9-2-21 roundup: High school football, soccer and volleyball, Pro football and baseball, College football and soccer, Middle school football and softball

By Richard Walker

High school football’s third week continued Thursday with non-conference games that include rivalry matchups like Burns-Kings Mountain, Cramer-East Gaston and East Lincoln-Lincolnton.

There’s also been four game cancellations – Blacksburg, S.C., at Cherryville, Central Cabarrus at Huss, Foard at West Lincoln and South Point at R-S Central – with South Point picking up a game at HIckory Ridge to replace R-S Central on its schedule.

And two games have been added to next week’s Sept. 10 schedule as Ashbrook will host West Lincoln and the Crest at North Gaston game slated for Oct. 8 has been moved to Sept. 10.

One game was played on Thursday:

Pine Lake Prep 20, Bessemer City 8: The visitors scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to drop Bessemer City to 0-3 on the season.

Here’s a look at each of the Friday matchups in Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties:

East Gaston at Cramer
Series: Cramer leads 4-2
Storyline: A young rivalry that saw East Gaston won the first two matchups before Cramer has won four in a row. That includes the last three wins by a combined 141-31 margin.

Foard at West Lincoln
Series: West Lincoln leads 27-21-2
Storyline: West Lincoln takes 2-0 record into a game against one of its oldest rivals; Rebels first played Foard in 1962 and the two schools were longtime conference rivals.

Forestview at Freedom
Series: Forestview leads 1-0
Storyline: The only previous meeting was a 35-34 thriller won in Morganton by the Jaguars in the second round of the 3A playoffs. Forestview looks to get a win after hard-fought losses to Burns and East Lincoln.

Kings Mountain at Burns
Series: Burns leads 26-25
Storyline: Another casualty of the compressed spring schedule, the teams meet for the 52nd time with Kings Mountain currently owning a three-game winning streak.

Lincolnton at East Lincoln
Series: Lincolnton leads 32-18
Storyline: The Mustangs have won nine of the last 10 meetings in a series that Lincolnton domininated with 21 victories in 23 matchups from 1974 to 1996. East Lincoln won 41-0 in the 2021 spring matchup at Lincolnton.

North Gaston at Chase
Series: Chase leads 13-4
Storyline: First meeting between the two schools since 2013 and a matchup that was played every year from 1973 to 1988 when each was a member of the old Southwestern 3A Conference.

Northwest Cabarrus at North Lincoln
Series: First meeting
Storyline: After a heartbreaking season-opening loss to West Lincoln, North Lincoln rallied in the fourth quarter at Lincolnton last week to even its record at 1-1.

South Point at Hickory Ridge
Series: First meeting
Storyline: The game was scheduled on Tuesday – and comes after South Point’s slated game at R-S Central was cancelled. Hickory Ridge is 1-1 that includes a 68-13 win over Huss.

West Mecklenburg at Ashbrook
Series: Ashbrook leads 15-2
Storyline: After missing its first two games due to COVID issues, Ashbrook opens its 2021 season against an old rival; The Green Wave played West Meck in the first five years of Ashbrook and the rivarly resumed in the 1990s in the old MEGA 7 4A Conference.

Winston-Salem Carver at Highland Tech
Series: Carver leads 6-5
Storyline: An “old school” rivalry resumes when the Rams host Carver. Both schools were formerly all-African-American schools in the old N.C. High School Athletic Conference were league rivals in the 1950s and 1960s. Carver won 20-15 at Highland in the last year of old Highland High School in 1965.

 

High school football standings

Conference record listed first followed by overall record:

BIG SOUTH 3A
South Point 0-0, 2-0
Cramer 0-0, 1-1
Kings Mountain 0-0, 1-1
Ashbrook 0-0, 0-0
Crest 0-0, 0-1
Huss 0-0, 0-1
Forestview 0-0, 0-2
North Gaston 0-0, 0-2

WESTERN FOOTHILLS 3A
East Lincoln 0-0, 2-0
Statesville 0-0, 2-0
North Lincoln 0-0, 1-1
North Iredell 0-0, 0-1
West Iredell 0-0, 0-1
Foard 0-0, 0-2
Hickory 0-0, 0-2
St. Stephens 0-0, 0-2

CATAWBA VALLEY 2A
Bandys 0-0, 2-0
Bunker Hill 0-0, 2-0
Maiden 0-0, 2-0
West Lincoln 0-0, 2-0
East Burke 0-0, 1-1
Newton-Conover 0-0, 0-1
West Caldwell 0-0, 0-1
Lincolnton 0-0, 0-2

SOUTHERN PIEDMONT 1A/2A
Burns 0-0, 2-0
Shelby 0-0, 2-0
Thomas Jefferson 0-0, 1-0
Cherryville 0-0, 1-1
East Gaston 0-0, 1-1
Highland Tech 0-0, 0-1
Bessemer City 0-0, 0-3

SOUTH MECK 4A
Berry Academy 0-0, 1-0
Kell 0-0, 1-0
Olympic 0-0, 1-0
Harding 0-0, 1-1
Myers Park 0-0, 1-1
South Meck 0-0, 1-1

SOUTHWESTERN 4A
Catholic 0-0, 2-0
Butler 0-0, 1-1
Providence 0-0, 1-1
Garinger 0-0, 0-1
Independence 0-0, 0-1
East Meck 0-0, 0-2
Rocky River 0-0, 0-2

QUEEN CITY 3A/4A
Chambers 0-0, 2-0
Hough 0-0, 2-0
West Meck 0-0, 2-0
West Charlotte 0-0, 1-0
Hopewell 0-0, 1-1
Mallard Creek 0-0, 0-0
North Meck 0-0, 0-1

OTHERS
Chase 0-0, 2-0
Clover 0-0, 1-1
Mtn Island Charter 0-0, 2-0
R-S Central 0-0, 0-1

 

 

JV football

Cherryville 8, North Gaston 0

 

 

High school soccer

Ashbrook 3, Foard 1: Amari Speid, Chevis Seigle and Carlos Lopez led the Green Wave to a season-opening win. Ashbrook hosts Garinger on Friday.

 

 

High school volleyball

East Lincoln 3, Statesville 0 (25-11, 25-14, 25-20 on Wednesday): The Mustangs stay unbeaten (2-0) in the Western Foothills 3A Conference behind Kendall Fisher (7 kills, 9 digs), Alexa Dos Santos (6 kills, 6 digs), Hailey McFadden (7 kills) and Katie Cook (23 assists, 13 digs 5 aces).

Cherryville 3, Burns 2 (23-25, 19-25, 26-24, 25-13, 16-14): Cherryville (4-5, 2-1) rallied for a Southern Piedmont 1A/2A Conference win behind Rileigh Kiser (38 assists, 21 digs), Addie Eaker (16 kills), Skye Reed (12 digs), Terayha Bess (9 kills), Kaitlyn Newsome (11 digs) and Taylor Digh (16 digs). Burns won the junior varsity match 2-1.

Crest 3, Ashbrook 0

South Point 3, Cramer 1

 

 

 

 

College football

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

(Thursday)
Coastal Carolina 52, The Citadel 14
Appalachian State 33, East Carolina 19: In a game played at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, Appalachian State had a pair of 100-yard rushers and former Crest standout Aaron Ramseur had two tackles for the Pirates.
N.C. State 45, South Florida 0: The Wolfpack opened impressively by outgaining the visitors 525-271 and former Shelby standout Jaylon Scott had three tackles.

(Friday)
North Carolina at Virginia Tech, 6 p.m.
Duke at Charlotte, 7 p.m.
Old Dominion at Wake Forest, 7 p.m.

(Saturday)
Davidson at VMI, 1:30 p.m.
North Carolina A&T at Furman, 2 p.m.
Wofford at Elon, 2 p.m.
Campbell at Liberty, 6 p.m.
Eastern Kentucky at Western Carolina, 6 p.m.
Gardner-Webb at Georgia Southern, 6 p.m.
Eastern Illinois at South Carolina, 7 p.m.
South Carolina State at Alabama A&M, 7 p.m.
Clemson vs. Georgia in Charlotte, 7:30 p.m.

