---

FRIDAY NIGHT GAMES

Monroe 35, West Lincoln 27..West took the opening kickoff and made one first down but then had to punt.  Monroe returned the ball to their 33 but a penalty moved it back to the 13. The Redhawks drove into West Lincoln territory but also had to punt and the punt went into the end zone so West started this time at their own 20.  Caden Smith ran 31 yds on the first down play to the Monroe 49.  Gideon Allen then ran for another first down to the Monroe 39.  Jaylin Winnex ran for four yards to the 35.  Smith ran six yards for another first down at the Monroe 29.  Winnex took a pitchout and ran three yards to the 26.  Smith ran to the Monroe 10.  On first & goal, Winnex ran to the 6.  Smith ran to the 2.  Smith took a pitchout and scored the first touchdown of the night.  Zander Harrelson kicked the extra point and with 1:12 left in the first quarter, the Rebels led 7-0.

In the second quarter, the Redhawks took the West Lincoln kickoff and went three and out.  After they punted, West started at their own  30.   Winnex ran for four yds, then Allen ran for no gain.  On third down,  Smith got just one yard and West had to punt.  Monroe started from their 30, but a quarterback scramble to them into Rebels territory; then they ran to the West 36.  A short pass got them to the 25.  An off-sides penalty moved it back to the 30.  An end-around play got them back to the 25.  The quarterback broke open and ran to the 13. A run to the 4 was followed by a quarterback keeper for a Redhawks TD.  Monroe kicked the extra point and with 4:49 left in the first half, the score was tied at 7-all. 

J.J. Phansook returned the ensuing kickoff to the 32.  When West was forced to punt, the Redhawks blocked the kick and returned it for a touchdown.  The EP kick gave Monroe a 14-7 lead with 2:38 left in the first half. On the Rebels next possession, Ben Sain caught an Allen pass to get to the Monroe 8-yd line with seconds left until halftime.  West faked a field goal and Allen tossed a short pass to Grae Ponder, who ran it in for a TD.  Harrelson kicked the EP and tied the score at 14-all at halftime.  

Monroe took the second half kickoff and drove to the West 25 completing a long pass for the big play.  From there, they scored and kicked the extra point for a 21-14 lead. West drove into Redhawks territory but had to convert a 4th & 4 to keep the drive alive.  Smith made the four yards needed and with just under 7 minutes left in the third period, West made another first down at the Monroe 20.  On second down, Winnex ran to the 14.  On third down, Smith ran to the Monroe 6, but a false start penalty moved the ball back to the 11, first and goal.  Smith ran to the left and got back to the 6.  Allen got stopped for no gain.  On third and goal, Smith ran to the 2, then scored on the next play.  Harrelson's kick was almost blocked--but he made it, and the game was tied again at 21-21.    

Monroe returned the kickoff to the West Lincoln 42.  A two-yard run was followed by a long incomplete pass; then on a quarterback draw, West stopped the quarterback at the 42.  Monroe punted and the punt rolled out of bounds at the West 13.  West had to punt, but Monroe called back-to-back timeouts.  The officials first moved the ball five yards forward (West needed four for a first down) but then moved it back, withdrawing the penalty.  The punt was almost blocked and Monroe returned it to the Rebels 30.  They then scored on the next play.  The extra point kick gave Monroe a 28-21 lead.  West started on their own 20 after the kickoff.  On 4th & 1 at the 29, Gideon Allen ran for the first down, but West got called for an unsportsmanlike conduct moving them back to their own 15.  On first down, Smith ran 10 yards.  Winnex then gained six yards.  Allen ran for two more yards.  On third & two, Allen ran all the way to the Monroe 2-yd line, then ran for a touchdown ith 5:20 left in the game.  Harrelson's EP kick went wide left and Monroe still led 28-27.  

On the kickoff, the Redhawks runner got back to his 34-yd line.  The runner was tackled but got up quickly and was tackled again by Ben Sain.  The late hit penalty moved the ball to the West Lincoln 48.   With time running out, the Redhawks drove inside the Rebels' 5-yd line with less than a minute left in the game.  With 1:32 left, they scored and kicked the extra point to lead 35-27.  With very little time left and needing a touchdown and two-point conversion to tie the game, Allen threw a pass and it was intercepted but it was ruled he was already down.  West called its last timeout with five seconds left but didn't score and the great season came to an end with a 35-27 loss. 

Smith finished the night with 150 yds rushing and two touchdowns; Allen ran for 74 yards and a TD, he also passed for 64 yards and the one touchdown to Sain; Winnex ran for 38 yards.  On defense, J.J. Phansook and Grae Ponder each had six tackles; Allen had 5 tackles; Keegan Bostic and Camden Sain, 3 each;  Ben Sain, Caden Smith and Drew Ponder each had two. 

West finishes the season with a 9-3 record.

[Thanks to Coach Darren Ponder for his reports on the Rebels stats all season long.]

Hickory 48, North Lincoln 28...the Red Tornadoes scored on their first possession when Brady Stober threw a 12-yd pass to Jamien Little for a TD just a minute into the game; the EP kick made it 7-0. The next time Hickory got the ball, Stober threw another TD pass to Jamien Little, this time for 41 yards, and with the EP kick, Hickory led 14-0.   With six minutes left in the first period, Shannon Wingate ran six yards to get the Knights on the board; Jake Dillingham kicked the EP and it was 14-7. With nine minutes left until halftime, Landon Agee ran one yd for another North TD and Dillingham tied the score at 14-14; but Isaiah Lackey ran for a Hickory TD and the Red Tornadoes led 21-14 with just unter 8 minutes left in the second quarter.  An Eli Sipe pass to Brady Rinkus and a long run by Wingate got the Knights to the Hickory 32.  Owen Hammon then ran to the 9-yd line.  From there, Cole Ellis ran for a TD and Dillingham's kick tied the game again at 21-all. With under a minute left, Lackey ran for another TD and Hickory led 28-21 at halftime.

