NORTHWESTERN 3A-4A ROUNDUP
Alexander Central rolls past South Iredell, improves to 3-1
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Watauga High cruised to another football win on Friday night – beating visiting Wilkes Central 59-6 – but the Pioneers could end up with star running back Bryce Satterfield sidelined.
WATA Radio, which broadcast Watauga games, reported Satterfield left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury and did not return.
The report said Satterfield will have an MRI this week to determine the extent of the injury. He came into the game averaging 84.3 yards per game rushing, sixth-best in the Northwestern 3A-4A, and with six rushing TDs.
Watauga (3-1) ran its win streak in the series against the Eagles to 16 by piling up 383 yards on offense, 291 of it rushing.
Grant Oliver had three carries for 83 yards and a TD and Jaiden Bond ran six times for 69 yards with a TD run and had two TD catches covering 78 yards.
Pioneers quarterback Anderson Castle added two TD passes and the Watauga defense forced four turnovers.
Wilkes Central (2-2) was limited to 103 yards on offense and only eight in the opening half.
Watauga scored 37 points in the second quarter.
Alexander Central 48, South Iredell 7
Jamison Benfield and A.J. Miller each ran for two scores, sparking the Cougars (3-1) as they jumped to a 35-0 lead by halftime.
Benfield had scoring runs of 1 and 2 yards in the first quarter, and Miller ran 26 and 9 yards in the second quarter for TDs.
The other first-half score for Alexander Central was a 39-yard run by running back Steven Montgomery, who finished with 11 carries for 192 yards.
The Cougars ran for 430 yards with Benfield gaining 81 on nine carries and Miller closing with 47 on three carries.
Alexander Central limited South Iredell to 53 yards rushing on 28 carries.
Bryce Klinger completed nine of 10 passes for 160 yards for the Vikings, hitting Cullen Smith five times for 137 yards.
JaiKwaun Tilley sparked the Alexander Central defense with nine tackles while Bryson Abernathy, Rhyeem Craig and Zach Wooten each made six tackles. Three of Craig’s hits were for lost yardage and he had two sacks.
South Iredell (1-3) had won six straight in the series.
The Cougars had not beaten the Vikings in Taylorsville since 1996.
Hunter Huss 33, Hickory 7
The Huskies (2-1) kept the visiting Red Tornadoes (0-4) winless as running back Lamagea McDowell ran 16 times for 125 yards and two scores.
Huss ran for 263 yards with Malik Corry adding 76 yards and Dontavius Nash, who also had five tackles on defense, gaining 61 on six carries.
Huskies quarterback Zo Wallace completed 10 of 16 passes for 100 yards.
Vontray Ratliff had two interceptions for Huss, which has beaten Hickory in four of their last five battles and 13 times in 24 games in a series that began in 1968.
Hickory’s only score was on a pass with about six minutes to play.
Maiden 41, St. Stephens 14
Maiden quarterback Ethan Rhodes had the hot hand, throwing for five TDs – three to Brennan James and twice to Dylan Abernethy – as the host Blue Devils (3-1) rolled past the Indians (1-2).
The Blue Devils extended their win streak in the series to eight straight and improved to 31-5 against St. Stephens since 1980.
Rhodes, who came in leading the South Fork 2A in passing at nearly 220 yards a game, hit Abernethy for scores of 15 and 6 yards and found James for TDs on throws that covered 42, 27 and 35 yards.
Abernethy, who had nine catches for 194 yards, and James each have six TD receptions this season.
Maiden led 21-0 after one quarter and 34-7 at the half.
St. Stephens’s first score, with about a minute left in the half, came on a 17-yard pass from quarterback Connor Williams to Zach Lee. The Indians’ other score was a 1-yard run by Chance Yang.
Lee had a dozen catches for more than 100 yards.
Spartans resume on Monday
South Caldwell’s game at Hibriten was halted at halftime by rain and will resume on Monday night with the Panthers in front 14-0.
Hibriten (2-1) is vyng for its fourth straight win in the series and to tie it all-time at 21-21-1.
The Spartans are 2-1 and coming off a 10-point home loss to Bandys.
Freedom, McDowell postponed
Freedom’s game at Patton was postponed by rain and reset for Monday at 7 p.m.
The Patriots (2-1) have won 11 of the 12 match-ups, including two straight, and they are 5-0 at Patton.
A win would move Freedom head coach Luke Little, in his second year with the Patriots, to 99 career wins.
- McDowell (1-2) will face unbeaten Mitchell County (3-0) on Monday at 7 p.m. after their game on Friday was postponed by rain.