By Richard Walker When Lincolnton Shelby renew their football series in Friday’s 2nd round of the Class 2A playoffs, it’ll resume a matchup loaded with history. Not only was the 1st meeting between the schools in 1921 the 1st football game in Lincolnton, but their 1962 meeting that ended in a scoreless tie helped usher […]
By Richard Walker When the 2023-24 ACC basketball season begins this season, Gastonia’s Leonard Hamilton of Florida State is the longest-tenured ACC coach and is the 7th-longest tenured head coach among the 362 NCAA Division I basketball coaches. “I’m just blessed to have been given this opportunity by the administration,” Hamilton said on Wednesday during […]
By Richard Walker For much of Charlotte 49ers head coach Biff Poggi’s first year at the helm, he’s used two quarterbacks – senior transfer Jalon Jones and redshirt sophomore Trexler Ivey. One week after being noticeably disappointed at his team’s offense in a 14-0 home shutout loss to Navy, Jones firmly entrenched himself as the […]
By Richard Walker When the Charlotte Hornets open the 2023-24 NBA season on Wednesday at home against the Atlanta Hawks, they will open with high hopes and low recent results. The Hornets will start the year with a longest current postseason drought in the NBA at 7 seasons. Hope springs eternal after co-owners Gabe Plotkin […]
By Richard Walker As the No. 1 overall pick in the most recent NFL draft, odds are Carolina Panthers rookie Bryce Young will have an outstanding career. Since the 1970 draft, he’s the 27th quarterback to be chosen No. 1 overall. And of his 26 predecessors, 19 were eventual Pro Bowlers, 9 were eventual Super […]
By Richard Walker Charlotte FC held on to an early lead and got the help it needed to make its first MLS playoff berth with a 1-0 victory over Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF on Saturday night. Charlotte FC is the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference and will play at the No. […]
By Richard Walker When Vince Hefner took the microphone for the 1st time at Cherryville’s Rudisill Stadium, he definitely got the crowd’s attention. “Welcome to Friday night football in Shelby,” Hefner told The Lincoln Times-News earlier this week. “I didn’t even know where I was. I was so embarrassed. I told myself I would never […]
By Richard Walker Cleveland County completed a sweep of Gaston County on Thursday with four more victories as it finished the regular season with a 21-0 record against its Eastern neighbors. The sweep is the biggest reason next week’s regular season finales will feature a pair of Cleveland County rivalries that will determine championships of […]
By Richard Walker East Gaston High School is coming off a loss at Burns last Friday to stop its best start to a football season in its history at 7-0 when its hosts Shelby on Friday night. But the Warriors can still hope to party like its 1978. Not only was that the only season […]
By Richard Walker Gardner-Webb is a preseason pick to finish in the upper half of the Big South Conference men’s basketball race while its defending champion women’s team is picked to finish last in results announced during Tuesday’s annual league media day at Embassy Suites Hotel in Concord. The Runnin’ Bulldogs’ men also had senior […]
By Richard Walker Shelby Middle School seeks a 4th straight Tri-County Conference middle school football championship on Wednesday when it hosts East Lincoln in 2023 title game. Coached by Lamar Woods, Shelby is 5-1 and knocked off Kings Mountain 23-14 in last week’s league semifinals. The Blue Devils are seeking their 10th overall league championship […]
By Richard Walker A fast start for the Carolina Panthers wasn’t enough to get the 1st win of the 2023 season against powerful Miami Dolphins in a 42-21 loss on Sunday. Carolina roared ahead 14-0 and racked up 10 first downs before Miami got its initial first down. But the Dolphins, who had the most […]
By Richard Walker Every week this season, www.CarolinasSportsHub.com will look back at the Carolina Panthers’ historic 2003 season that ended with the franchise’s first trip to the Super Bowl. Week 6: Trailing 13-3 at halftime on the road against eventual Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, the Panthers rallied to win […]
By Richard Walker The Southern Piedmont 1A/2A race continues to be a 3-team race but Burns and Shelby created some separation in the standings by remaining unbeaten in league play with 2 weeks left in the regular season. Burns overcame an early 14-0 deficit and trailed 35-34 late in the 3rd quarter before rallying for […]
By Richard Walker Following Thursday’s Big South 3A Conference results, Crest or Kings Mountain will be involved in a game that will determine the league champion for a 6th straight season. Those two schools improved to 5-0 in league play and 8-0 overall with blowout wins on Thursday night as Crest rolled past Forestview 42-7 […]