With four minutes left in the third period, Stober threw another TD pass, this time to Ellis Chappell, and Hickory led 35-21.  With seconds left in the third, Deshawn Medley ran for another Red Tornadoes score and the lead was 41-21.

With eight minutes left in the game, Agee scored and Dillingham's kick made it 41-28. Ellis Chappell recovered an on-side kick attempt by the Knights; Hickory punted, but the Red Tornadoes scored again on a pick six with four minutes left and the final was Hickory 48, North Lincoln 28. 

Hickory will host A.C. Reynolds in round three next Friday. 

West Henderson 37, East Lincoln 7...East kicked off to start the game.  West Henderson didn't move the ball and had to punt.  The Mustangs got close enough to try a field goal, but missed.  When West Henderson got the ball again, Riley Shropshire intercepted a Falcons pass at the East 36.  When East didn't score, West Henderson got the ball back, but the first quarter ended in a scoreless tie.  Four minutes into the second period, the Falcons scored and with the EP kick led 7-0. East lost a fumble but then intercepted a pass deep in their own territory.  East had to punt and West Henderson scored again.  They missed the extra point to lead 13-0.  

East took the second half kickoff and Jaylen Roseboro returned it 94 yds for a Mustangs TD.  Braden Kendall's EP kick made it 13-7.  West Henderson scored on their next possession to lead 20-7 at the end of the third quarter.  The Falcons scored 17 more points in the fourth quarter to win 37-7.

Bunker Hill 21, Burns 14...midway thru the first quarter, Jason Willis, Jr. ran six yds to get the Bears a 6-0 lead; Alan Bahena-Soto's EP kick made it 7-0.  Bunker Hill then interceped a Ben Mauney pass and drove inside the Bulldogs 20 as the first quarter ended. Early in the second, Willis ran for another TD and Bahena-Soto added the EP to make it 14-0.  Redek Robinson threw a pass to Xavier McCleave who ran 94 yds for another Bears TD and the EP kick gave Bunker Hill a 21-0 lead.

With four minutes left in the secon quarter, Mauney hit Jeremiah Norris for a 9-yd TD completion; and Drew Dixon's EP kick cut the lead to 21-7. Jonny Johnson then ran for a touchdown  and Dixon kicked another EP to make it 21-14 at halftime.   

In the third period, Burns drove to the Bunker Hill 28-yd line but turned it over on downs to the Bears.  Bunker Hill was driving, but Landy Goolsby intercepted a Robinson pass at the Burns 21-yd line.  The Bulldogs made it back into Bunker Hill territory, but then they were intercepted.  As the fourth quarter began, Willis got the Bears back inside the Bulldogs' 20.  Then he ran it to the five, but Bunker Hill didn't score.  They elected to try a field goal and a bad snap ended with an interception by Elijah Goodson at the Burns 16 and the Bulldogs had the ball again with 9:40 left to play.  They made one first down, then on third and eleven, Mauney's pass was incomplete and Burns punted with just under seven minutes left.  Bunker Hill had the ball at their 29 with a 21-14 lead.  They made a first down with just under six minutes left, but had to punt; then then Willis intercepted a pass.  Bunker Hill turned it over on downs again with two minutes left, but Burns also failed to make a first down and the Bears got the ball again with seconds left and won the game 21-14.  The unbeaten Bears will play at home again next week against Monroe. 

A.C. Reynolds 15, Kings Mountain 0...the first period was scoreless but with one minute left in the first half, Reynolds scored but missed the EP to make the score Rockets 6, Mountaineers 0. That remained the score thru the end of the third period.  In the fourth quarter, nobody scored until less than a minute left when A.C. Reynolds got a safety and led 8-0. The Mounties had to kick off after the safety and the Rockets returned that kick for another score, then kicked the extra point to win 15-0.

Crest 28, Statesville 16...the Chargers scored first for a 7-0 lead, but the Greyhounds got a safety to cut it to 7-2.  Midway thru the first quarter, Statesville scored a touchdown and ran for two extra points to lead 10-7.  With three minutes left in the first half, Ny'tavious Huxley ran for a Crest TD and Carson Grier kicked the extra point to make it 14-10.  

In the third quarter, Statesville scored but missed the extra point and led 16-14.  With eight minutes left in the game, Huskey threw a 65-yd pass to Javarius Green for another touchdown; the two-point try was no good and the Chargers led 20-16.  Then Huskey threw a 27-yd touchdown pass to AJ Adams, then passed to Adams for a two-point conversion and the Chargers won 28-16.  Crest will host West Charlotte, 29-8 winners over Hibriten next Friday in round three.

Swain County 42, Bessemer City 7...

THURSDAY NIGHT SCORES

Shelby 41, Lincolnton 21

Salisbury 30, Maiden 0

Robbinsville 40, Mtn. Island Charter 7

NEXT WEEK

A.C. Reynolds @ Hickory

Shelby @ Salisbury

Monroe @ Bunker Hill

West Charlotte @ Crest

---

---