9-30-21 roundup: High school football, boys soccer and volleyball, Pro football and baseball, College football, Middle school football and softball
By Richard Walker
Frequently on ESPN’s college football and basketball game days, they’ll discuss “Judgement Day” when a slate of games will determine who’s at the top of the league standings.
In the Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties area, Friday night is “Judgement Day” for 2021 Big South 3A Conference football.
It’s because the league has four remaining unbeaten conference teams – and those four meet one another in two huge contests.
Crest (3-1, 3-0) hosts South Point (4-1, 2-0) is a renewal of their longtime rivalry while Kings Mountain (4-1, 2-0) hosts Forestview (3-2, 2-0) in another longtime rivalry.
Here are the top passing, rushing and receiving leaders for schools that have reported their statistics through Sept. 24: (Statistics unavailable for Ashbrook, Highland Tech)
Passing yards
Dylan Bisson, Mtn Isl Charter 1,492
Daylin Lee, Shelby 1,200
Justin Rocquemore, Cramer 989
Ben Mauney, Burns 881
Kandan Zollo, North Gaston 793
Trenton Sherrill, East Gaston 640
Austin Parker, Forestview 595
Chase Miller, Cherryville 581
Nytavious Huskey, Crest 527
Tyler Mizzell, East Lincoln 496
Rushing yards
Tyson Riley, South Point 943
Mason Avery, West Lincoln 781
Mari Adams, Crest 658
Justice Cooper, Bessemer City 597
Justin Hill, East Gaston 513
Trace Gilmore, West Lincoln 455
Markel McKinney, East Gaston 448
Brennen Rogers, North Lincoln 447
Cooper Sloan, Cherryville 406
Kyle Kovalchuk, North Lincoln 397
Receiving yards
Reginald Taylor, Mtn Isl Charter 577
Ryan Thompson, Burns 445
Cole Hart, Mtn Isl Charter 424
Dameian Bentley, Cramer 401
Brian Coley, North Gaston 374
Landon Hahn, Cherryville 338
Markell Clark, East Lincoln 335
Aiden Cloninger, East Gaston 297
Ja’Keith Hamilton, Shelby 293
Izy Bridges, Shelby 253
Luke Williams, Shelby 253
Here’s a look at Friday’s matchups:
North Gaston at Ashbrook
Series: Ashbrook leads 23-3
Storyline: Both teams have struggled so far this season in a longtime rivalry dominated by Ashbrook. North Gaston’s wins came in 2006, 2007 and 2015 – the 2006 and 2007 victories when future University of North Carolina fullback A.J. Blue was the Wildcats’ quarterback.
Burns at Bessemer City
Series: Burns leads 4-0
Storyline: The first meeting between these two schools since they were old Southwestern Conference rivals from 1973 to 1976. Burns enters the game after a week off while Bessemer City won 32-8 last week over Highland Tech.
Patton at Cherryville
Series: 1st meeting
Storyline: A late schedule addition after both schools lost scheduled games in September. Patton is 1-3 overall and 0-1 in its conference after non-league opponent Madison County 26-13 last Friday and Cherryville is 1-4 overall and 0-2 in its conference.
Huss at Cramer
Series: Huss leads 6-1
Storyline: Winless Huss hopes its can pick up a win in a series it has dominated while Cramer and multi-talented Justin Rocquemore look for a league win; Rocquemore has 989 yards passing and 259 yards rushing so far this season.
South Point at Crest
Series: South Point leads 25-15
Storyline: A series that began two years before South Point opened in 1969 is this year a matchup of two of the remaining four unbeaten Big South 3A Conference teams. Crest has won the last two meetings between the schools.
Thomas Jefferson at East Gaston
Series: First meeting
Storyline: Thomas Jefferson was the least unbeaten team in the Southern Piedmont 1A/2A Conference before losing 55-7 at home against Shelby last Friday. Meanwhile East Gaston has won two straight games and has a winning record after five games for the first time since 2015.
East Lincoln at West Iredell
Series: East Lincoln leads 3-1
Storyline: The first meeting between the teams since 1984 comes as injury riddled East Lincoln looks to get into the Western Foothills 3A Conference win column and West Iredell enters after its first victory.
Shelby at Highland Tech
Series: First meeting
Storyline: This shapes up to be one of the biggest mismatches of ths season as Shelby with a state record for victories while Highland Tech has struggled as much as any team in the state since its program started in 2002.
Forestview at Kings Mountain
Series: Kings Mountain leads 12-11
Storyline: Two of the four remaining league unbeatens clash is a matchup of teams that have bounced back after early season disappointments; Forestview has won three straight since an 0-2 start and Kings Mountain has won four straight since losing at home to Shelby.
