Hibriten runs league win streak to 30;
Rutherford sets receiving record for Patton
THE BEARS’ BEST
Bunker Hill shares second place in the Northwestern Foothills 2A with East Burke and has a shot at one of its best varsity football finishes.
A look at the Bears’ top previous league finishes:
Year Record/Finish Coach
1967 11-1/First Bob Starnes
1968 7-1-1/First Bob Starnes
1970 7-3/Tie 2nd Bob Starnes
1972 6-4/Tie 2nd Bob Starnes
1973 8-2/Second Bob Starnes
1975 8-3/Tie 2nd Bob Starnes
1978 5-5/Tie 2nd Bob Starnes
1980 6-4-1/Tie 1st Mike McRee
1985 9-3-1/Second Tom Brown
1987 11-2/Second Randy Faucette
1988 8-3/Second Randy Faucette
1989 8-3/Second Randy Faucette
1998 7-4/Second Randy Faucette
2000 7-5/Second Randy Faucette
2019 6-6/Tie 2nd Patrick Clark
Note: All of Bunker Hill’s titles and/or shares were in the Southern District 7 2A.
SOURCE: HobbsDailyReport.com research and files.
By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
Bunker Hill High’s Bears were hungry on Saturday afternoon and it showed.
Getting three rushing scores from Kaden Robinson and two touchdowns each by Jay Abrams and Kaliq Ramseur, the Bears mauled visiting East Burke 47-6 in a key Northwestern Foothills 2A game.
Bunker Hill (3-1, 3-1) and East Burke (3-1, 3-1) are tied for second place behind Hibriten.
“We knew this game would be a pivot for us,” East Burke head coach Derrick Minor told The Valdese Sports Network. “Bunker Hill is good, physical and fast and they have all their areas covered.”
Robinson ran 13 times for 145 yards, scoring on runs of 2, 9 and 80 yards as Bunker Hill collected 454 yards of total offense.
Bears quarterback Carson Elder threw for 204 yards, going 11 of 14, and opened the scoring with a 55-yard throw to Ramseur. It was 14-0 after Elder threw 50 yards to Abrams, who had five catches for 104 yards.
After Abrams’ 52-yard TD run in the third quarter, Ramseur added a punt return score of 62 yards.
East Burke’s only score came in the fourth quarter on a 24-yard run by Blaine Fulbright, who finished with 24 carries for 79 yards.
Bunker Hill won its second straight in the series, for the fourth time in their last five matchups, and is up 4-2 in the all-time series.
The Bears go to West Iredell on Friday at 7 p.m. while the Cavs are at home to face Hibriten, also at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Hibriten 56, Draughn 6
The Panthers’ powerful running game sparked a Northwestern Foothills 2A home win on Friday night.
MACKEY
Darren Perry ran 37 and 31 yards for early scores for Hibriten (4-0, 4-0), which continues in first place in the league by half-game over Bunker Hill and East Burke.
Noah Isbell ran for 109 yards and a score of 52 yards and Cedric Shuford had a 35-yard scoring run for Hibriten, which led 35-0 by halftime.
The Panthers, 55-2 since 2016, have won 30 consecutive conference games. They are in their second season under head coach Sam Mackey.
The streak started after a home loss to Patton in Oct. 2015 in the Northwestern 3A-4A. Hibriten beat Hickory, then went 7-0 the next year in the Northwestern 3A-4A and then 6-0, 6-0 and 7-0 in the Northwestern Foothills 2A.
The Panthers are at home Friday at 7 p.m. against East Burke while Draughn plays at home Friday at 7 p.m. against Fred T. Foard.
Patton 40, West Iredell 14
Wide receiver Waylon Rutherford broke the school record for single-game receiving yards as the Panthers (1-3 1-3) crushed the Warriors (0-4, 0-4) on Saturday at Patton in a Northwestern Foothills 2A game.
Rutherford had six catches for 196 yards, breaking a record previously held by Tyler Rector (141 yards against Chase in 2011), The Morganton News Herald reported.
Quarterback Kalen Byrd, who rushed for 112 yards including a 52-yard TD, threw scoring passes of 32 and 28 yards to Rutherford. Hunter Johnson also threw a TD pass to Rutherford (69 yards).
Byrd finished seven of 15 for 139 yards.
Patton will play at West Caldwell on Friday at 7 p.m., and West Iredell’s home game on Friday (7 p.m.) is against Bunker Hill.
West Caldwell 13, Fred T. Foard 0
Quarterback Jaylen Patterson threw for 167 yards and two scores on Friday night, pacing West Caldwell in a Northwestern Foothills 2A home victory over Foard.
A pass of 62 yards to Cameron Beaver in the first quarter and one of 2 yards to Mason Anthony with a bit more than seven minutes to play was all the scoring.
West Caldwell, outscored this season 94-79, improved to 2-2 and Foard dropped to 1-2.
The Tigers had only 105 yards of total offense – 65 of that rushing – and the Warriors finished with 252 yards.
Beaver had two catches for 73 yards and rushed nine times for 35 yards for West Caldwell.
The Warriors, 1-21 in the previous two seasons, continue Monte Simmons’ first year as head coach on Friday (7 p.m.) when they play a homecoming game against Patton.
Foard, vying for its first winning season since 2017, plays Friday at 7 p.m. at Draughn.
