South Caldwell scores in final minute to nip R-S Central on road
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St. Stephens High, riding 100-yard games by Zac McLauchlin and Matthew Hancock, nipped visiting Fred T. Foard 26-21 on Friday night in a non-league game to pick up head coach Wayne Hicks’ 25th win with the Indians.
HICKS
McLauchlin had 24 carries for 189 yards with two scoring runs and Hancock added 17 carries for 117 yards to lead St. Stephens (2-2), now 25-47 under Hicks in his seventh season.
Quarterback Connor Williams threw a TD pass to Zach Lee to get St. Stephens’ first points, and Williams later had a short-yardage scoring run.
St. Stephens finished with 427 yard of offense, rushing for 306 of that.
Williams went eight of 11 for 121 yards with Lee making six catches for 89 yards.
Defensively, Zane McPherson’s 11 tackles led the Indians and Hayden Kerley made seven stops and Gavin Marley had an interception.
Corey Siemer, who had 247 yards against the Indians a year ago when Foard (0-5) won 38-22, cleared 170 yards and scored twice for the Tigers.
Foard is still without a win under returning head coach Ryan Gettys, who guided the Tigers to 30 wins in eight seasons in his first tenure as head coach.
The Tigers still lead the series 20-18 in games since 1980. The teams had split the 18 games played during that span on St. Stephens’ field.
South Caldwell 44, R-S Central 43
The visiting Spartans had two big quarters – scoring 22 points in the second and again in the fourth – to nip the Hilltoppers with a score and two-point conversion in the final minute.
South Caldwell (3-2) won when Avery Raynor threw a TD pass to Austin Raynor, making it 43-42, and Isaiah Kirby ran for the game-winning points.
The Spartans forced a punt and took over near the 50-yard line for their final drive.
The victory was the seventh for South Caldwell head coach Marc Kirkpatrick, in his third year. He is a former starting quarterback for the Spartans, who beat the Hilltoppers for the fourth time in nine match-ups.
Alexander Central 55, Olympic 28
Running back Steven Montgomery scored four times, rushing 19 times for 164 yards, to lead the Cougars (4-1) past the Trojans (3-2) in a non-league game in Taylorsville.
Montgomery ran had two 1-yard scoring runs and TD runs of 50 and 2 yards as Alexander Central beat a Charlotte-Mecklenburg team for the first time in a regular-season game (the Cougars beat Olympic in the playoffs in 2004).
Alexander Central ran for 423 yards on 38 carries with Lance Justice adding 107 yards and two rushing scores and Daniel Morgan adding a 76-yard TD run that closed the Cougars’ scoring.
Sean Bowles Jr. threw for 216 yards for the Trojans, completing 15 of 23 passes, and Cameron Smith ran 20 times for 112 yards.
Montgomery scored the game’s first two TDs as the Cougars led 21-6 after one quarter and by 21-15 at the half.
A 50-yard interception return TD by Jamison Benfield with 4:51 left in the third quarter extended Alexander Central’s lead to 35-15.
The Cougars’ blew the game open with two scores in about four minutes in the fourth quarter – a 1-yard run by Justice and a 1-yarder by Montgomery.
Alexander Central went 5-for-6 on third down conversions.
Rhyeem Craig led the Cougars’ defense with nine tackles and Ibarhim Boston added eight.
Marquise Fleming and Exuce Ona each had six tackles for Olympic, which had the ball for 29:45 compared to the Cougars’ 18:15.
Watauga 42, Ashbrook 14
Sparked by big games by quarterback Anderson Castle and running back Jake Watson, the Pioneers (4-1) beat the Green Wave (0-4) in Boone.
Watson had 112 rushing yards on 14 carries with four TDs while Castle ran 24 times for 258 yards and a TD and threw for a 53-yard score to Jaiden Bond.
Watson added eight tackles (one for lost yardage) and a sack and Joe Pendley had six tackles (on for lost yardage) and a sack to lead Watauga defensively.
The Pioneers ran for 439 yards.
Watauga will be without running back Bryce Satterfield for the rest of the season due to an injury. He will have surgery late next week after sustaining the injury in Watauga’s game against Wilkes Central.
The win gave Ryan Habich 60 as the Pioneers’ head coach and it was his 110th career victory.
Crest 51, Freedom 48
The host Chargers (3-2) picked up their fourth straight in the series by holding off the Patriots (3-2) to deny Freedom head coach Luke Little career win No. 100.
Crest scored with 51 seconds to play to win, wiping out the Patriots’ 10-point lead as the fourth quarter began.
Freedom quarterback Jayden Birchfield threw for 302 yards and two TDs and ran for two scores and rushed for 132 yards. He threw eight times to Demorian Burgess for 185 yards and two TDs.
Winston-Salem Reagan 46, Hickory 21
The visiting Raiders dropped the Red Tornadoes to 0-5 behind Daniel Moyer Jr., who had four scores in the opening half at Barger Stadium.
Reagan led the whole way after taking an early lead by scoring twice on three plays, the first a 65-yard run by Moyer.
Less than four minutes in, the Raiders led 12-0 after an HHS turnover led to a 62-yard TD pass from Gabriel Hollingsworth to Tazhae Woods.
Hickory closed within five points when Cody Young broke a 19-yard run for a scores and Izzi Woods hit a PAT.
Moyers added two TD runs and caught a scoring pass as Reagan built a 31-14 edge.
Reagan also scored on a pass by Hollingsworth and a fumble recovery on offense in the end zone.
The game featured nearly 300 combined penalty yards.