11-28-21 roundup: Pro football and basketball, College football and basketball, High school football and basketball, Middle school boys soccer, volleyball and wrestling
By Richard Walker
The Carolina Panthers’ 2021 season is spiraling downward after Sunday’s 33-10 loss at the Miami Dolphins.
Not only are the Panthers 5-7 overall, but they now have a week off to hear rumors of imminent change that could include Carolina’s second-year head coach Matt Rhule.
After a Miami blocked punt gave the Dolphins an early 7-0 lead, the Panthers’ most explosive play of the game – a 64-yard Cam Newton pass to D.J. Moore – led to Newton’s 1-yard TD run that helped Carolina tie the score at 7 with 6:01 left in the first quarter.
Miami scored 26 of the game’s next 29 points – and the Dolphins’ defense limited Carolina to 119 yards total offense the rest of the game.
Newton, who was re-signed by the Panthers on Nov. 11, struggled mightily before being replaced by backup P.J. Walker in the fourth quarter. Newton’s five of 21 passing for 92 yards with two touchdowns left him with a career-low 5.8 quarterback rating. And when Walker got in the game, he was sacked four times and completed five of 10 passes for 87 yards with one interception.
The Panthers struggled in every phase of the game as it managed 198 yards total offense, yielded 315 yards to Miami and had the punt block blunder on special teams.
“Nothing that they did was out of the ordinary,” Newton told media afterwards. “It wasn’t like we weren’t prepared. It just comes down to execution.”
When Miami reached 21 points, it made the game unwinnable for the Panthers this season; Carolina is 5-0 when it holds its opponents to less than 21 points and 0-7 otherwise.
Carolina next plays on Dec. 12 when it faces NFC South Division rival Atlanta.
Given the coaching carousel that is starting to engulf offseason college football talk, former Temple and Baylor head coach Rhule is among those mentioned as rumored candidates for many head coaching vacancies.
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 (L 18-21)
Oct. 17 Minnesota (L 28-34, OT)
Oct. 24 at New York Giants (L 3-25)
Oct. 31 at Atlanta (W 19-13)
Nov. 7 New England (L 6-24)
Nov. 14 at Arizona (W 34-10)
Nov. 21 Washington (L 21-27)
Nov. 28 at Miami (L 10-33)
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
Pro basketball
Here is the Charlotte Hornets’ full regular season schedule (with results):
OCTOBER
Wed. 20 INDIANA (W 123-122)
Fri. 22 at Cleveland (W 123-112)
Sun. 24 at Brooklyn (W 111-95)
Mon. 25 BOSTON (L 129-140, OT)
Wed. 27 at Orlando (W 120-111)
Fri. 29 at Miami (L 99-114)
Sun. 31 PORTLAND (W 125-113)
NOVEMBER
Mon. 1 CLEVELAND (L 110-113)
Wed. 3 at Golden State (L 92-114)
Fri. 5 at Sacramento (L 110-140)
Sun. 7 at LA Clippers (L 106-120)
Mon. 8 at L.A. Lakers (L 123-126, OT)
Wed. 10 at Memphis (W 118-108)
Fri. 12 NEW YORK (W 104-96)
Sun. 14 GOLDEN STATE (W 106-102)
Wed. 17 WASHINGTON (W 97-87)
Fri. 19 INDIANA (W 121-118)
Sat. 20 at Atlanta (L 105-115)
Mon. 22 at Washington (W 109-103)
Wed. 24 at Orlando (W 108-99)
Fri. 26 MINNESOTA (W 133-115)
Sat. 27 at Houston (L 143-146, OT)
Mon. 29 at Chicago 8:00
DECEMBER
Wed. 1 at Milwaukee 8:00
Sun. 5 at Atlanta 6:00
Mon. 6 PHILADELPHIA 7:00
Wed. 8 PHILADELPHIA 7:00
Fri. 10 SACRAMENTO 7:00
Mon. 13 at Dallas 8:30
Wed. 15 at San Antonio 8:30
Fri. 17 at Portland 10:00
Sun. 19 at Phoenix 8:00
Mon. 20 at Utah 9:00
Thu. 23 at Denver 9:00
Mon. 27 HOUSTON 7:00
Wed. 29 at Indiana 7:00
JANUARY
Sun. 2 PHOENIX 7:00
Mon. 3 at Washington 7:00
Wed. 5 DETROIT 7:00
Sat. 8 MILWAUKEE 7:00
Mon. 10 MILWAUKEE 7:00
Wed. 12 at Philadelphia 7:00
Fri. 14 ORLANDO 7:00
Mon. 17 at New York 1:00
Wed. 19 at Boston 7:30
Fri. 21 OKLAHOMA CITY 7:00
Sun. 23 ATLANTA 7:00
Tue. 25 at Toronto 7:00
Wed. 26 at Indiana 7:00
Fri. 28 L.A. LAKERS 7:00
Sun. 30 LA CLIPPERS 1:00
FEBRUARY
Wed. 2 at Boston 7:30
Fri. 4 CLEVELAND 7:00
Sat. 5 MIAMI 7:00
Mon. 7 TORONTO 7:00
Wed. 9 CHICAGO 7:30
Fri. 11 at Detroit 7:00
Sat. 12 MEMPHIS 7:00
Tue. 15 at Minnesota 8:00
Thu. 17 MIAMI 7:00
Fri. 25 TORONTO 7:00
Sun. 27 DETROIT 7:00
Mon. 28 at Milwaukee 8:00
MARCH
Wed. 2 at Cleveland 7:00
Sat. 5 SAN ANTONIO 7:00
Tue. 8 BROOKLYN 7:00
Wed. 9 BOSTON 7:00
Fri. 11 at New Orleans 8:00
Mon. 14 at Oklahoma City 8:00
Wed. 16 ATLANTA 7:00
Sat. 19 DALLAS 7:00
Mon. 21 NEW ORLEANS 7:00
Wed. 23 NEW YORK 7:00
Fri. 25 UTAH 7:00
Sun. 27 at Brooklyn 7:30
Mon. 28 DENVER 7:00
Wed. 30 at New York 7:30
APRIL
Sat. 2 at Philadelphia 12:30
Tue. 5 at Miami 7:30
Thu. 7 ORLANDO 7:00
Fri. 8 at Chicago 8:00
Sun. 10 WASHINGTON TBD
College football
This weekend’s Carolinas Division I football schedule:
(Saturday)
Sun Belt championship – Appalachian State at Louisiana, 3:30 p.m.
