9-10-21 roundup: High school football, basketball, girls tennis and volleyball, Pro football and baseball, College football and rugby, Middle school football and softball

By Richard Walker

A shootout at Shelby’s Blanton Memorial Stadium between two of the Carolinas winningest programs ended with South Pointe of Rock Hill, S.C., holding off Shelby 51-37 on Friday night.

South Pointe scored 34 straight points in the first half to take a 37-7 halftime lead before the host Golden Lions outscored the Stallions 30-14 in the second half and closing within 44-37 in the fourth quarter.

But South Pointe scored another touchdown to clinch the victory and improve to 2-0 on the season.

Shelby fell to 2-1.

The contest, played between programs that have won six state titles apiece in the previous 13 seasons, was agreed upon earlier this week after both teams had opponents cancel games due to COVID-19 issues.

South Pointe scored first on Chip Distachio’s 25 yard field goal in the first quarter before Shelby took its only lead of the game on Daylin Lee’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Demetrius Thompson.

Jaquan Thompson’s 14- and 21-yard TD runs started the Stallions’ 34-point surge that also included two touchdown passes.

Shelby crept closer with three non-offensive touchdowns in the second half – a 32-yard P.J. Hopper interception return, a safety, a Jalon Petty blocked punt recovery and a 2-yard Camden McGill interception return.

But Caleb Sims’ 1-yard TD run with 1:50 to play sewed up South Pointe’s victory.

Here are other scores from Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties:

Watauga 28, Burns 20
Chase 42, Cherryville 16
Bessemer City 36, Christ the King 8
Crest 46, North Gaston 21
Draughn 69, Highland Tech 34
Mountain Island Charter 68, Union Academy 12
West Lincoln 21, Ashbrook 19
Cherokee at East Gaston, ppd., Sept. 18

And here are other area results:
Alexander Central 28, R-S Central 8
Maiden 27, Asheville Christ School 21, OT
North Meck 30, Berry Academy 22
South Meck 34, Cuthbertson 16
Olympic 51, East Meck 7
Harding 16, West Meck 7
Chambers 34, Hickory Ridge 27
Independence 51, Hopewell 0
Hough 48, Cox Mill 7
Gaffney, S.C. 38, Mallard Creek 14
Buford, Ga. 44, Myers Park 17
Bunker Hill 41, North Iredell 0
Roswell, Ga., Blessed Trinity 28, Charlotte Catholic 10
South Caldwell 16, Newton-Conover 13
Rocky River 34, Sun Valley 14
Kell 38, Weddington 21
West Charlotte at Garinger, no report

 

 

 

High school basketball

After helping Gaston Christian to a state championship game, Will Kelly will be returning to Cramer to playing his senior, Cramer’s basketball program announced on twitter on Friday.

A 6-foot-4 forward, Kelly has scored 1,017 career points for Cramer and Gaston Christian and has received recruiting interest from NCAA Division I schools like Virginia Tech, Appalachian State, Wofford, Georgia State, Liberty, Charlotte, Yale, UMBC and Mercer.

 

 

High school girls tennis

Forestview 6, North Lincoln 3 (Tuesday): Forestview winners were Rennie Liu, Maggie Lu, Jessica Normile and Sarah Younan in singles and Rennie Lu-Susan Christy and Caroline Cronland-Younan in double. North Lincoln winners were Madison File, Natalie Gore in singles and Emma Carver-Meghan Restino in doubles.

North Lincoln 6, South Iredell 3 (Thursday): North Lincoln winners were Emma Carver, Anna Gore, Meghan Restino and Grace Lowder in singles and Carver-Restino and Anna Gore-Natalie Gore in doubles.

 

 

High school volleyball

Kings Mountain 3, Forestview 0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-19): The Mountaineers improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big South 3A behind Meile Songaila (9 service points, 9 kills, 11 serve receptions, 7 digs), Aaliyah Byers (6 service points, 28 kills, 9 serve receptions, 12 digs), Paige Bagwell (6 service points, 5 kills, 36 assists, 6 digs), Lily Gold (4 service points, 6 kills, 2 assists, 7 digs) and Caroline Barber (3 service points, 3 assists, 20 serve receptions, 9 digs). Kings Mountain junior varsity fell to 3-2 with a 2-1 loss to Forestview (20-25, 25-19, 15-13). London Brown (18 kills, 7 serve receptions, 9 digs) and Sara Kate Bridges (30 assists, 8 service points, 7 digs) led Kings Mountain.

