NORTHWESTERN 3A-4A: First-place Watauga pounds St. Stephens

Alexander Central’s defense dominates McDowell

 

By CHRIS HOBBS

HobbsDailyReport.com

First-place Watauga High gained nearly 500 yards on offense on Friday night to steamroll visiting St. Stephens 49-13 and stay atop the Northwestern 3A-4A football standings.

Sebastian Best ran 10 times for 168 yards and two scores and Carter Everett ran 17 times for 77 yards and two TDs as the Pioneers (3-0, 3-0) beat the Indians (0-3, 1-3) for the third straight time and eighth time in nine games.

Best had scoring runs of 78 and 40 yards, helping Watauga roll up 481 yards to St. Stephens’ 164.

Zak Mclauchlin sparked the Indians with 24 carries for 137 yards, a 1-yard TD run and an 86-yard kickoff return for a TD.

Watauga had the ball for more than 27 minutes and converted five of nine third downs and went 3-for-3 on fourth-down conversions.

The Pioneers have a 1 ½-game lead on second-place South Caldwell (1-0 Northwestern 3A-4A).

Watauga travels to McDowell for a Friday 7 p.m. game while St. Stephens will be at home, also at 7 p.m., to battle Alexander Central.

Alexander Central 39, McDowell 7

The visiting Cougars (2-2, 2-1) held the Titans (2-2, 2-2) to 90 yards and handily won a Northwestern 3A-4A game that runs their win streak in the series to nine.

Blake Martin had four tackles, 2 ½ for lost yardage, and Dalton Beck had five tackles to spark Alexander Central’s defense.

The Cougars had four players with more than 65 yards rushing — led by Cameron Lackey’s 76 and 71 by Dayente Calhoun – and they rushed for 363 yards and gained 410.

McDowell had only 14 rushing yards on 16 carries, and the Titans ran only 34 plays to Alexander Central’s 65.

Lance Justice ran 7 yards for a TD and threw a 47-yard scoring pass to Peyton Payne in the first quarter.

The Cougars led 20-7 at the half and added a 4-yard TD run by Justice, a 4-yard TD run by Andrew Bumgarner and a 3-yard run by Calhoun – all in the fourth quarter.

Grayson Blackwell had four tackles and 10 assists for McDowell and Jacob Pearson added 12 hits and Harley Allison and Riley Moore each had nine for McDowell.

Alexander Central still trails in its series with the Titans by 14-13 in games since 1985.

The Cougars go to St. Stephens on Friday at 7 p.m. and the Titans are at home, also at 7 p.m., to battle Watauga.

Forestview 20, Hickory 12

The Jaguars (1-2) made a late defensive stop to protect their lead en route to a non-conference victory at Cramer High.

Jamarion Dawkins ran for three scores for Forestview, carrying 30 times for more than 100 yards.

Hickory (0-4) led 12-7 at the half after Malcom Hill returned a fumble 25 yards for a TD.

Forestview grabbed a lead when Dawkins scored on a 3-yard run set up by Myles’ Jackson fumble recovery at the Hickory 12.

The Jaguars drove 56 yards for a 2-yard TD run by Dawkins in the fourth quarter.

Hickory had possession at the Forestview 46 late but gained only three yards on three plays before quarterback Nick Everhardt threw incomplete.

Taking over on downs with just shy of two minutes to play, Forestview ran out the clock, extending Hickory’s losing streak to five games dating back to last season.

Saturday’s game was the first between Forestview and Hickory since 2001 when they played a postseason game at Hickory that the Red Tornadoes won 34-27.

Hickory is at home on Friday at 7 p.m., facing South Caldwell in a conference game.

Spartans-Patriots cancelled

South Caldwell’s league game at Freedom scheduled Friday was cancelled because Freedom is under quarantine.

The Spartans (1-0, 1-1) are not expected to have time to reschedule the game with the Patriots (2-1, 2-0).

On Friday (7 p.m.), South Caldwell plays a conference game at Hickory, and Freedom goes to Asheville for a non-conference game.

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