Steve Lyttle

The road to the state high school football championship game runs through Hough … and Weddington … and Crest … and North Stanly … and Corvian community. Those five schools won No. 1 West regional seeds in the N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs that begin next Friday. The No. 1 seeds will have home-field advantage all the way until the championship round. Teams will be playing for a berth in the state finals, which are set for Dec. 10-12 at three sites – UNC/s Kenan Stadium...

The Charlotte 49ers came up 10 seconds short of a winning streak. Tulane rallied from a 31-21 deficit, scoring a tying touchdown with 10 seconds left in the regulation, and then beat the 49ers 38-31 in overtime Friday night at Jerry Richardson Stadium. The 49ers (1-7, 1-3 American) snapped a 15-game losing streak two weeks ago and appeared headed for a second straight victory Friday night. Charlotte took a 31-21 lead with 10:52 left in the game on a 1-yard touchdown run by Derrick Eley. ...

Mallard Creek’s defense shut down the explosive Chambers attack Friday night, and the Mavericks knocked off the previously unbeaten Cougars 17-7. The victory gave Mallard Creek (8-2, 5-0) the Meck Power Six 7A/8A championship. And make no mistake about it – the Mavs’ defense was the deciding factor. Mallard Creek forced Chambers into three turnovers and shut out a Cougar offense that was averaging nearly 500 yards of offense per game. The Cougars (9-1, 4-1) got their touchdown on a...