Friday prep football: Hough overcomes slow start
MOORESVILLE – No. 1-ranked Hough survived a slow start Friday night and rolled over host Mooresville 49-10 in a nonconference high school football game.
The Blue Devils brought a 0-3 record into the game but gave Hough a battle for nearly a period and a half.
But Jamarion Morrison broke a pair of long touchdown runs in the final seven minutes of the opening half, and Hough (4-0) pulled away.
The Huskies’ defense, loaded with major-college talent, got the team going. Sincere Davis stepped in front of a pass by Mooresville quarterback Weston Michalak and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown – just 45 seconds into the game.
But the Blue Devils didn’t panic. They launched a drive, keyed by a couple of Michalak completions, and tied the game on Tanner Finnerty’s 3-yard run with 8:19 left in the first quarter.
Mooresville forced Hough to punt on its next possession, and the Blue Devils launched another drive. This time, it ended with a 26-yard field goal by Adam Cummings, just 29 seconds before the end of the first quarter.
The Blue Devils carried that 10-7 lead into the second quarter, but Hough went ahead to stay on a 69-yard run by Morrison with 7:15 left in the half. Morrison took a handoff from quarterback Ethan Royal, found a huge hole up the middle, and took off.
The Huskies’ lead reached 21-10 with 2:49 left in the half, when Morrison broke loose on a 77-yard touchdown run. Hough scored again with 1:36 left in the half, on a 41-yard pass from Royal to Jahmere Anderson.
A pair of Royal touchdown passes, to Joshua Autry and C.J. Baker, enabled Hough to expand its lead in the third quarter to 42-10. Royal finished the scoring with a 2-yard run early in the final period.
Hough is back in action next Saturday afternoon, when the Huskies face Virginia Beach powerhouse Green Run.
Here are highlights from the Charlotte area’s other games Friday night:
Mecklenburg games
Ambassador Christian 28, Calvary Day (GA) 14: The Lions (4-0) broke a 14-14 tie after three quarters with a pair of touchdown passes in the final period.
Cannon School 52, Charlotte Christian 19: Lucas Lopez threw six touchdown passes, three to Marcus Sales and two to Sione Latimore, and visiting Cannon School improved to 4-0. Lopez’ longest touchdown pass covered 53 yards to Sales.
Maxton Miller scored for the Knights (1-3) on a run, and Tate Olsen fired a touchdown pass to Hugo Rocha for another score. Charlotte Christian also got a pair of Elijah Boythe field goals.
Christ the King 16, Covenant Day 0: The Crusaders pitched a shutout and improved to 4-0 on the season. Covenant Day fell to 1-3.
Kings Mountain 48, Charlotte Catholic 7: The visiting Cougars (2-2) suffered one of their worst setbacks in several seasons, as Jordan Jenkins threw one touchdown pass and ran for two more. Khareem Coleman had a pair of touchdown runs for the Mountaineers (3-1).
The Cougars’ only score came on an Adam Aoun pass in the second quarter.
Lake Norman 48, Independence 7: Tennessee commit Kaden Craft threw a touchdown pass and ran for three more scores, as Lake Norman (4-0) continued to roll. Lake Norman also scored on a 50-yard fumble return by Mason Hefner, on a 5-yard run by Nixon Willis, and on a 1-yard run by Bryson Pohlman.
Independence (1-3) scored on a short run by Noah Wright.
Lake Norman Charter 27, Forestview 25: Trailing 25-13 early in the fourth quarter, Lake Norman Charter (2-1) rallied for the victory. Dylan Wignot connected with Tristan English on a 10-yard pass early in the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to 25-20. Then Wignot fired a 15-yard touchdown pass to Zachary Moreau with less than a minute to play. English made conversion kicks after both fourth-quarter scores.
SouthLake Christian 49, Asheville Christian 14: Cameron Gandy fired four touchdown passes and ran for another score, as the Eagles evened their record at 2-2. Two of Gandy’s scoring passes went to Carter Eberhart, covering 25 and 30 yards. Luke Conenna and Riley Fall also scored for SouthLake on runs.
Area games
Burns 56, Lincolnton 35: The visiting Bulldogs won this wild Southern Piedmont 2A/3A/4A contest by scoring 49 second-half points.
Lincolnton built leads of 21-7, 28-14 and 35-21, but Burns’ Max Davis scored in the second half on runs of 56, 57 and 49 yards. Ka’Marion McKinzie and Chris Dawkins also scored on fourth-quarter runs for Burns (2-2, 2-0).
