Damien Dula seven times for 76 yards and Desmond Caldwell caught five passes for 76 yards.

Running back Isaiah Kirby led the Spartans (4-4, 1-2) with 124 rushing yards on 18 carries and quarterback Avery Raynor completed three of 12 passes for 157 yards with scoring throws of 62 yards to Austin Raynor and 58 yards to Kirby.

Freedom outgained South Caldwell 551-378.

The Patriots, in second place and a half-game up on Hickory, are idle this Friday and play Watauga in Morganton on Nov. 1.

South Caldwell is at home Friday night against Hickory.

Watauga 67, St. Stephens 14

The Pioneers (8-1, 4-0) roared to 617 yards of total offense to overwhelm the Indians (4-4, 1-2) at St. Stephens and stay atop the conference standings.

Watauga quarterback Anderson Castle ran 10 times for 175 yards four TDs and completed six of nine passes for 268 yards and three scores in a game the Pioneers led 33-7 at halftime.

The Pioneers forced three lost fumbles and held St. Stephens to 195 yards of offense, 74 of it rushing.

Watauga led 13-7 after one quarter, scoring on a 68-yard run by running back Jaiden Bond and Castle’s 35-yard pass to Sebastian Best, and the Indians scored on a 4-yard run by running back Zak McLauchlin.

Castle had TD runs of 4 and 10 yards for a 26-7 lead. He scored again, on a 10-yard run with five seconds left in the half, following a 1-yard TD run by St. Stephens quarterback Connor Williams.

Bond finished with 121 rushing yards on five carries and caught two passes for 105 yards.

Castle had 443 yards of total offense.

Watauga is at home Friday night to face McDowell and can wrap up no worse than a tie for the league title by winning.

St. Stephens travels for a league game Friday night at Alexander Central.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *