Alex Central wins, can get head coach career win No 125 on Friday
Editor’s note: A game story on Hickory will be posted separately on the website.
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Quarterback Jackson Greene ran for 203 yards on eight carries – averaging 25.3 yards per carry – as Watauga High toppled visiting Avery County 58-7 on Friday night for a 3-0 start.
GREENE
Greene had scoring runs of 76, 325 and 35 yards and threw a TD pass to Eli Suggs as the Pioneers opened a 35-0 lead by halftime.
Bryce Satterfield — the leading returner rushing by per game average (131.5) in the Greater Hickory area’s three conferences – added nine carries for 102 yards and a rushing TD.
Watauga gained 498 yards and won despite Ashe County quarterback Sam McCollum completing 12 passes for 91 of the Vikings’ 184 passing yards.
Greene’s long TD run opened the scoring and Zach West added a 12-yard TD run for Watauga.
Greene, Jaiden Bond (25-yard run) and Satterfield 2-yard) run added scores in the second quarter, boosting the Pioneers’ lead to 35-0.
Watauga’s lead expanded to 51-0 with 4:44 to go in the third quarter when Suggs caught a 30-yard scoring pass from Greene.
Greene is playing quarterback while last year’s starter, Anderson Castle, recovers from an injury in the opening minutes of Watauga’s season-opener against Asheville Roberson.
Watauga’s home win streak is now nine games and the Pioneers have won 16 straight regular season games in Boone, moving head coach Ryan Habich closer to 100 career victories.
Habich is 46-19 at Watauga and goes for career win No. 97 on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Wilkes Central. After a bye week on Sept. 14, the Pioneers start their conference scheduled on Sept. 21 at South Caldwell.
Alexander Central 54, North Iredell 3
The Cougars will have a chance to gain career win No. 125 for head coach Butch Carter on Friday at North Lincoln after crushing the previously unbeaten Red Raiders in Taylorsville.
CARTER
Carter, 20-7 in his third season at Alexander Central, is his 18th season as a head coach.
A.J. Miller ran for scores on three of his four carries against North Iredell (2-1) while Steven Montgomery ran eight times for 86 yards and two TDs and Lyndon Strickland scored twice on seven carries for 115 yards.
Alexander Central outgained North iredell 383-41 and led 54-0 when the Red Raiders’ Spencer Morrison kicked a 28-yard field goal with 70 seconds to play.
Miller scored on runs of 11, 5 and 5 yards.
Isaac Chapman led the Cougars’ defense with three tackles for minus 18 yards among his five tackles. He also had a sack.
JaiKwan Tilley had a team-best seven tackles for Alexander Central, which had 10 tackles for lost yardage of 49 yards as the Red Raiders finished with 14 rushing yards on 25 carries.
Hunter Bolden and Carter Williams each had six tackles for North Iredell.
After playing at North Lincoln and facing their former head coach Nick Bazzle, the Cougars have an open date before facing West Caldwell in Taylorsville on Sept. 21 to open their Northwestern 3A-4A schedule.
East Rutherford 70, South Caldwell 44
In a game that featured more than 900 yards of total offense, the Cavaliers (3-0) won behind a five-TD night by Jayden Waddell.
Waddell ran two kickoffs back for scores – 78 and 60 yards – and had TD runs of 58, 35 and 49 yards to finish with six carries for 169 yards.
East Rutherford gained 405 (401 on the ground) and South Caldwell had 527 yards (425 rushing).
Spencer Piercy gained a game-high 205 yards on 11 carries for the Spartans and Isaiah Kirby added 14 carries for 121 yards.
Cameron Simmons, who had 126 rushing yards on 12 carries, had runs of 23 and 20 yards for TDs as the Cavaliers opened a 13-0 lead.
South Caldwell led 22-20 after one quarter and trailed 34-22 at halftime.
Austin Raynor scored on two runs for the Spartans, the last with 4:13 to go in the game and getting South Caldwell within 55-44.
Simmons ran 33 yards for a score and Joseph Detetta returned an interception 45 yards for the game’s final score.
South Caldwell is at home on Friday at 7:30 p.m. to battle South Caldwell and meets R-S Central in Hudson on Sept. 14. On Sept. 21, the Spartans start their Northwestern 3A-4A schedule at home, facing Watauga.
Patton 35, McDowell 13
Bryson Ratliff scored three rushing touchdowns in Marion, lifting the Panthers (2-1) past previously unbeaten McDowell.
He scored on runs of 4, 3 and 7 yards as Patton beat the Titans (2-1) for the second straight season.
Patton led 28-7 by halftime via Weston Fleming’s 8-yard TD run and his pass of 37 yards to Pierce Memmel for a score.
McDowell quarterback Adam Randolph threw for two TDs, one in the opening quarter and another for the game’s final points.
The Panthers, under new head coach Jonanthan Browning, have won 11 of their last 16 games.
Patton meets Burke County rival Freedom on the road on Friday in their 12th all-time battle (Patton has won once, 2016 at Freedom).
McDowell, 9-17 under head coach Andy Morgan, travels to Mitchell County to play Friday at 7:30 p.m.
After playing Freedom, the Panthers are at home Sept. 14 against East Rutherford and they open their Northwestern Foothills 2A schedule on Sept. 21 at Fred T. Foard.
McDowell is open on Sept. 14, starting Northwestern 3A-4A play on Sept. 21 at Hickory.
West Iredell 48, West Caldwell 6
West Iredell had a 22-point second quarter and scored the rest of its points in the fourth quarter en route to a home non-conference victory.
Quarterback Eli Kitchens ran for two scores and threw for another as West Iredell improved to 2-1 and left West Caldwell at 0-3.
Emmanual Long had TD runs of 6 and 1 yard for West Iredell, which picked up the 10th win for Monte Simmons as West Iredell’s head coach.
West Caldwell’s only score came in the third quarter with about 9 ½ minutes left in the quarter when Brenden Andrews scored on a 5-yard run.
West Caldwell has been outscored 148-6 in its first three games.
West Iredell is at home Friday at 7:30 p.m. to face Statesville and plays at North Iredell on Sept. 14 before opening its conference schedule Sept. 21 at Draughn.
West Caldwell goes to Ashe County on Friday for a 7:30 p.m., is idle the following Friday and opens Northwestern 3A-4A play on Sept. 21 at Alexander Central.
Fat Friday postponed, game on Monday
The 45th Fat Friday game, pitting Freedom (1-1) at archrival East Burke (1-1), was postponed by rain and rescheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. in Icard.
Freedom leads the series 26-18 and has beaten the Cavs eight straight times.
East Burke has not beaten the Patriots in Icard since 2008, when future NFLer Tyler Shatley (fullback) ran for two scores.
Thursday’s JV game at Freedom was also washed out and it will not be rescheduled.
East Burke will have two games this week – also going to Newton-Conover on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. game while Freedom will be at home Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Patton.
After a game on Sept. 14 at West Lincoln, the Cavs open Northwestern Foothills 2A play at West Iredell on Sept. 21.
After an open date on Sept. 14, the Patriots start Northwestern 3A-4A play at St. Stephens.