By Richard Walker Even as Southwest Middle School was unbeaten entering Wednesday’s 2023 Gaston County Middle School football championship game, the Roadrunners had taken four one-score victories while going 6-0 overall. On Wednesday, Stanley pushed Southwest even more by taking a lead late in the third quarter before the Roadrunners rallied for an 8-6 win […]
By Richard Walker An ACC basketball legend is the featured speaker for the 2023 Belmont Sports Hall of Fame ceremony that will be held at Belmont’s Park Street United Methodist Church on Thursday, October 26 at 6:30 p.m. Phil Ford is considered among the greatest college point guards of all time and many call him […]
By Richard Walker The first conference championship-winning Gardner-Webb football coach is the featured speaker for the 2023 Cherryville Sports Hall of Fame ceremony where 10 individuals and one team will be inducted. Woody Fish, a former Bessemer City High School coach, guided the Bulldogs to a 73-70-1 record that included a NAIA national runner-up finish […]
By Richard Walker The Carolina Panthers dropped to 0-5 after a 42-24 loss at the Detroit Lions on Sunday. Panthers rookie quarterback Bryce Young completed 25 of 41 passes for 247 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. It was his best statistical game even as his two interceptions led to 14 Lions’ points that […]
By Richard Walker Every week this season, www.CarolinasSportsHub.com will look back at the Carolina Panthers’ historic 2003 season that ended with the franchise’s first trip to the Super Bowl. Week 5: Stephen Davis rushes for 159 yards and 1 touchdown and former XFL standout Rod “He Hate Me” Smart scored on a 100-yard kickoff return […]
By Richard Walker Kings Mountain need a pair of 4th quarter touchdowns to snap a 14-all tie at South Point and take a 28-14 high school football victory on Friday. The win gives the Mountaineers their 4th start of 7-0 or better in the last 5 years. Kings Mountain quarterback Kandan Zollo’s 64-yard pass to […]
By Richard Walker It’s rare for perennial power South Point to endure losing streaks and even more rare for them to last 3 games. But that’s where the Red Raiders could find themselves after Friday’s home game against unbeaten Kings Mountain. A loss would give South Point its first 3-game losing streak since 2016 and […]
By Richard Walker Former Crest High standout Jonathan Bullard made the first game near his hometown a successful one last Sunday when he was a part of the Minnesota Vikings’ 21-13 win over the Carolina Panthers. A 2012 Crest High graduate and 8-year NFL veteran, Bullard had four tackles for a defensive unit that frustrated […]
By Richard Walker Former Crest High star Mari Adams is coming off the best game of his college football career at Davidson. And Adams’ 14-carry, 169-yard, 4-TD performance in last Saturday’s 55-33 win over San Diego earned him Pioneer Football League Offensive Player of the Week honors. Adams’ four TDs in a game are the […]
By Richard Walker Rookie Brandon Miller has enjoyed coming to Charlotte so much he’s spent much of the summer of 2023 in town and even took part in a ceremonial first pitch for the Class AAA Charlotte Knights baseball team. On Tuesday, Miller’s job becomes official as he and the rest of his Hornets’ teammates […]
By Richard Walker A second half lead wasn’t enough for the Carolina Panthers to shake off its slump as the team slipped to 0-4 for only the 4th time in franchise history following a 21-13 home loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Carolina took early leads of 7-0 and 10-0 and was ahead 13-7 and had […]
By Richard Walker Every week this season, www.CarolinasSportsHub.com will look back at the Carolina Panthers’ historic 2003 season that ended with the franchise’s first trip to the Super Bowl. Week 4: Stephen Davis rushes for 153 yards and 1 touchdown as the Carolina Panthers routed the visiting Atlanta Falcons 23-3 to end a 6-game losing […]
By Richard Walker East Gaston set school history Friday night by celebrating the school’s homecoming game with a 56-3 home victory over Thomas Jefferson. The victory improved the Warriors to 6-0 for the first time in school history; The best previous start came in 1978 when East Gaston went 5-0 on its way to its […]
By Richard Walker In area high school football history, East Gaston and West Lincoln have struggled more than most. Entering the 2023 season, the programs ranked Nos. 13 and No. 12 in Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties, respectively, in all time wins. But as has been the case in recent seasons, nothing lasts forever as […]
By Richard Walker It’s been a busy year on and off the field for former South Point High standout Garrett Davila. In a baseball season in which he made his Class AAA debut, he also welcomed his first child and set a career-highs in innings pitched and strikeouts. “It’s been awesome and tiring,” said Davila, […]