Rashad Lynch threw for four touchdowns and ran for another, helping provide points for Lincolnton (3-1, 1-1). R.J. Lynch and Dailen Adams each caught a pair of touchdown passes.
East Lincoln 42, Bandys 15: Davis Beam threw four touchdown passes and ran for another, as the visiting Mustangs (4-0, 2-0) scored a big Western Foothills 4A/5A victory. Two of Beam’s scoring tosses went to five-star Georgia recruit Jaxon Dollar. Beam also threw a 79-yard scoring pass to Tyson Maggs.
Metrolina Christian 57, Raleigh Ravenscroft 32: Jaiden McKnight-Quick carried 25 times for 203 yards and two touchdowns, as the Warriors (1-3) won on the road. Jaxon Williams also ran for three Metrolina scores.
Monroe 14, Sun Valley 13: The Redhawks (2-2) spotted Sun Valley (2-2) a 7-0 lead, then went ahead with touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters. The Spartans scored on a run late in the game, but a two-point conversion attempt to win the game failed.
Mountain Island Charter 43, Draughn 0: The Raptors scored 21 points in the second quarter and won easily. Jacon Boyd threw three touchdown passes.
Pageland (SC) Central 34, West Stanly 28: West Stanly (2-2) took a 28-21 lead in the third quarter, on a 1-yard run by Brody Clontz. But the visiting Eagles tied the game on a 35-yard run by Rickey Torrence and went ahead on a 1-yard run by Guy Kingnee in the final period.
Porter Ridge 12, South Iredell 7: The Pirates (1-3) scored twice in the second half and got their first victory of the season. South Iredell (1-3) took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on Kadin Abdullah’s 47-yard run. But Porter Ridge got within 7-6 in the third quarter on a 7-yard run by Kam Hayden.
The Pirates got the winning score on a 21-yard Hayden run with about five minutes left. South Iredell blocked both Porter Ridge conversion kick attempts.
South Point 42, Mount Pleasant 14: This battle of unbeatens was a one-sided affair, as Kayveaun Pless ran for touchdowns of 9, 4 and 5 yards for the Raiders (4-0). Malakai Felician, Cayden Rumph and Jessie Ledford also scored on runs for South Point.
Mount Pleasant (3-1) tied the game 7-7 on a second-quarter touchdown run, but the Tigers didn’t score again until late in the fourth quarter, on another run.
Stuart Cramer 61, Bessemer City 0: The Storm (3-0, 1-0 Southern Piedmont 2A/3A/4A) raced to a 47-0 halftime lead over the outmanned Yellow Jackets (0-4, 0-2). Camden Stilwell threw five touchdown passes in the first half.
West Iredell 33, North Lincoln 3: Amario Spence ran for touchdowns of 2 and 20 yards, and West Iredell (4-0, 2-0 Western Foothills 4A/5A) remained unbeaten. North Lincoln (1-3, 0-2) had led 3-0 after the first quarter.
Thursday night
Chambers converted two key first downs in the closing minutes Thursday night and held off host Palisades 24-20 in a battle of high school football unbeatens.
The Chambers-Palisades game was one of several big contests on the schedule. In other key games, Myers Park rallied to upset Mallard Creek; Providence Day bounced back from last week’s loss to Hough with a lopsided victory at butler; and Marvin Ridge edged Ashbrook in a battle of unbeatens.
At Palisades, the visiting Cougars (4-0) led for much of the game, but the Pumas (3-1) battled back several times to keep it close.
Palisades struck first, scoring on a 17-yard Cole Hough touchdown pass in the second quarter. But Chambers battled back for a 10-6 halftime lead, on a Jamouri Nichols touchdown pass and a Wesley Palacios field goal.
The Cougars expanded their lead to 17-6 in the third quarter, but the Pumas scored on a short run early in the final period and made the two-point conversion. That cut Chambers’ led to 17-14.
Shawn Blackshear broke loose on a 22-yard touchdown run for Chambers with 3:54 left, putting the Cougars up 24-14.
But Palisades battled back, and Hough completed a 49-yard scoring pass to Nick Rankin with 3:22 remaining. A two-point conversion pass attempt failed, and the Pumas trailed 24-20.
Chambers recovered Palisades’ onside kick attempt, and the Cougars then picked up a couple first downs to run out the clock.
In other Thursday night football:
Ardrey Kell 37, South Mecklenburg 14: The Knights (3-1) bounced back from last week’s loss to Marvin Ridge, outscoring the Sabres (1-3) 20-0 in the second half.
