10-7-21 roundup: Pro football, basketball, baseball and auto racing, College football, High school football, boys soccer and volleyball, Middle school football
By Richard Walker
Cramer and East Gaston won a pair of high-scoring Gaston County high school matchups on Thursday night in games that were moved up from Friday due to the threat of inclement weather.
Cramer improved to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big South 3A Conference with a 31-20 win over visiting Ashbrook. The loss knocked the Green Wave to 1-4 overall and 1-3 in the league.
And East Gaston beat visiting Bessemer City 48-28 for its first four-game winning streak since 2006. The Warriors improved to 5-2 overall and 3-0 in the Southern Piedmont 1A/2A Conference. Bessemer City fell to 2-6 and 1-3.
Here are the top passing, rushing and receiving leaders for schools that have reported their statistics through Oct. 5: (Statistics unavailable for Ashbrook, Highland Tech)
Passing yards
Dylan Bisson, Mtn Isl Charter 2,112
Daylin Lee, Shelby 1,384
Justin Rocquemore, Cramer 1,206
Kandan Zollo, North Gaston 1,083
Ben Mauney, Burns 1,073
Trenton Sherrill, East Gaston 741
Austin Parker, Forestview 702
Nytavious Huskey, Crest 683
Chase Miller, Cherryville 632
Tyler Mizzell, East Lincoln 496
Rushing yards
Tyson Riley, South Point 1,177
Mason Avery, West Lincoln 903
Mari Adams, Crest 848
Justin Hill, East Gaston 779
Justice Cooper, Bessemer City 642
Markel McKinney, East Gaston 639
Brennen Rogers, North Lincoln 582
Cooper Sloan, Cherryville 519
Trace Gilmore, West Lincoln 486
Kyle Kovalchuk, North Lincoln 465
Receiving yards
Reginald Taylor, Mtn Isl Charter 685
Cole Hart, Mtn Isl Charter 598
Ryan Thompson, Burns 597
Brian Coley, North Gaston 482
Dameian Bentley, Cramer 424
Trae Nickelson, Mtn Isl Charter 423
Markell Clark, East Lincoln 351
Aiden Cloninger, East Gaston 350
Landon Hahn, Cherryville 338
Izy Bridges, Shelby 314
And here’s a look at Friday’s matchups:
Crest at Shelby
Series: Shelby leads 29-22-1
Storyline: One of the top rivalries in the state resumes after being postponed from early September. Shelby has won the last two matchups between the two schools, who started playing one another in 1969 but were a casualty of the abbreviated 2021 winter/spring schedule.
Huss at Forestview
Series: Forestview leads 15-8
Storyline: The host Jaguars will look to win a second straight against their crosstown rival after snapping a four-game losing streak to Huss in a 25-22 March 26 victory.
Kings Mountain at South Point
Series: South Point leads 35-32-1
Storyline: One of the oldest rivalries for both schools – it started in 1924 – is a battle to see who can stay in the Big South 3A Conference race this season.
Foard at East Lincoln
Series: Foard leads 19-17-2
Storyline: One of East Lincoln’s oldest rivalries is being renewed for the first time since 2000; The two schools first met in 1960 when East Lincoln was Rock Springs High School.
St. Stephens at North Lincoln
Series: First meeting
Storyline: The host Knights seek to take their fifth win in six outings in their first-ever meeting with St. Stephens. North Lincoln is also seeking its third straight league victory.
Lincolnton at West Caldwell
Series: Lincolnton leads 17-12-1
Storyline: The Wolves are after their third straight victory against an opponent they first met in 1925 as the Lenoir-Lincolnton rivalry. Lincolnton has won the last six meetings in the series.
West Lincoln at Newton-Conover
Series: Newton-Conover leads 23-4
Storyline: The Rebels have lost back-to-back games to unbeaten Maiden and Bunker Hill to fall out of Catawba Valley 2A Conference title contention but look to get back on track against the Red Devils.