By Richard Walker When Charlotte 49ers coach Biff Poggi attended the school’s first American Athletic Conference Media Day in July, he gained national attention for his terse response to receiving a small amount from questions from reporters in Frisco, Tex. “That’s it? Three questions?” Poggi said from the podium. “Maybe that’s because you have us […]
By Richard Walker N.C. State University will soon be immortalizing arguably the greatest basketball player in area and ACC history. The school announced on Monday that it will pay tribute to 3-time 1st team All-American David Thompson with a statue to be placed outside Reynolds Coliseum on the N.C. State campus. A 1971 Crest High […]
By Richard Walker The Carolina Panthers set dubious history in Sunday’s 37-27 loss at the Seattle Seahawks as the loss dropped them to 0-3 for only the 5th time in the team’s 29-year history. It’s the first time since 2010 when Carolina finished 2-14 in John Fox’s final season of a 9-year tenure. The other […]
By Richard Walker Every week this season, www.CarolinasSportsHub.com will look back at the Carolina Panthers’ historic 2003 season that ended with the franchise’s first trip to the Super Bowl. Week 3: The Carolina Panthers enjoy an early-season off week and remain the only unbeaten team in the NFC South at 2-0. The Week 3 bye […]
By Richard Walker Huss rallied from a 24-10 deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime and knock off South Point 31-24 for the Huskies’ first home win in the long series since 1995. Huss had lost 11 straight home games to the Red Raiders, who lead the all time series that began in 1965 […]
By Richard Walker The 9th-oldest rivalry in Gaston County resumes tonight when East Gaston opens its Southern Piedmont 1A/2A Conference schedule at Cherryville. It’s a rivalry that features four schools and once was highlighted by one of the most amazing individual performances in N.C. high school football history. East Gaston, which opened in 1972 as […]
By Richard Walker When Dax Hollifield was a star linebacker at Shelby High and Virginia Tech, many predicted he would have a future professional future. Hollifield is doing that – just in an unconventional manner with NASCAR. Just last weekend, Hollifield was working at legendary Bristol Motor Speedway just a few years after his last […]
By Richard Walker Three days after a disappointing 41-25 home loss to Georgia State, Charlotte 49ers head coach Biff Poggi is eager to finish the first phase of his 2023 season – the 4-game non-league schedule – and vows to push his team with positivity. “Tough week last week and a tough loss for the […]
By Richard Walker The Carolina Panthers’ offense struggled again and it cost the team a 20-17 home loss to the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium. The loss also dropped Carolina to 0-2 to start the season for the 12th time in the team’s 29-year history. Only in […]
By Richard Walker Every week this season, www.CarolinasSportsHub.com will look back at the Carolina Panthers’ historic 2003 season that ended with the franchise’s first trip to the Super Bowl. Week 2: One of the most improbable wins in team history hands the 2002 Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers a 12-9 overtime loss on their […]
By Richard Walker After one week, the four unbeaten teams in the Big South 3A Conference are conference favorites Crest, Kings Mountain and South Point in addition to upstart North Gaston. How surprising is North Gaston? The Wildcats won their second Big South Conference game in their 47 league contests when they knocked off Forestview […]
By Richard Walker Hickory ended East Lincoln’s 19-game winning streak on Friday in a 49-28 victory at Frank Barger Field. The Mustangs, defending N.C. 3A champions, have the four of the five longest winning streaks in Lincoln County history – 30 from 2014 to 2015, the one that ended on Friday, 16 from 2012 to […]
By Richard Walker Conference action starts up for most area teams on Friday. And the importance of winning a league opener is most prominent in the Big South 3A Conference. In the school histories of that 8-team league, only twice has a team lost its conference opener and still managed to win a league championship. […]
By Richard Walker Former East Lincoln High standout Chazz Surratt is one of four former local standouts on NFL rosters this year. Surratt also played a key role in one of the most prominent plays in the NFL’s opening weekend as his block near midfield helped spring Xavier Gipson’s game-winning 65-yard punt return that capped […]
By Richard Walker Charlotte 49ers first-year head coach Biff Poggi said at Tuesday’s weekly news conference that he felt he made a mistake during his team’s 38-20 loss at Maryland. Poggi said when his team held a 14-3 lead in the second quarter and faced a fourth-and-8 play near midfield, he thought about going for […]