Bandys at Lincolnton
Series: Lincolnton leads 8-6-1
Storyline: Lincolnton snapped a nine-game losing streak last week with a 21-17 win at Newton-Conover. It was the Wolves’ longest losing streak since 1998.
Winston-Salem Prep at Mountain Island Charter
Series: Winston-Salem Prep leads 1-0
Storyline: The first meeting between the schools as league rivals – and the first meeting since Mountain Island Charter’s inaugural state playoff game following their first season of 2015; Winston-Salem Prep won that matchup 50-22.
North Lincoln at North Iredell
Series: North Lincoln leads 8-0
Storyline: Longtime rivals meet again in a series dominated by the Knights, who set their school single-game scoring record in the 2015 season with a 70-49 victory.
West Lincoln at Bunker Hill
Series: Bunker Hill leads 34-15
Storyline: One of West Lincoln’s oldest rivalries renews in a matchup of two of the top teams in the Catawba Valley 2A Conference. Unbeaten Bunker Hill will look to snap a four-game West Lincoln winning streak in the series that began in 1962.
Here are other area matchups:
Foard at Statesville
Hickory at St. Stephens
Newton-Conover at East Burke
West Caldwell at Maiden
West Charlotte at Hopewell
Hough at West Meck
Berry Academy at Harding
Kell at Myers Park
Butler at East Meck
Catholic at Rocky River
Independence at Garinger
Providence at Mooresville
Chase at Hendersonville
R-S Central at Polk County
Here are standings through Sept. 28 with conference record listed first followed by overall record:
BIG SOUTH 3A
Crest 3-0, 3-1
Kings Mountain 2-0, 4-1
South Point 2-0, 4-1
Forestview 2-0, 3-2
Cramer 0-2, 2-3
Ashbrook 0-2, 0-3
Huss 0-2, 0-3
North Gaston 0-3, 0-6
WESTERN FOOTHILLS 3A
Statesville 2-0, 4-0
North Iredell 2-0, 2-2
North Lincoln 1-1, 3-2
Hickory 1-1, 2-3
West Iredell 1-1, 1-2
St. Stephens 1-1, 1-3
East Lincoln 0-2, 3-2
Foard 0-2, 0-4
CATAWBA VALLEY 2A
Bunker Hill 2-0, 5-0
Maiden 2-0, 5-0
West Lincoln 1-1, 4-1
Newton-Conover 1-1, 1-3
Lincolnton 1-1, 1-4
East Burke 0-1, 1-2
Bandys 0-1, 2-1
West Caldwell 0-2, 0-4
SOUTHERN PIEDMONT 1A/2A
Shelby 2-0, 4-1
Burns 1-0, 3-2
East Gaston 1-0, 3-2
Thomas Jefferson 1-1, 3-1
Bessemer City 1-1, 2-4
Cherryville 0-2, 1-4
Highland Tech 0-2, 0-5
SOUTH MECK 4A
South Meck 1-0, 5-1
Olympic 1-0, 4-1
Myers Park 1-0, 4-2
Kell 0-0, 3-1
Harding 0-1, 2-4
Berry Academy 0-2, 1-3
SOUTHWESTERN 4A
Catholic 2-0, 4-1
Butler 2-0, 3-2
Rocky River 1-0, 2-3
East Meck 1-1, 1-5
Independence 0-1, 1-3
Providence 0-2, 1-4
Garinger 0-2, 0-5
QUEEN CITY 3A/4A
Hough 2-0, 5-0
Mallard Creek 2-0, 3-1
Chambers 1-1, 5-1
West Charlotte 1-1, 4-1
North Meck 0-1, 2-2
Hopewell 0-1, 1-4
West Meck 0-2, 3-3
OTHERS
Chase 0-0, 5-0
Clover 0-0, 1-3
Mtn Island Charter 0-1, 3-1
R-S Central 1-1, 1-3
High school JV football
Kings Mountain 6, Forestview 0
South Point 22, Cramer 14
Burns 18, East Lincoln 8
College football
Here’s the Carolinas Division I schedule for this week:
(Saturday)
Charlotte at Illinois, noon
Duke at North Carolina, noon
Louisville at Wake Forest, 12:30 p.m.
Appalachian State at Georgia State, 1 p.m.
Davidson at Stetson, 1 p.m.
Gardner-Webb at Monmouth, 1 p.m.
Robert Morris at N.C. A&T, 1 p.m.
ULM at Coastal Carolina, 1:30 p.m.
Western Carolina at Chattanooga, 1:30 p.m.
Elon at Richmond, 2 p.m.
VMI at The Citadel, 2 p.m.
Troy at South Carolina, 3:30 p.m.
Tulane at East Carolina, 3:30 p.m.