Cherryville at Highland Tech
Series: Cherryville leads 17-0
Storyline: The Ironmen look to stay perfect against the Rams in a series that began in 2002. Cherryville also seeks to end a five-game overall losing streak.
Thomas Jefferson at Burns
Series: First meeting
Storyline: Before Thomas Jefferson lost two straight, this looked to be a game with potential title ramifications. Now Burns is looking to avoid the upset and stay unbeaten in the Southern Piedmont 1A/2A.
Here are other area matchups:
North Iredell at Hickory
West Iredell at Statesville
Bandys at Maiden
Bunker Hill at East Burke
Hopewell at Chambers
West Charlotte at Hough
West Meck at North Meck
Berry Academy at Olympic
Harding at Myers Park
South Meck at Kell
Butler at Rocky River
Catholic at Garinger
Independence at Providence
Fort Mill, S.C. at Clover, S.C.
Brevard at Chase
Patton at R-S Central
Pro basketball
After an impressive road win to start the 2021 preseason schedule, the Charlotte Hornets were blown out by Memphis in a start-to-finish 128-98 rout at The Spectrum Center.
Charlotte trailed 31-19 after the first quarter, 73-43 at halftime and 101-70 after three quarters.
Terry Rozier’s 21 points in 24 minutes led Charlotte. Rookie James Bouknight had 17 points in 21 minutes off the bench.
The Hornets played without two starters (Gordon Hayward and Mason Plumlee) and a top reserve (Kelly Oubre). Hayward and Plumlee were out due to health and safety protocols and coach James Borrego said before the game he didn’t know how long they would be out. Oubre injured his right ankle in the preseason opener and could return as soon as the team’s next preseason game on Monday at Miami.
Here is the full 2021 preseason schedule as the Hornets prepare for an Oct. 20 start to the regular season:
(Preseason)
OCTOBER
Mon. 4 at Oklahoma City (W 113-97)
Thu. 7 MEMPHIS (L 98-128)
Mon. 11 at Miami 7:30
Wed. 13 DALLAS 7:00
Pro football
Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey met with the media on Thursday and said he might be able to play when his team hosts Philadelphia on Sunday at 1 p.m.
McCaffrey, out last week due to a strained hamstring, also said he “definitely” feels like playing on a short week against the Houston Texans on Sept. 23 contributed to his injury.
McCaffrey pulled up during a run in the first quarter of the game at Houston and hasn’t played since.
“I don’t prefer Thursday night games,” McCaffrey said. “You go through a lot in a football game and then you really get two days to recover — and one of those days is a travel day. So you get two days to recover, you hop on a plane, you’re in a hotel and then go out and play in a football game. It’s tough.”
McCaffrey, out 13 games in 2020 due to injuries, thinks players would be less likely to be injured if there weren’t such a short time between games.
“I think I’m not alone in this, but I would argue against them,” McCaffrey said to a question about his thoughts on eliminating Thursday games.
Other injured Panthers are left offensive tackle Cam Erving (neck), center Matt Paradis (illness) and linebacker Shaq Thompson (foot); Carolina head coach Matt Rhule has already ruled Thompson out for Sunday’s game.
Here is the Carolina Panthers’ 2021 schedule (with results):
Sept. 12 New York Jets (W 19-14)
Sept. 19 New Orleans (W 26-7)
Sept. 23 at Houston (W 24-9)
Oct. 3 at Dallas (L 28-36)
Oct. 10 Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Oct. 17 Minnesota, 1 p.m.
Oct. 24 at New York Giants, 1 p.m.
Oct. 31 at Atlanta, 1 p.m.
Nov. 7 New England, 1 p.m.
Nov. 14 at Arizona, 4:05 p.m.
Nov. 21 Washington, 1 p.m.
Nov. 28 at Miami, 1 p.m.
Dec. 5 BYE WEEK
Dec. 12 Atlanta, 1 p.m.
Dec. 18 or 19 at Buffalo, TBD
Dec. 26 Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
Jan. 2 at New Orleans, 1 p.m.
