SOUTH FORK 2A ROUNDUP: Wolves find groove, beat East Gaston for first victory

Defense, including 100-yard interception return

for TD,  leads East Lincoln to first victory

 

Editor’s note: Game stories on Bandys, Maiden, Newton-Conover and West Lincoln will be posted separately on the website.

HobbsDailyReport.com

A big night from senior running back Jamal Littlejohn got Lincolnton High into the win column for the first time on Friday night.

Littlejohn ran for almost 190 yards on nine carries and scored six rushing touchdowns as the Wolves ripped East Gaston 46-0 on the road to improve to 1-3.

In the opening two minutes, Littlejohn ran 46 yards for a TD and he scored on each of his next three carries.

The game’s start was delayed 45 minutes by rain and lightning in the Mount Holly area.

Junior quarterback E.J. Manjarres threw for 109 yards and one score and James Woods, who started at quarterback earlier in the season and moved to wide receiver, had four catches for 63 yards for Lincolnton.

The Wolves had opened the season with games against three other Gaston County teams – falling 44-6 at Cramer, 42-7 at South Point and 8-7 at home to North Gaston.

Lincolnton has an open date on Friday before starting South Fork 2A play Sept. 21 at home against Newton-Conover.

East Lincoln 41, North Gaston 22

The Mustangs (1-2) broke into the win column by forcing six turnovers – three leading to scores – as they won a non-conference game at home.

Preston Cox and Sidney Dollar each returned an interception for a score, with Dollar going 100 yards with his pick-6 after the Wildcats (2-2) were driving down 34-22 with about nine minutes to play.

Dollar also caught two TD passes from Chase Jones, who threw for 153 yards and ran for two other TDs.

Kareem Kennedy led North Gaston, rushing for nearly 130 yards on 28 carries. He scored three times, twice on runs and also on a 60-yard interception return.

Wildcats quarterback Isaiah McNeil averaged nearly 10 yards a run, finishing with 117 yards.

East Lincoln led 26-22 at the half.

The Mustangs, in their second season under head coach David Lubowicz, were 0-2 after falling 20-7 to Forestview and 30-14 to Ashbrook to begin the season.

East Lincoln closes its non-conference schedule at home on Friday at 7:30 p.m., facing East Gaston, and opens South Fork 2A play on Sept. 21 at Lake Norman Charter.

Highland Tech 35, Lake Norman Charter 28

The Rams (2-0) hung on to win a non-league game on the road after building a 28-0 lead by halftime.

Jeremiah Wallace ran for more than 140 yards on 30 carries and Zach Love added two scoring runs and 100 yards and Caleb Foster had a TD run among his 16 rushes for 124 yards.

The Knights (2-2) used their passing game to rally, with quarterback Jeff Womack throwing for two TDs.

Womack threw twice for scores to wide receiver Davis Wilder, who had nine catches for 255 yards.

Highland Tech got the ball back on downs in the closing seconds to win.

The Rams ran for more than 350 yards with Quaid Lawler’s 30-yard TD run the game-winner.

Lake Norman Charter is idle on Friday before opening South Fork 2A play on Sept. 21 with a visit from East Lincoln.

Alexander Central 56, North Lincoln 24

New Knights head coach Nick Bazzle faced his former school, which rolled to a 35-10 lead by the half en route to staying unbeaten (4-0) with 520 rushing yards and no passes at North Lincoln.

The win gave Alexander Central head coach Butch Carter his 125th career victory and his 21st in 28 games since taking over in Taylorsville.

BAZZLE

The Cougars averaged 12.7 yards per carry, led by 178 yards on six carries and two scores by running back Steven Montgomery. Easton Rhoney added 121 yards on five carries and two scores and A.J. Miller, who ran 10 times for 72 yards, also ran for two TDs.

Miller had runs of 17 and 22 yards and Rhoney scored on a 22-yard run as Alexander Central went up 21-0.

After a 33-yard field goal by Christian DeLaney made it 21-3, Montgomery broke a run for 76 yards and a score. When Montgomery scored on a 48-yard run with 4:50 to go in the half, the Cougars led 35-10.

Rhoney’s 96-yard scoring run with 11:07 to play had Alexander Central ahead 56-17.

North Lincoln (1-2) had 244 yards of offense, led by 61 rushing yards on 11 carries by Clayton Cribb, and quarterback Landon Beard threw for 86 yards.

Jordan Brown led the Cougars’ defense with eight tackles, a sack and two of the tackles for lost yardage. Nick McNeely added seven tackles.

Allen Owen’s six tackles led the North Lincoln defense.

Bazzle, who has 130 career wins, was facing Alexander Central for the first time. He did not coach against the Cougars while he was head coach at Newton-Conover. He was head coach at Alexander Central for four years then sat out two years before being hired by North Lincoln.

North Lincoln has a non-league home game on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. against Bessemer City and starts its South Fork 2A schedule on Sept. 21 at home against West Lincoln.

Alexander Central, after outscoring opponents 200-41 so far, is off on Friday night. The Cougars’ opener in the Northwestern 3A-4A is Sept. 21 in Taylorsville against West Caldwell.

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