Wofford at East Tennessee State, 3:30 p.m.
Louisiana Tech at N.C. State, 6 p.m.
Campbell at North Alabama, 7 p.m.
Boston College at Clemson, 7:30 p.m.
Here’s the Carolinas Division II schedule for this week:
(Saturday)
Limestone at Catawba, 1 p.m.
Newberry at Mars Hill, 1 p.m.
Shaw at Virginia Union, 1 p.m.
UNC Pembroke at Frostburg State, 1 p.m.
Carson-Newman at Barton, 2 p.m.
J.C. Smith at Bowie State, 2 p.m.
Lenoir-Rhyne at Virginia-Wise, 2 p.m.
-Virginia Lynchburg at Erskine, 2 p.m.
Livingstone at Elizabeth City State, 2:30 p.m.
Mississippi College at North Greenville, 3 p.m.
Tusculum at Wingate, 6 p.m.
Winston-Salem State at Chowan, 6 p.m.
St. Augustine’s at Virginia State, 6 p.m.
Lincoln, Pa. at Fayetteville State, 7 p.m.
Pro football
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, 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
High school boys soccer
Here are the standings through Sept. 30 with conference record listed first followed by overall record:
BIG SOUTH 3A
Cramer 6-0, 12-2
Forestview 5-1, 8-3-1
South Point 4-2, 8-5
Ashbrook 4-2, 6-3
Huss 2-4, 5-4
North Gaston 2-4, 4-6-1
Kings Mountain 1-5, 2-8
Crest 0-6, 0-10
SOUTHERN PIEDMONT 1A/2A
Shelby 6-0, 11-1-1
Highland Tech 5-1, 7-3
Burns 3-3, 6-3-1
Thomas Jefferson 3-3, 3-5
East Gaston 3-3, 4-10
Cherryville 0-5, 1-7-1
Bessemer City 0-5, 1-8
OTHERS
Gaston Christian 2-2, 4-6
Gaston Day 5-0, 11-2
East Lincoln 4-1-1, 6-4-1
Lincoln Charter 1-2, 5-6-1
Lincolnton 6-0, 8-0-1
Mtn Island Charter 0-4, 3-7
North Lincoln 1-4, 5-7
Piedmont CC 2-0, 4-1
West Lincoln 0-6, 2-11
This week’s schedule:
(Monday)
Ashbrook 1, South Point 0
Shelby 7, Bessemer City 0
Thomas Jefferson 5, Cherryville 2
Cramer 9, Kings Mountain 0
Foard 6, East Lincoln 5 (OT)
Forestview 9, Crest 0
Highland Tech 4, East Gaston 3
Lincolnton 5, East Burke 0
Lincoln Charter 3, Mountain Island Charter 1
North Gaston 3, Huss 2
St. Stephens 2, North Lincoln 0
West Caldwell 7, West Lincoln 0
Gaston Christian 7, Woodlawn 1
(Tuesday)
Ashbrook 3, East Gaston 1
Highland Tech 3, Burns 2
Shelby 7, Cherryville 0
North Lincoln 6, Statesville 2
Thomas Jefferson 3, Bessemer City 0
Gaston Day 7, Westminster Catawba 0
(Wednesday)
Community School of Davidson 3, Lincoln Charter 0
Cramer 3, North Gaston 0
Huss 6, Crest 3
East Burke 6, West Lincoln 3
East Lincoln 2, St. Stephens 2 (OT)
Foard 1, North Lincoln 0
Langtree Charter 3, Mountain Island Charter 2
Ashbrook 6, Kings Mountain 1: Amari Speid had two goals and Bailey Wilcox, John Francis, Sanders Zendejas and Fidel Medina one apiece for the Green Wave.
Lincolnton 9, Maiden 0
South Point 1, Forestview 0
(Thurday)
Bessemer City at Cherryville, no report
North Gaston 8, Crest 2
East Gaston 4, Thomas Jefferson 1
Gaston Day 8, SouthLake Christian 1
Shelby 4, Highland Tech 2
High school volleyball
Cherryville 3, Bessemer City 0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-13): Cherryville improved to 9-11 overall and 6-3 in the Southern Piedmont 1A/2A Conference behind Rileigh Kiser (16 assists, 3 kills, 4 digs), Taylor Digh (5 aces), Terayha Bess (9 kills) and Laila Davis (4 aces).
Kings Mountain 3, North Gaston 0 (25-7, 25-11, 25-13): The Mountaineers improved to 13-2, 9-0 behind Aaliyah Byers (10 kills, 4 serve receptions, 5 digs, 2 blocks, and 13 service points), Meile Songaila (13 kills, 3 serve receptions, 4 digs, 2 blocks, 5 service points) and Paige Bagwell (28 assists, 2 digs, 3 kills, 14 service points). The Mountaineers junior varsity (9-3, 4-2) won 2-0 over North Gaston (25-3, 25-2) behind Sara Kate Bridges (11 assists, 16 service points) and Alexa Jones (7 kills, 7 service points).
