NORTHWESTERN 3A-4A ROUNDUP
Hickory beats South Caldwell, is tied for second place with Freedom
PREMIUM CONTENT
For a more detailed and expanded look at Friday night’s varsity games purchase a premium content subscription — $8.95 monthly or a full school year for $85, a savings of nearly $23. For more details and to register: https://hobbsdailyreport.com/register/
HobbsDailyReport.com
Watauga High hasn’t done many things this football season without a take-care-of-business outlook.
Faced with a chance to secure at least a share of the Northwestern 3A-4A title on Friday night in Marion here’s how the Pioneers addressed the situation in a 62-14 victory:
— Rushed for 422 yards and had three players – running back Jaiden Bond (six carries for 143 yards, two TDs), quarterback Anderson Castle (9-121, one TD) and running back Sebastian Best (4-114, 4 TDs) eclipse 100 yards rushing.
— Castle went 11-for-11 passing for 227 yards and three scoring passes, two to Jake Watson and one to Bond, who had three catches for 113 receiving yards.
— Bond had runs of 3 and 88 yards for TDs, which gave him seven scoring plays this season of 48 or more yards and two that are more than 80 yards.
— McDowell had the ball for more than 34 minutes and Watauga scored 62 points having the ball for just 13:38.
— Watauga outgained McDowell 649-245.
The Pioneers led 7-0 after one quarter and 34-7 at the half.
Quarterback Riley Moore threw for 100 yards for the Titans (1-8, 0-5).
Watauga plays its final regular season game on Friday night in Boone, facing Freedom, and then has an open date on Nov. 8.
McDowell is idle Friday and closes the regular season at home on Nov. 8 against Freedom.
A win on Friday would leave Freedom and Hickory, each 3-1 in the league, to battle for second place (Hickory has the tiebreaker, a 23-22 win over Freedom).
If Freedom beats Watauga and wins at McDowell on Nov. 8, it would share the league title with Watauga and gain the league’s No. 1 state 3A bid via that win over Watauga.
If Hickory beats Alexander Central and St. Stephens it could potentially tie for the league title. Watauga has the head-to-head tiebreaker over Hickory (won 56-28), and HHS has the head-to-head against Freedom.
Hickory 40, South Caldwell 30
Big plays carried the Red Tornadoes (3-6, 3-1) past the Spartans (4-5, 1-3), keeping them tied for second place with Freedom and in the chase for a league title.
Running back Cody Young had nearly 150 rushing yards and ran for three TDs. His third-quarter score put HHS ahead for good at 27-24, and he scored in the final 90 seconds to protect the lead.
Hickory, hampered by injuries all season, started Zay Huitt at quarterback for the first time. He ran for more than 61 yards and a TD and threw for two scores.
Quarterback Avery Raynor ran for more than 130 yards and scored three TDs to lead the Spartans while running back Isaiah Kirby had 90 rushing yards and three converted two-point conversion runs.
Hickory won its fourth straight game in the series, improving to 13-4 in Hudson and 28-10 in the series.
The Red Tornadoes are at home on Friday night against Alexander Central while the Spartans are at St. Stephens.
Hickory closes the regular season Nov. 8 at St. Stephens, when South Caldwell is at home against Alexander Central.
South Caldwell, by virtue of beating McDowell – the only other 4A team in the conference – will earn a state playoff bid.
Hickory is battling for a state bid after picking up career win No. 276 for head coach Russell Stone.
Alexander Central 30, St. Stephens 16
The Cougars (6-3, 2-2) edged visiting St. Stephens (4-5, 1-3) – despite the Indians having the ball for nearly 30 of the game’s 48 minutes — to run their win streak in the series to nine.
St. Stephens led 16-14 with 9:01 to play via a 33-yard TD pass from quarterback Connor Williams to running back Matthew Hancock.
A.J. Miller, who ran 11 times for 99 yards, rallied the Cougars with a 45-yard TD run with 7:55 to play and a 75-yard punt return for a TD about 2 ½ minutes later.
Alexander Central outrushed the Indians 297-56 and had more total offense (348-289) with St. Stephens running 25 more plays than the Cougars (65-40).
Quarterback Lance Justice ran 10 times for a team-high 102 yards for Alexander Central and Steven Montgomery added 11 carries for 96 yards.
Justice threw 26 yards to Josh Abernathy for the game’s first score and his 47-yard TD run with 9:59 left in the third quarter gave the Cougars a 14-3 lead.
Zak McLauchlin’s 19 carries for 61 yards led the Indians, who got 233 passing yards from Williams (16-of-28). McLauchlin caught six passes for 86 yards and Zach Lee had six catches for 80 yards.
JaiKwaun Tilley and Rhyeem Craig led the Cougars’ defense with 10 tackles each. They had 10 tackles for lost yardage and five sacks, including 3 ½ hits for lost yardage for Craig.
Hayden Kerley’s eight tackles led St. Stephens and Troy Hicks and Andre Britt each made six tackles.
Alexander Central, in fourth place after an 0-2 league start, plays key league game on Friday night at Hickory.
St. Stephens is at home on Friday night, facing South Caldwell.