 

 

 

Middle school football

Gaston County Conference standings through Sept. 8 with division record listed first followed by overall record unless noted with-x:

(Division I)
Grier 1-0, 3-0
Southwest 1-0, 3-0
Holbrook 0-0, 2-0
Cramerton 0-1, 2-1
Mount Holly 0-1, 0-2-1
(Division II)
W.C. Friday 1-0, 2-1
York Chester 1-0, 1-1-1
Belmont 1-0, 1-2
Bessemer City 0-1, 0-3
Chavis 0-1, 0-2
Stanley 0-1, 0-2

Wednesday’s results
Grier 28, Cramerton 0
Southwest 30, Mount Holly 0
W.C. Friday 32, Chavis 6
York Chester 24, Bessemer City 0
Belmont 34, Stanley 0

Sept. 15 games
Southwest at Cramerton
Mount Holly at Holbrook
Belmont at Bessemer City
Chavis at York Chester
Stanley at W.C. Friday

Tri-County Conference standings through Sept. 9 with division record listed first followed by overall record:

(East)
East Lincoln 0-0, 1-0
Lincolnton 0-0, 1-0
North Lincoln 0-0, 1-0
Burns 0-0, 0-0
Kings Mountain 0-0, 0-1
West Lincoln 0-0, 0-1
(West)
Shelby 0-0, 2-0
R-S Central 0-0, 1-0
Chase 0-0, 0-1
Crest 0-0, 0-1
East Rutherford 0-0, 0-1
Thomas Jefferson 0-0, 0-1

Wednesday’s results
R-S Central 14, West Lincoln 8
East Lincoln 56, Chase 6
Burns at Crest, ppd., no date
North Lincoln 32, Thomas Jefferson 6
Gaffney, S.C. 14, Crest 8 (OT)

Thursday’s results
Lincolnton 21, East Rutherford 14
Shelby 39, Kings Mountain 12: Lan Farmer threw for 208 yards and four touchdowns, Calvin Ramseur, Majay Thompson and Immanuel Collins scored touchdowns for the Blue Devils and Ramseur, Thompson and Drew Dixon had interceptions for the Shelby defense.

Sept. 15 games
Crest at East Rutherford
R-S Central at Shelby
Chase at Thomas Jefferson
East Lincoln at Burns
Kings Mountain at West Lincoln
Lincolnton at North Lincoln

 

 

Middle school softball

Mount Holly 15, Southwest 0 (Thursday)

Gaston County Conference standings through Sept. 9:

Belmont 4-0
Cramerton 4-0
Chavis 3-0
Mount Holly 3-1
Holbrook 2-2
Stanley 2-2
W.C. Friday 1-3
Bessemer City 1-4
Grier 0-3
Southwest 0-5

Sept. 13 games
Belmont at Chavis
Cramerton at Southwest
Stanley at W.C. Friday
Southwest at Grier

 

 

 

College rugby

Belmont Abbey 47, Gaston County Rugby Club 19: The Crusaders won their first-ever home game at Alumni Field to improve to 2-1-1 in their first full season of competition. Noah Parkinson tallied three tries, two conversions and a penalty kick for 22 points to lead the Abbey, which played in front of a crowd of 400 fans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

College football

Here are the Carolinas NCAA Division I football results and games for this weekend:

(Friday)
Coastal Carolina 49, Kansas 22
Duke 45, North Carolina A&T 17

(Saturday)
Norfolk State at Wake Forest, noon
Charleston Southern at The Citadel, 2 p.m.
Furman at Tennessee Tech, 2:30 p.m.
South Carolina State at Clemson, 5 p.m.
Elon at Campbell, 6 p.m.
Gardner-Webb at Charlotte, 6 p.m.
N.C. Central at Marshall, 6:30 p.m.
N.C. State at Mississippi State, 7 p.m.
Appalachian State at Miami, Fla., 7 p.m.
Western Carolina at Oklahoma, 7 p.m.
Georgia State at North Carolina, 7:30 p.m.

Here are the Carolinas Division II football results and games for this weekend:

(Thursday)
Mars Hill 50, Virginia Lynchburg 14

(Saturday)
Barton at Erskine, 1 p.m.
Chowan at Tusculum, 1 p.m.
Bluefield State at Elizabeth City State, 2:30 p.m.
Shaw at Davidson, 6 p.m.
Livingstone at Savannah State, 6 p.m.
Fayetteville State at Wingate, 6 p.m.
Allen University at J.C. Smith, 6 p.m.
North Greenville at Newberry, 6 p.m.
UNC-Pembroke at Findlay, 6 p.m.
Winston-Salem State at Catawba, 7 p.m.
St. Augustine’s at Limestone, 7 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

Pro football

Here is the Panthers’ 2021 regular season schedule:

Sept. 12 New York Jets, 1 p.m.
Sept. 19 New Orleans, 1 p.m.
Sept. 23 at Houston, 8:20 p.m.
Oct. 3 at Dallas, 1 p.m.
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

 

 

 

Pro baseball

The Gastonia Honey Hunters fell to 43-49 on the season following Friday’s 11-5 loss at Lexington in the first game of their three-game series.