Middle school football
Gaston County Conference standings through Sept. 29 with division record listed first followed by overall record:
(Division I)
Southwest 3-0, 5-0
Holbrook 2-1, 4-1
Grier 2-1, 4-1
Cramerton 1-2, 3-2
Mount Holly 0-4, 0-5-1
(Division II)
York Chester 4-0, 4-1-1
Belmont 4-0, 4-2
Bessemer City 2-2, 2-4
W.C. Friday 1-3, 2-4
Stanley 1-3, 1-4
Chavis 0-4, 0-5
Wednesday’s games
Grier 30, Mount Holly 0
Southwest 34, Holbrook 8
Belmont 53, Chavis 0
Bessemer City 24, Stanley 6
York Chester 28, W.C. Friday 0
Oct. 6 games
Cramerton at Holbrook
Southwest at Grier
York Chester at Belmont
W.C. Friday at Bessemer City
Chavis at Stanley
Tri-County Conference standings through Sept. 30 with division record listed first followed by overall record:
(East)
East Lincoln 3-0, 4-0
Kings Mountain 2-1, 2-2
North Lincoln 2-1, 3-1
Burns 1-2, 1-2
Lincolnton 0-2, 1-2
West Lincoln 0-2, 0-3
(West)
Shelby 2-0, 4-0
Crest 2-0, 2-1
East Rutherford 1-0, 1-1
Thomas Jefferson 1-2, 1-3
R-S Central 1-1, 2-1
Chase 0-3, 0-4
Wednesday’s games
East Rutherford at Shelby, ppd., no date
R-S Central 30, Thomas Jefferson 0
Chase at Crest, ppd., Thursday
Burns 12, Lincolnton 8
East Lincoln 12, Kings Mountain 0
North Lincoln 24, West Lincoln 0
Thursday’s game
Crest 46, Chase 0: Brock Melton rushed for one touchdown and had three touchdown passes – one to Michael Edwards and two to Davarious Surratt – and Edwards (punt return), Lyric Pettis (touchdown run), Tavian Whisnant (touchdown run) and Hampton Boykins (two 2-point conversions) scored for the Dragons and Eli Black, Nehemiah Parker, A.J. Davis and Chris Gunter led the defense.
Oct. 6 games
R-S Central at East Rutherford
Shelby at Chase
Crest at Thomas Jefferson
North Lincoln at Burns
Kings Mountain at Lincolnton
West Lincoln at East Lincoln
Middle school softball
Gaston County Conference standings through Sept. 30:
Cramerton 9-0 (10-0 overall)
Chavis 8-1
Mount Holly 6-3
Stanley 6-3
Belmont 5-4
Holbrook 5-4
W.C. Friday 3-6
Bessemer City 2-7 (2-8 overall)
Grier 1-8
Southwest 0-9
hursday’s games
Cramerton 11, Belmont 4: Winning pitcher Kayla Johnson had 16 strikeouts and Johnson (1 hit), Cailey Evans (3 hits, including 2 triples, 3 runs), Madison Bridges (double, 2 RBIs), Kaitlyn Baker (1 hit), Taylyn Ledford (1 hit), Addeyson Payseur (1 hit) and Josie Grimes (1 hit) led unbeaten Cramerton (10-0), which hosts Mount Holly on Monday at 4:15 p.m. in a county semifinal playoff game.
Chavis 21, Bessemer City 1 (3 innings): Winning pitcher Raylei Gidney struck out four batters and Kate Mulvey, Landry Beam, Addison Davis, Abi Canipe, Emily Allen and Grace Capps led the offense for Chavis (8-1), which hosts Stanley on Monday in a county semifinal playoff game.
Holbrook 13, Southwest 1: Winningt pitcher Alysa “Bean” Couick had 12 strikeouts and Couick, Christina Ramsey, Madison Flint, Layla Love, Parker Gordon, Layla Pless, Sophie Arrowood, Nevaeh Smith, Breauna Whitener and Jaliyah Scotland all scored runs for Holbrook.
(Playoffs)
Monday’s games
Semifinals
No. 4 Mount Holly at No. 1 Cramerton
No. 3 Stanley at No. 2 Chavis
Wednesday, Oct. 6
Championship game at higher seeded team
Pro baseball
The Gastonia Honey Hunters couldn’t hold on against Lexington in a heartbreaking 10-9 loss to end the three-game road series.
Gastonia (50-61) led 9-2 after 5 1-2 innings before Lexington rallied for the win.