By Richard Walker When Wayne Bolick got into coaching, he used the coaching strategies and theories of one of the best Gaston County coaches in history. Those Delmer Wiles coaching methods helped make Bolick the winningest junior high/middle school football and baseball coach in Gaston County history. A 2011 Mount Holly Sports Hall of Fame […]
By Richard Walker The Carolina Panthers struggles in Atlanta and head coach Frank Reich’s struggles in season openers continued on Sunday as rookie Bryce Young’s regular season debut was ruined by 2 pass interceptions that led to 10 Falcons’ points in Sunday’s 24-10 Atlanta victory. The Panthers fell to 8-21 all time in Atlanta and […]
By Richard Walker Every week this season, www.CarolinasSportsHub.com will look back at the Carolina Panthers’ historic 2003 season that ended with the franchise’s first trip to the Super Bowl. Week 1: Offseason free agent signee Jake Delhomme replaced 2002 starter Rodney Peete at quarterback in the second half with the Panthers trailing the Jacksonville Jaguars […]
By Richard Walker In Shelby’s long history as the state’s winningest football program, the Golden Lions have gone 0-4 to start a football season only once. Entering Friday’s home game against Class 4A Charlotte Olympic, the Golden Lions were 0-3 and desperate to avoid the second 0-4 start in school history. And Shelby did so […]
By Richard Walker When Cherryville visits North Gaston Friday night in a non-conference high school football game, it’ll resume the 6th-oldest rivalry in Gaston County history – and the oldest rivalry in each school’s history in the sport. Cherryville’s 9-6 home win over old Dallas High on Oct. 8, 1926 is the 1st game in […]
By Richard Walker Four local products open their NFL seasons this weekend with one playing in the season-opening Monday Night Football contest. On Sunday, Jonathan Bullard (Crest 2012 graduate) and Nick Muse (South Point 2017) and the Minnesota Vikings host Tampa Bay at 1 p.m. Bullard is beginning his 8th year as a defensive lineman […]
By Richard Walker When Maryland and the Charlotte 49ers agreed to a two-game series in March 2016, the 49ers were four head coaches away from a homecoming trip for current Charlotte head coach Biff Poggi and many of his players. Back then, the 49ers had just completed their second season under inaugural head coach Brad […]
By Richard Walker When Mack Brown was the featured speaker in May for the 2023 Gaston County Sports Hall of Fame ceremony at the Gastonia Conference Center, he called former Ashbrook High standout British Brooks one of the “hardest-working players” he’s ever coached and said Brooks was in “our Hall of Fame” due to overcoming […]
By Richard Walker With a win and an impressive losing performance, Saturday’s opening games have to be considered a success for the Charlotte 49ers and Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs. Despite falling behind 3-0 in front of a sellout crowd of 15,622 at Jerry Richardson Stadium in the much-anticipated head coaching debut of Biff Poggi, the 49ers […]
By Richard Walker After stopping a 6-year losing streak to rival Cramer, East Gaston is off to only its 4th 3-0 start in the school’s 52-year history. And if the Warriors can defy history this Friday at home against Ashbrook, they’ll have a chance at the school’s best-ever seasonal start. East Gaston’s previous 3-0 starts […]
By Richard Walker Crest fell behind early but its offense erupted for a 53-38 win at longtime rival Shelby on Friday to improve to 3-0 on the season. The Chargers, who will be off next week, got 6 touchdown passes and 1 TD run from quarterback Ny’Tavious Huskey. Huskey threw TD passes to Malachi Addison […]
By Richard Walker A pair of city-county rivalries with striking similarities headline Week 3 of the area’s high school football schedule. County school Crest in Cleveland County first played against Shelby in 1968 and didn’t win in the rivalry until 1980. In Lincoln County, East Lincoln faced the same type of struggles against Lincolnton as […]
By Richard Walker All 4 area NFL players survived cut week even as 1 of those players was released by 1 team and signed by another. Tanner Muse, a 2015 South Point High graduate, was released by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday but was claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Chargers. A linebacker, Muse […]
By Richard Walker When the Charlotte 49ers open their 2023 football season on Saturday at 6 p.m. against South Carolina State at Jerry Richardson Stadium, former Huss standout Prince Bemah will be one of 8 team captains in Biff Poggi’s college head coaching debut. “Prince is a great kid,” Poggi said of Bemah, a 2019 […]
By Richard Walker Fifteen products from Cleveland and Gaston counties are on the Gardner-Webb roster as the Runnin’ Bulldogs enter this season seeking to a defend a league title for the first time in 20 years. Gardner-Webb is in its first season as a Big South-Ohio Valley Conference member after winning the Big South championship […]