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

(Thursday)
Wingate 30, Shaw 7: Former Hunter Huss standout Jaheim Mullen made two tackles in his debut for Wingate.
Chowan 30, Mars Hill 24 (OT): Former Ashbrook standout Antwon McClee had two sacks for the Lions in a losing effort.

(Saturday)
Erskine at Catawba, 1 p.m.
Tusculum at St. Augustine’s, 1 p.m.
Clark-Atlanta at Livingstone, 1:30 p.m.
Newberry at Barton, 2 p.m.
Fayetteville State at Elizabeth City State, 4 p.m.
Lenoir-Rhyne at Virginia State, 6 p.m.
Limestone at North Greenville, 7 p.m.
UNC-Pembroke at Winston-Salem State, cancelled

 

 

College men’s soccer

Limestone 3, Belmont Abbey 0: Belmont Abbey loses its opener on the road. The Crusaders host Queens at 7 p.m. on Saturday in their home opener.

 

 

College women’s soccer

Limestone 4, Belmont Abbey 0: Belmont Abbey dropped its season opener. The Lady Crusaders host Carson-Newman at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday in their home opener.

 

 

 

Middle school football

Standings with division record listed first followed by overall record:

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

Sept. 8 games
Grier at Cramerton
Mount Holly at Southwest
Stanley at Belmont
York Chester at Bessemer City
W.C. Friday at Chavis

The Tri-County Conference begins its season on Sept. 8. Here is that league’s week one schedule:
East Rutherford at Lincolnton
R-S Central at West Lincoln
East Lincoln at Chase
Kings Mountain at Shelby
Burns at Crest
Thomas Jefferson at North Lincoln

 

 

Middle school softball

Belmont 19, Southwest 3 (3 innings): Stella Absher, Mallory Stafford, Allison Neel and Megan Wise had two hits apiece and Stafford retired six batters for Belmont.

Chavis 12, Holbrook 0 (4 innings): Raylei Gidney threw no-hitter with 10 strikeouts and Landry Beam, Addison Davis, Kate Mulvey, Kennedy Weathers, Kate Bookout, Maddie Avery and Abi Canipe led the Wolverines’ offense.

Cramerton 12, Grier 0: Winning pitcher Kaitlyn Baker had four strikeouts and Kayla Johnson (inside-the-park home run), Cailey Evans, Madison Bridges, Taylyn Ledford and Addison Payseur led the Eagles’ offense and Evans, Tori Chao, Ava Cabe, Kalli Stuart and Josie Grimes were defensive standouts.

Mount Holly at Bessemer City: no report

The standings through Sept. 2 (missing Mount Holly-Bessemer City result):

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

Sept. 7 games
Belmont at Holbrook
Bessemer City at Grier
Chavis at W.C. Friday
Stanley at Southwest

 

 

Pro football

The Carolina Panthers continued to tweak their roster on Thursday.

They officially signed quarterback James Morgan, a 2020 fourth-round pick of the New York Jets from Florida International. Morgan becomes the team’s third quarterback behind starter Sam Darnold and backup P.J. Walker.

The Panthers also claimed fourth-year running back Royce Freeman off waivers from the Denver Broncos, signed wide receiver Aaron Parker to the practice squad, waived running back Trenton Cannon and released cornerback Rashaan Melvin from the practice squad.

Morgan hasn’t taken a NFL snap after making 13 starts at Bowling Green and 24 at FIU in college. Morgan passed for 8,654 yards with 65 touchdowns and 34 interceptions in 42 college games.

Freeman rushed for 1,187 yards and added 409 receiving yards with nine touchdowns in three seasons with Denver (2018-20). He started eight games for the Broncos as a rookie in 2018 after being drafted out of Oregon where he set Pac-12 rushing records.

Parker was signed after going to training camp with the Dallas Cowboys.

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 will look to snap a four-game losing streak when they begin a four-game homestand against Lexington on Friday at 6:50 p.m. Gastonia lost 17-6 at High Point on Thursday to fall to 40-44 on the season.