Ballantyne Ridge 42, Garinger 6: The Wolves’ Ryan Rizzuto completed 8-of-12 passes for 111 yards, but it was running back Osazee Innah who had the biggest game. Innah rushed for 144 yards and six touchdowns, as the Wolves (1-3) cracked into the victory column. Garinger fell to 1-3.
Charlotte Latin 35, Providence 21: Some fans called this the Battle of the Arboretum, and the visiting Hawks (2-2) prevailed by scoring the game’s final 21 points.
Down 21-14 after three quarters, the Hawks scored on a 28-yard pass from Troy Logan to William Alt but missed the conversion. Charlotte Latin then took the lead with 4:52 remaining, on a 3-yard run by D.J. Douglas and a two-point conversion run. It was the third touchdown of the game for Douglas.
Forest Hills 41, Cuthbertson 20: Makhi Massey ran for touchdowns of 34, 6 and 80 yards in the second and third quarters, and the Yellow Jackets (2-1) downed the Cavaliers (1-3). The game was tied 7-all early in the second quarter, when Massey broke loose on his 34-yard scoring run. Chris Baker added a 1-yard scoring run later in the quarter, giving Forest Hills a 21-7 halftime lead.
Makhi’s two touchdowns in the third quarter put Forest Hills comfortably ahead. Austin Davis threw a pair of touchdown passes for Cuthbertson.
Hickory Ridge 34, Parkwood 9: The visiting Ragin’ Bulls (2-1) built a 28-3 lead early in the third quarter and glided past the Wolf Pack (2-2). Colby Cornelius threw three touchdown passes for Hickory Ridge.
Marvin Ridge 35, Ashbrook 33: The host Mavericks prevailed in this thrilling battle of unbeatens. Ashbrook trailed 35-21 early in the fourth quarter, but the Green Wave (3-1) scored on a pair of runs, missing two-point conversions each time.
Marvin Ridge (4-0) then ran out the clock for the victory. Levi Kerr threw five touchdown passes for the Mavericks, including a 62-yarder to Cal Voss.
Myers Park 28, Mallard Creek 25: The host Mustangs (2-2) scored a come-from-behind victory, rallying from a 25-10 deficit in the third quarter.
Mallard Creek led 25-16 in the fourth quarter and drove to the Myers Park 30, aiming for a clinching touchdown. But the Mavericks were stopped on fourth down. Myers Park then scored on an 11-yard pass from Ramir Watson to Tate Recchia. Mallard Creek blocked the conversion kick and led 25-22 with 4:46 left.
On Mallard Creek’s next possession, a Maverick pass was picked off by Calvin Daniels and returned 24 yards for a touchdown. Once again, the conversion kick was blocked, and Myers Park led 28-25.
Mallard Creek quarterback Cailen Napier then completed a 60-yard pass to the Myers Park 5. After failing to get the touchdown, the Mavericks went for a tying field goal, but the kick was wide-left.
North Mecklenburg 28, East Mecklenburg 7: The visiting Vikings (2-2) broke a 7-all tie with three fourth-quarter touchdowns. The Eagles (2-2) drove deep into North Mecklenburg territory without scoring twice in the second quarter.
Providence Day 49, Butler 7: The Chargers (3-1), beaten 30-3 last week at Hough, raced to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter and never looked back. Providence Day expanded its lead to 28-7 at halftime and added three second-half scores. Butler fell to 2-2.
Shelby 64, West Lincoln 13: The Golden Lions (3-1, 2-0) rolled to a Southern Piedmont 2A/3A/4A victory, as Jonas Woods ran for three touchdowns. Immanuel Collins got Shelby going with an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the game’s opening play.
Weddington 35, Crest 21: Brayden Colandra ran for a pair of key third-quarter touchdowns, and the host Warriors (4-0) won this battle of unbeatens. Weddington’s Owen Melton caught a pair of first-quarter touchdown passes, and the Warriors expanded their lead to 21-7 on a Josiah Hill touchdown catch.
But Crest cut the deficit to 21-14 shortly before the half on a 45-yard touchdown reception by Mari Brown.
Colandra scored on runs of 41 and 5 yards in the third quarter, giving the Warriors a 35-14 lead. Brock Melton caught a 65-yard touchdown pass to give Crest (3-1) its final score.
West Charlotte 36, West Mecklenburg 0: Emory McClain Jr. scored on runs of 9 and 2 yards in the first half, and the Lions (3-1) rolled to their third straight victory. Devareus Hill threw touchdown passes to Zaron Watkins and Jachai Rankin, and Amir Hamilton ran for the other West Charlotte touchdown.
West Mecklenburg is winless in four games.