Jan. 9 at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m
College football
Here’s the Carolinas Division I schedule this week:
(Thursday)
Coastal Carolina 52, Arkansas State 20
(Friday)
Charlotte at Florida International, 7 p.m.
(Saturday)
Wake Forest at Syracuse, TBA
Elon at Maine, noon
South Carolina at Tennessee, noon
Georgia Tech at Duke, 12:30 p.m.
Furman at Wofford, 1:30 p.m.
Florida State at North Carolina, 3:30 p.m.
Mercer at Western Carolina, 3:30 p.m.
The Citadel at East Tennessee State, 4:30 p.m.
East Carolina at Central Florida, 6 p.m.
Here’s the Carolinas Division II schedule this week:
(Saturday)
Newberry at Virginia Wise, noon
Wheeling at UNC Pembroke, noon
Carson-Newman at Catawba, 1 p.m.
Fayetteville at Shaw, 1 p.m.
Tusculum at Lenoir-Rhyne, 1 p.m.
Wingate at Limestone, 1 p.m.
Winston-Salem State at Johnson C. Smith, 1 p.m.
Bowie State at Chowan, 1 p.m.
Barton at Mars Hill, 1:30 p.m.
St. Augustine’s at Livingstone, 1:30 p.m.
Erskine at Savannah State, 6 p.m.
Elizabeth City State at Virginia Union, 7 p.m.
West Florida at North Greenville, 7 p.m.
High school boys soccer
Here are the standings through Oct. 7 with conference record listed first followed by overall record:
BIG SOUTH 3A
Cramer 8-0, 14-2
Ashbrook 6-2, 8-3
Forestview 6-2, 9-4-1
South Point 5-3, 9-6
Huss 2-5-1, 5-5-1
Kings Mountain 2-5-1, 3-8-1
North Gaston 2-6, 4-8-1
Crest 0-8, 0-12
SOUTHERN PIEDMONT 1A/2A
Shelby 8-0, 13-1-1
Highland Tech 6-1, 8-3
Burns 5-3, 8-3-1
Thomas Jefferson 3-4, 3-6
East Gaston 3-5, 4-12
Bessemer City 1-6, 2-9
Cherryville 0-7, 1-10-1
OTHERS
Gaston Christian 3-3, 5-7
Gaston Day 5-0, 11-2
East Lincoln 5-2-1, 7-5-2
North Lincoln 2-5, 6-8
Lincolnton 7-0, 9-0-2
West Lincoln 0-8, 2-13
Lincoln Charter 1-4, 5-8-1
Mtn Island Charter 0-6, 3-9
Piedmont CC 7-1, 9-2
This week’s schedule:
(Monday)
Ashbrook 2, Huss 0
Kings Mountain 6, Crest 1
Cramer 4, Forestview 2
South Point 6, North Gaston 1
North Iredell 5, East Lincoln 3 (OT)
North Lincoln 6, West Iredell 0
Lincolnton 3, West Lincoln 0
Pine Lake Prep 6, Lincoln Charter 0
Christ the King 7, Mountain Island Charter 2
(Tuesday)
Burns 3, Bessemer City 0
Highland Tech 3, Cherryville 2
Shelby 5, East Gaston 0
Concord Academy 7, Gaston Christian 1
Lincolnton 1, East Lincoln 1
Piedmont Community Charter 2, Bradford Prep 1
(Wednesday)
Ashbrook 9, Crest 3
Huss 0, Kings Mountain 0 (2 OT)
Forestview 4, North Gaston 0
Cramer 2, South Point 1
East Lincoln 3, North Lincoln 2 (OT)
Bunker Hill at Lincolnton, ppd., Oct. 14
Bandys 6, West Lincoln 1
Langtree Charter 7, Lincoln Charter 1
Pine Lake Prep 9, Mountain Island Charter 0
(Thursday)
Bandys 4, Cherryville 1
Burns 4, East Gaston 0
Highland Tech 9, Bessemer City 0
Shelby 5, Thomas Jefferson 0
Gaston Christian 6, Hickory Grove Christian 1
Piedmont Community Charter 9, Carolina International 0