ACC championship – Pittsburgh vs. Wake Forest, 8 p.m.
College basketball
Gaston College shook off a seven-day break with a 122-77 win over Blue Lights College on Sunday afternoon at North Gaston High School.
Zavion Jackson, the Rhinos’ 6-foot-7 sophomore center, led a balanced attack with 23 points, 17 rebounds and three blocked shots in a game Gaston College never trailed while snapping a two-game losing streak to improve its record to 7-2. Dee Merriweather (21 points, 5 steals), Damon Davis (15 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals), Jaylen Bates (14 points, 10 rebounds), Jared Funderburk (14 points, 5 steals), Da’marco Watson (13 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals) and Lenz Dupont (9 points) were other key contributors as the Rhinos played for the first time since Nov. 20.
High school football
Here are Friday’s full NCHSAA regional finals pairings:
1A
(East)
#1 Tarboro (12-1) vs. #6 Pender (9-3)
(West)
#3 Mitchell (12-2) vs. #4 Robbinsville (10-3)
2A
(East)
#1 Princeton (13-0) vs. #10 Wallace-Rose Hill (12-2)
(West)
#1 Shelby (13-1) vs. #2 East Surry (13-0)
3A
(East)
#6 J.H. Rose (10-4) vs. #13 Jacksonville (11-2)
(West)
#3 Dudley (13-1) vs. #16 South Point (11-3)
4A
(East)
#6 Cardinal Gibbons (12-2) vs. #20 Rolesville (9-5)
(West)
#1 Hough (14-0) vs. #10 Julius Chambers (13-1)
High school basketball
Here’s this week’s schedule:
(Monday)
Cramer at South Rowan
(Tuesday)
Bunker Hill at North Lincoln
Chase at Shelby (ppd. no date)
Cherryville at Pinnacle
Concord Academy at Gaston Day
East Gaston at Forestview
East Rutherford at Highland Tech
Gaston Christian at Metrolina Christian
Lincoln Charter at Providence Day
North Gaston at Bessemer City
Polk County at Piedmont CC
Roberson at Crest
South Point at Lincolnton
West Lincoln at Foard
(Wednesday)
Ashbrook at East Lincoln
Cherryville at North Gaston
Franklin Prep at Mountain Island Charter
Huss at Highland Tech
Kings Mountain at Burns
Newton-Conover at North Lincoln
North Henderson at Cramer
(Thursday)
Asheville School at Gaston Christian
Burns at R-S Central
East Gaston at Cramer
Lincoln Charter at 1of1 Academy
(Friday)
Ashbrook at Highland Tech
Bandys at North Lincoln
East Gaston at North Gaston
Forestview at Bessemer City
Gaston Christian at Gaston Day
Hough at Huss
Lincoln Charter at Kings Mountain
Lincolnton at East Lincoln
Mountain Island Charter at Hopewell
Shelby at Crest (ppd., no date)
West Lincoln at Cherryville
(Saturday)
Avery at West Lincoln
Middle school boys soccer
Gaston County Conference standings through Nov. 22 games:
Belmont 8-0
Cramerton 8-0
Grier 7-1
Holbrook 5-3
Stanley 5-3
Mount Holly 5-4
York Chester 3-5
W.C. Friday 2-6
Bessemer City 1-7
Southwest 1-8
Chavis 0-8
(Monday, Nov. 29)
Belmont at Grier
Bessemer City at W.C. Friday
Chavis at Cramerton
York Chester at Holbrook
Stanley at Mount Holly
Middle school volleyball
Gaston County Conference standings through Nov. 22 games:
Cramerton 8-0
Mount Holly 8-1
Stanley 7-1
Chavis 6-2
Belmont 4-4
Holbrook 4-4
Southwest 3-6
York Chester 2-6
W.C. Friday 2-6
Grier 1-7
Bessemer City 0-8
(Monday, Nov. 29)
Belmont at Grier
Bessemer City at W.C. Friday
Chavis at Cramerton
York Chester at Holbrook
Stanley at Mount Holly
Middle school wrestling
Gaston County Conference wrestling standings through Nov. 23:
Cramerton 7-0
W.C. Friday 7-0
Belmont 6-1
York Chester 5-2
Holbrook 4-3
Mount Holly 3-5
Stanley 3-5
Grier 2-5
Chavis 2-5
Southwest 1-7
Bessemer City 0-7
(Tuesday, Nov. 30)
Mount Holly at Belmont
Holbrook at Bessemer City
Grier at Chavis
W.C. Friday at Cramerton
Southwest at York Chester