From staff reports
Salisbury’s boys soccer team established itself as the clear-cut favorite in the CCC with a 4-1 win against West Davidson on Thursday in Tyro.
“It was much tougher than the score sounds,” said SHS coach Matt Parrish, after his team managed to cling to a precarious 2-1 advantage for about 40 minutes. “They’re our biggest rival in this league and they were definitely ready to play us.”
Kenny Bonilla scored from 30 yards out in the 12th minute after taking a pass from Zachary Sukkasem, but the Hornets (11-0-1, 3-0) lost Bonilla’s services for the remainder of the match not longer after that.
Bonilla got the worst of a head-to-head collison, then protested too strongly after he was called for a foul moments later. Bonilla was booked for back-to-back yellow cards in rapid succession and had to exit.
“Kenny didn’t use any profanity, but he dissented, said something like, ‘Come on!’,” Parrish explained. “It was some real adversity for us to lose our best player so early.”
Emmy Turcios punched in a goal that gave the third-ranked Hornets a 2-0 lead.
“That was a confidence-builder, putting one in without Kenny,” Parrish said.
Physical West Davidson scored the next goal and controlled play for a long period on a small field that negated much of the Hornets’ speed. Finally, Bobby Cardelle scored the backbreaking goal on his redirection of a West Davidson pass.
“It looked almost accidental, but it was a brilliant misdirection,” Parrish said. “He definitely meant to do it. It’s something we work on.”
The Hornets tacked on a goal in the final minute. West Davidson’s keeper made a fine save of Sukkasem’s penalty kick, but Cardelle knocked in the rebound.
Parrish gave a lot of credit to Michael Brown, a freshman, and sophomore Clint Comadoll for stepping up in Bonilla’s absence. B.J. Woods was a rock in the midfield.
On Tuesday, Cardelle, Sukkasem, Bonilla and Brown had goals in a 4-0 CCC win against Lexington. Sukkasem, Cardelle and Woods registered assists.
Jayvee football
Salisbury’s unbeaten jayvee football team pounded West Davidson 44-0 on Thursday night at Ludwig Stadium. The Hornets (5-0) won their 10th game in a row dating back to last season and own 24 consecutive CCC victories.
Isaiah Little had a big game upfront and Jeremiah Billingslea picked off a pass to lead the defense. QB Riley Myers ran for two TDs and threw for another to lead the offense.
Stephen Mazur’s 30-yard field goal opened the scoring. After Myers scored on a 22-yard run for a 10-0 lead, a host of Hornets that included Little, Desmond Millsaps and Michael Dyson tacked on a safety.
A.J. Hill’s 2-yard scoring run made it 18-0 at halftime.
Hill scored on a 42-yard pass from Myers, and Myers scored from 12 yards out. Salisbury’s final two scores came on a 3-yard run by Roy Vinson and an 8-yarder by Rayvon Coleman.
Salisbury plans to make up a postponed contest at Carson at 7 p.m. on Monday.
E.J. Dean rushed for 90 yards and scored five TDs to lead A.L. Brown to a 35-22 win against Cox Mill.
Malik Fowler carried seven times for 125 yards, including a 66-yard dash that sealed the game.
The Wonders (6-0) rushed for 240 yards and QB Andrew Ramirez completed three passes for 52 yards.
South Rowan defeated North Iredell 22-6.
Prep volleyball
Salisbury’s varsity volleyball team was swept by West Davidson in CCC play on Thursday.
The Hornets are 3-3 in the CCC.
Salisbury’s jayvees beat West Davidson 2-1 to improve to 8-2.
Prep tennis
North Rowan beat North Moore 7-2 on Thursday. See Scoreboard.
Prep cross country
Six NPC schools competed in a 5K cross country meet at Statesville on Wednesday. Carson’s boys finished 1-2-3-4 and won with a score of 18.
Jacob Fink was the pacesetter in 18:47.14. Kyle Gillis (18:47.41) was right behind him, and Chase Johnson (19:14) and Nathan McMasters (19:15) crossed the line next. The other scorer for the Cougars was Nick Thornton (8th, 19:47).
Carson’s John Patella, Chris York, Ryan Craft and Will Holshouser also finished in the top 20.
South Rowan placed second with a score of 44. Alex Reed (6th, 19:37), Trevor Sides (7th, 19:46), Jonathan Ruiz (9th, 20:09), Angel Ruiz (10th, 20:13) and Karl Benz (12th, 20:16) led the Raiders.
