Steven Montgomery runs for 211 yards as
Cougars edge Panthers in Lenoir
HobbsDailyReport.com
Alexander Central High rallied, using a 211 rushing yards and two late touchdowns by running back Steve Montgomery to beat host Hibriten 28-19 on Friday night and snap the Panthers’ regular-season win streak at 34.
Montgomery ran 24 times and scored on runs of 76 and 1 yard and A.J. Miller added 11 carries for 89 yards and a score for the Cougars.
Hibriten, which had a 30-game overall win streak snapped in last year’s West 2AA final by Shelby, lost in its debut of Sam Mackey as head coach.
The Panthers had a 13-0 lead halfway through the second quarter after Noah Isbell’s 1-yard TD run and quarterback Daren Perry’s 21-yard TD toss to Marcus Jones.
A TD run by Miller was the first score for Alexander Central and a 5-yard TD run by Lance Justice and PAT by Oscar Lopez put the Cougars ahead 14-13.
Alexander Central has won six of its seven visits to Hibriten since 1982.
South Caldwell 60, West Caldwell 7
Senior running back Spencer Piercy ran for 162 yards on 12 carries, taking four of those for touchdowns, as South Caldwell rolled at home.
The victory in Hudson came against a Warriors team that went 0-11 last season and spoiled the debut and return of Mike Biggerstaff as head coach at West Caldwell.
Biggerstaff’s 75 wins in his first tenure as head coach at West Caldwell, which ended in 1987, tops the all-time victory list for Warriors head football coaches.
Bandys 36, St. Stephens 15
In head coach Tom Eanes’ 350th career game and 15th and fifth as the boss at Bandys, the Trojans ran for more than 450 yards and beat the host Indians for the fourth straight time and 12th time in 13 battles.
Bandys, 13-2 under Eanes, erased an 8-7 halftime deficit to pick up Eanes’ 160th career win.
Quarterback Jackson Spicer and Josh Williams each scored twice for Bandys.
Zac McLauchlin had a TD run and two-point conversion run in the first half to get St. Stephens its one-point halftime lead and quarterback Connor Williams had a TD throw to Zane McPherson in the final quarter for St. Stephens.
Shelby 41, Freedom 13
The visiting Golden Lions scored on all three of their possessions in the third quarter to break open the game and beat Freedom for the fifth straight time.
Shelby quarterback Isaiah Bess threw for 190 yards and four TDs, hitting Ja’hari Mitchell and Diovanni Daley twice each for scores.
Freedom star Jayden Birchfield completed 11 passes for 40 yards in the loss.
Shelby, last year’s 2AA state champion, won in its first game under new head coach Mike Wilbanks.
Watauga 50, Asheville Roberson 21
Quarterback Anderson Castle had 325 yards of total offense as the Pioneers won their opener in Boone, also getting 11 carries for 170 yards and two scores by running back Bryce Satterfield and seven carries and 60 yards and a score and four catches for 90 yards from Jaiden Bond.
Watauga, 13-1 last year, had 28 first downs, 592 yards of total offense and the ball for nearly 31 ½ minutes.
R-S Central 20, McDowell 12
Sophomore quarterback Jaiden Coston led the Hilltoppers to a home victory as they rallied by scoring 13 points in the final quarter to win.
Postponements
The 58th meeting between Statesville and Hickory, scheduled at Barger Stadium in Hickory, was rained out and reset for Monday at 7:30 p.m.
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