McKinney scores school-record 5 times but Cherryville still nips Draughn
Editor’s note: Game stories on Bunker Hill, East Burke and Fred T. Foard will be posted separately on the website.
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Hibriten High ran its win streak to 20 straight games, beating South Caldwell 56-12 on the road as running back McKinley Witherspoon ran for three TDs on Friday night.
Witherspoon scored on runs of 43, 51 and 29 yards – the last giving Hibriten a 37-point lead – as the Panthers ran their win streak in the series to three.
Hibriten has won seven of its last 11 battles with South Caldwell (0-3) and the series is now 21-20-1 in favor of the Spartans.
Quarterback Jaylen Scott ran for a TD and hit Skylin Thomas for a score to open the game (65 yards after a lost fumble by the Spartans).
Marqwone Jones added two rushing TDs for Hibriten.
For South Caldwell, quarterback Jason Martin twice hit Austin Raynor for TDs, the first for 48 yards in the first quarter and the other for 77 yards that got the Spartans within 28-12.
Hibriten had more than 300 yards on offense by halftime.
The Panthers, defending state 2AA champions (16-0), play at Newton-Conover on Friday at 7:30 p.m., and the begin defense of their Northwestern Foothills 2A title on Sept. 21 with a homecoming game against winless Bunker Hill.
South Caldwell is at home on Friday at 7:30 p.m. to face R-S Central and its first Northwestern 3A-4A game of the year is Sept. 21 at home against Watauga.
Freedom 49, Draughn 6
Freedom High, sparked again by quarterback Jayden Birchfield, clobbered visiting Patton as the Patriots beat the Panthers for the 11th time in their 12 meetings.
Birchfield ran for a touchdown and threw for three more as the Patriots (3-1) beat Patton for the sixth time in the series.
BIRCHFIELD
Patton dropped to 2-2 after having won back-to-back games against R-S Central and McDowell under first-year head coach Jonathan Browning.
Birchfield, who last season threw for 286 yards in a win over Patton, opened Friday’s scoring with a 31-yard run.
After throwing for TDs to Jaxon McMahon and Christian Fox, the Patriots led 20-0 at the half.
A 2-yard TD run by Larry Luke extended the lead before Weston Fleming’s 5-yard run for Patton made it 26-6.
Birchfield threw 31 yards to Desmond Caldwell for a TD and Freedom’s other score was a 22-yard pass from Fox to Desmond Hedrick.
Freedom is idle on Friday and then plays at St. Stephens to open the Northwestern 3A-4A part of its schedule on Sept. 21.
Patton, which won nine games last season, goes for its third win on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at home, facing East Rutherford.
The Panthers’ opener in Northwestern Foothills 2A play is Sept. 21 at Fred T. Foard.
Cherryville 46, Draughn 38
A school-record five TDs by Tyler McKinney weren’t enough as the visiting Ironmen edged the Wildcats (0-4) in a non-league game.
Cherryville (3-1) had two 60-yard scoring plays in the victory, a pass to open the scoring and an interception return that opened its lead to 39-22 in the third quarter.
McKinney had scoring runs of 2, 46, 5, 10 and 3 yards, the last coming after Draughn recovered an onside kick, and that got the Wildcats within eight points.
Cherryville beat Draughn for the third time in their six all-time battles.
The Wildcats will go for head coach Chris Powell’s first win on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Avery County and then open Northwestern Foothills 2A play on Sept. 21 with a visit by West Iredell.
Statesville 42, West Iredell 0
Sophomore quarterback Nebanye Moore threw for four TDs to lead the Greyhounds (3-1) to a road victory over the Warriors (2-2).
Statesville led 20-0 at the half and got interceptions by Chavion Smith and Damon Mayfield and two fumble recoveries by Tacan Clark.
West Iredell has won twice by blowouts –over the Hickory Hawks (by 41) and West Caldwell (by 42) – and has been blown out twice, falling 54-7 to South Iredell.
The Warriors go to North Iredell on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. for a non-conference game. Their Northwestern Foothills 2A schedule begins Sept. 21 at Draughn.