(Friday)
Christ the King at Lincoln Charter
Mountain Island Charter at Gray Stone Day
High school volleyball
Standings through Oct. 6:
BIG SOUTH 3A
Kings Mountain 10-0, 14-2
Crest 7-1, 14-1
South Point 7-3, 8-8
Forestview 6-4, 11-5
Cramer 4-6, 8-9
North Gaston 2-6, 3-12
Ashbrook 1-8, 1-10
Huss 0-9, 1-12
SOUTHERN PIEDMONT 1A/2A
East Gaston 9-0, 13-3
Highland Tech 7-0, 12-2
Cherryville 6-4, 10-12
Burns 3-5, 6-7
Thomas Jefferson 3-6, 5-9
Bessemer City 1-6, 1-12
Shelby 1-9, 1-14
East Lincoln: The Mustangs are 11-4 overall and 8-3 in the Western Foothills after splitting matches with Foard (3-0 loss) and St. Stephens (3-2 win). In the St. Stephens win, Mustangs’ leaders were Kendall Fisher (5 aces, 12 kills, 29 digs), Hailey McFadden (12 kills, 8 blocks), Maddie Self (6 kills, 7 blocks) and Katie Cook (30 assists, 11 digs).
Middle school football
Final regular season standings:
(Division I)
Southwest 4-0, 6-0
Holbrook 3-1, 5-1
Grier 2-2, 4-2
Cramerton 1-3, 3-3
Mount Holly 0-4, 0-5-1
(Division II)
Belmont 5-0, 5-2
York Chester 4-1, 4-2-1
Bessemer City 3-2, 3-4
Stanley 2-3, 2-4
W.C. Friday 1-4, 2-5
Chavis 0-5, 0-6
Wednesday’s games
Holbrook 28, Cramerton 0
Southwest 28, Grier 0
Belmont 14, York Chester 0
Bessemer City 18, W.C. Friday 6
Stanley 40, Chavis 0
Oct. 12
(County championship game)
Belmont vs. Southwest at Huss HS, 6:30 p.m.
Tri-County Conference standings through Oct. 7 with division record listed first followed by overall record:
(East)
East Lincoln 4-0, 5-0
Kings Mountain 3-1, 3-2
North Lincoln 2-2, 3-2
Burns 2-2, 2-2
Lincolnton 0-3, 1-3
West Lincoln 0-3, 0-4
(West)
Shelby 3-0, 5-0
Crest 3-0, 3-1
R-S Central 1-1, 2-1
East Rutherford 1-1, 1-2
Thomas Jefferson 1-2, 1-3
Chase 0-4, 0-5
Monday’s game
Crest 38, East Rutherford 6
Tuesday’s games
Kings Mountain 33, Lincolnton 0
East Lincoln 14, West Lincoln 0
Wednesday’s games
Shelby 53, Chase 0
Burns 14, North Lincoln 8
Thursday’s games
Crest at Thomas Jefferson, ppd., no date
R-S Central at East Rutherford, ppd., Oct. 11
Oct. 11 game
R-S Central at East Rutherford
Oct. 13 games
Thomas Jefferson at East Rutherford
Shelby at Crest
Burns at West Lincoln
North Lincoln at Kings Mountain
Lincolnton at East Lincoln
Oct. 14 game
Chase at R-S Central
Oct. 18 game
East Rutherford at Shelby
(Playoffs)
Oct. 20 semifinals
oct. 27 championship game
Pro baseball
The Gastonia Honey Hunter lost 7-3 to Lexington on Thursday.
Gastonia (51-66) concludes the season with a three-game home series against West Virginia from Friday to Sunday.
Pro auto racing
The Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course is the site of Sunday’s 2 p.m. Bank of America ROVAL 400.
Denny Hamlin is the current NASCAR Cup Series points standings leader and has two wins and 16 top five finishes this season.