West Rowan was third. Todd Gabriel (5th, 19:23) led the Falcons. Scorers included Cody McNeely (13th, 20:20), Alex Freeze (20th, 21:08), Ben Wilson (30th, 21:47) and Nicholas Waldo (33rd, 22:01).
Middle school soccer
Sacred Heart’s soccer team wrapped up the conference championship on Thursday with a 4-0 win against Hickory Christian, the defending champions.
The Dolphins (9-0) got into their stride very early.
A nice solo run from Ceci Cardelle, who converted a 20-yard shot, gave the Dolphins a 1-0 lead.
Justin Boyd cashed in a 30-yard free kick and striker Arun Kelly-Rajan scored on an assist by Annie Habeeb. Kelly-Rajan set up Habeeb for the Dolphins’ final goal.
“It was great for the players to win the conference,” coach Daniel Scullion said. “They deserved it. As a coach, I was lucky to be handed a great bunch of players from great families in a great school.”
Middle school softball
Schrade Daniel and Casey Ward had two hits each in Erwin’s 19-0 softball victory against North Rowan on Wednesday.
Avery Wright, Meagan Kepley and Alyssa Potts also had hits.
Madison Hunter and Ward did the pitching for the Eagles (8-2).
Lauren Wilsey made a nice catch to end the game.
Middle school football
North Rowan’s 8th-graders overcame an early 16-0 deficit and edged China Grove 20-16 on Wednesday.
C.J. Sorles caught a TD pass from Xavier Partee to cut the deficit to 16-6 at halftime. Partee’s 25-yard scoring pass to Josh Handy made it 16-12 in the third quarter.
Late in the game, Handy caught a deflected pass for a 35-yard gain. That set up a 4-yard TD run by Partee that put North on top. Trey Stoner passed to Partee for a two-point conversion.
Tyler Honeycutt’s pass interception sealed the win for the Mavericks.
Jake Pritchard, Zeth Robinson, Jaylen Brown, Omari Robinson, Maddox McCloud and Micah Howell led the Mavericks defensively.
North is home against Corriher-Lipe on Wednesday.
West Rowan’s 8th-graders rolled 30-0 against Southeast on Wednesday.
Kreshon Alexander scored on a 37-yard run, ran for two two-point conversions, threw a 70-yard scoring pass to Juwan Houston and intercepted a pass to lead the Bulldogs.
Dearius Phillips had TD runs of 2 and 24 yards. Noah Williams ran for a two-point conversion.
West scored on four of six offensive series behind a line led by Caleb Epps, Carter Gannon, Sam Kennedy, Shane Barber, Hezekiah Banks and Wyatt Martin.
West (3-1) posted its third shutout. Jonathan Johnson, Dagan Williams, Wade Phillips, Dearius Phillips, Pedro Nichols, Jalyn Cagle and Amara Morris were defensive standouts.
West hosts China Grove on Wednesday.
Local golf
The Corbin Hills Ladies competed in their annual two-day Judy Cristman Fall Club Championship Golf Tournament.
The winner of the championship flight was Kristi Laton. Phyllis Durland was second. Beth Calhoun was third.
Mary Seaford won the first flight, with second going to Ruth Bowles and third to Treva Honeycutt.
Winner of the second flight was Joan Havill, with Shirley Baucom second and Sheryl Johnson third.
Jo Shaw won the ladies “point” even at Country Club of Salisbury with 35 points. Kim Bost was second with 32 points. Jayne Hubbard was third with 25.
East boosters
The East Rowan Booster Club will meet Monday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m. in the East Rowan library.
Catawba athletics
Catawba’s women’s soccer coaches announced schedule changes.
The postponed Wingate match will be played on Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.
Catawba’s teams beat Belmont Abbey on Thursday at Johnson Tennis Center.The Catawba men (2-0) rolled 8-1, losing only at No. 1 singles, while the Catawba women (1-1) won 7-2 against the Crusaders.
Steffi Cook earned her 56th career singles win, setting a new school mark for career singles victories.
Catawba’s men’s soccer team lost 3-0 at Wingate. Evan Harvey made three saves for the Indians (3-6, 0-2 SAC), but Zack Machuca scored twice for the Bulldogs (3-5, 1-1).
College volleyball
Breckin Settlemyer (Carson) had six kills as Catawba Valley Community College (9-3) swept Piedmont Baptist on Thursday.