Fred T. Foard quarterback Will Frye breaks a run against Maiden on Friday night at Foard. Maiden won 48-24 in a season-opening game to spoil the return of Ryan Gettys for a second tenure as head coach at Foard./PHOTO COURTESY OF GENE LEATHERMAN, OBSERVER NEWS ENTERPRISE
Alexander Central wins at Hibriten, snapping
Panthers’ 34-game regular-season win streak
HobbsDailyReport.com
East Burke High raced to a three-score lead in the first quarter on three rushing scores by running back Josh Moore en route to a 41-6 home victory over Highland Tech on Friday night to open the football season.
Moore ran for touchdowns on carries of 2, 27 and 48 yards and Turner Strong had three PATs as the Cavaliers gained a 21-0 lead by halftime.
Moore’s fourth TD came in the third quarter on a 60-yard run.
Alexander Central 28, Hibriten 19
Alexander Central rallied, using a 211 rushing yards and two late touchdowns by running back Steve Montgomery to beat host Hibriten 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.
Newton-Conover 44, Bunker Hill 14
Newton-Conover High’s Brandon Johnson scored three times in the opening 6 ½ minutes – twice on defense – as the Red Devils overwhelmed the visiting Bears.
Johnson took pass to the left sideline from quarterback Justice Craig for 50 yards for a touchdown on the second play after the opening kickoff.
With nine minutes, 58 seconds left in the first quarter, he returned a fumble 38 yards for a TD and then returned an interception 26 yards for a score with 5:44 left in the opening quarter.
Newton-Conover led 34-7 at the half in a game that had a 45-minute delay in the first half because of lightning.
Running back Allen Wilfong of the Red Devils scored twice and had 21 carries for 85 yards and Craig completed eight of 17 for 127 yards and two TDs.
Quarterback Cameron Elder threw for 119 yards for the Bears, hitting Hector Stamey four times for 94 yards and for a TD.
Maiden 48, Fred T. Foard 24
The visiting Blue Devils won for the 16th straight time in games played on the Tigers’ field behind sophomore quarterback Ethan Rhodes, who passed for two TDs and ran for two more in his first start on varsity.
Foard, debuting under head coach Ryan Gettys as he started his second tenure as Tigers head coach, has not beaten Maiden at Foard since 1983 and fell to 4-35 against the Blue Devils since 1980.
West Lincoln 52, Draughn 13
Running back Cannon Bridges ran for four TDs, including two runs of 40 or more yards, as the Rebels won their debut at home under new head coach Darren Ponder.
Bridges also had a TD reception from Mason Huitt and Xander Pendergrass had a 46-yard scoring run for West Lincoln, which won for the 10th time in 13 games.
The Wildcats got a rushing TD by freshman Donnell Wilkins and a passing TD, quarterback Braxton Cox to Denver Treadaway.
West Lincoln had a big enough lead that the second half was played with a running clock per North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) rules.
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 High 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.
North Buncombe 60, Patton 20
The Blackhawks pounded the visiting Panthers behind four touchdowns from Joe Jones and two scoring passes thrown by Rayce Pickens.
North Buncombe open a 30-point lead in the first half, and a running clock started with about 7 ½ minutes left in the third quarter via North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) rules.
Patton lost its season-opening game for the sixth straight year.
Postponements
- Rain delayed the start of West Iredell’s season, wiping out the Warriors’ visit to Winston-Salem Atkins. The game is now Monday at 7 p.m. in Winston-Salem.
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