High school football roundup: Hornets, Cavs, Falcons, Wonders get wins
Published 2:03 am Saturday, October 15, 2022
From staff reports
Friday’s games …
SALISBURY — JyMikaah Wells scored five touchdowns on Senior Night as Salisbury blew out Lexington 48-6 to stay unbeaten in the Central Carolina Conference.
Wells had four short scoring runs as well as a 40-yard gallop. He boosted his season total to 22 touchdowns and his career total to a school-record 71.
Despite the lopsided final score and a running-clock finish, it was a tough ballgame in the first half. The shorthanded Yellow Jackets, coached by former Catawba DB Charles Morman, came to play at Ludwig Stadium, and the Hornets surprisingly led only 20-6 at the break.
Lexington (2-6, 2-2) was able to possess the ball quite a bit in the first half and used enough clock and made enough first downs to stay close. Quick and elusive QB Ty’Zavion Williams provided most of the excitement for Lexington. On a scramble, he found NaQuel Wood for the Yellow Jackets’ touchdown.
Salisbury was handed two gift TDs in the first half by bad snaps on Lexington punting attempts. The Hornets started one mini-drive at the Lexington 19 — Deuce Walker caught a fourth-down slant from Mike Geter to finish it — and another at the Lexington 4.
In between those two short-field scores, Salisbury had to work harder for a touchdown. The key play was a Geter to Walker pass for a gain of 58 yards.
Geter left the game in the third quarter with an apparent ankle injury of unknown severity. Receiver/kicker Hank Webb is Salisbury’s backup quarterback. He had a solid passing night, but his task was mostly handing off.
In the second half, Salisbury’s defense got sacks from Dashawn Brown and Anthony Dodd and dominated. Lexington’s offense became a parade of three-and-outs. Lexington, physically worn down, had only a handful of positive plays after halftime.
Salisbury also got rolling when it had the ball. Mostly, the Hornets, who have won eight in a row, fed Wells, and he started racking up the yards behind a more aggressive offensive line. Wells had 25 rushing yards at halftime, but he finished the game with 157.
Jalen Chunn’s 66-yard punt return finished the scoring for the Hornets.
Geter and Webb combined for 204 passing yards. Walker had six catches for 117 yards.
Webb had quite a night, with two catches for 28 yards, 5-for-6 completions for 72 yards and 6-for-7 on PATs. He also handles punting and kickoff duties.
Williams accounted for 103 yards (combined rushing and passing) for the Yellow Jackets, who had their modest, two-game winning streak snapped.
Salisbury (8-1, 5-0) is off next week and returns to action against North Rowan to close the regular season.
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West Rowan 36, Central Cabarrus 12
CONCORD — Lucas Graham ran for a touchdown and threw two touchdown passes to Evan Kennedy as West Rowan won at Central Cabarrus.
Kayvone Norman contributed a rushing touchdown for the Falcons (6-2, 3-1) and Lee Vaughters had a pick-six that helped sink the Vikings (3-5, 2-2).
Graham was picked off twice. He completed 10 passes for 152 yards.
Graham and Landon Jacobs had 2-point conversion runs.
With Jacobs healthy and serving as the primary ballcarrier, West has moved Kennedy back to slot receiver. He was a tough matchup and supplied most of the Falcons’ receiving yards.
Jacobs rushed 28 times for 126 yards. Norman also had his moments, including his snow-plow touchdown in the second quarter. Norman appeared to be stopped at the 5, but he wouldn’t go down, and West’s offensive line drove him into the end zone.
Norman also made the reception out of the backfield that set up Graham’s quarterback sneak touchdown that finished the scoring for the Falcons.
West led the South Piedmont Conference game 21-6 at halftime behind a stout defensive effort against a pass-heavy Central squad and took a 28-6 edge to the fourth quarter.
The Falcons finish the regular season with home games against Concord and East Rowan.
Concord lost 26-22 to Northwest Cabarrus, as the Trojans stayed on top in the SPC.
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North Rowan 50, West Davidson 3
TYRO — North Rowan had no trouble getting back on track at West Davidson.
The Cavaliers led 28-0 at half and were able to pull away, achieving the 42-point separation needed for a running clock early in the fourth quarter.
Jeremiah Alford had a touchdown run and a pair of 2-point conversions and threw three touchdown passes for the Cavaliers (5-3, 2-2), who emphatically ended a two-game losing skid.
Amari McArthur had two TD catches, one to open the scoring and another in the third quarter. Kemon O’Kelly had a touchdown catch in the final minute of the first half.
Jaemias Morrow scored three touchdowns. He had scoring runs of 5 and 49 yards and had a pick-six that gave North a 14-3 lead.
West Davidson (2-6, 0-4) made a first-quarter field goal to cut North’s lead to 7-3, but the Cavs kept the Green Dragons out of the end zone all night.
North finishes the regular season against an improving Lexington squad and CCC front-runner Salisbury.
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A.L. Brown 28, South Iredell 0
TROUTMAN — CJ Gray threw three touchdown passes in the first half, and the Wonders’ defense shackled the Vikings.
Elijah Lawson got the Wonders’ first TD on the ground late in the first quarter.
Gray’s 33-yard touchdown pass to Chris Hopper made it 14-0. Then Gray connected with Xavier Chambers for scores from 15 and 44 yards.
The win should propel the Wonders (5-3, 2-3) into the 4A playoffs. The Vikings dropped to 4-4 and 1-3 in the Greater Metro Conference.
The Wonders finish GMC play against front-runner Mooresville before taking on Concord non-conference to close the regular season.
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West Forsyth 34, Davie 31
CLEMMONS — Caman Chaplin capped a monster night with a scoring run with 33 seconds left to lift the Titans (3-5, 3-2) over Davie.
Chaplin rushed 38 times for 357 yards in the Central Piedmont Conference game.
Davie QB Ty Miller had a huge first half as the War Eagles (2-6, 1-4) took a 24-21 halftime lead.
Miller finished with 324 passing yards, but Davie dropped its fourth game in a row.
Markell Summers had 104 rushing yards for Davie. Evan York and Brodie Smith topped 100 receiving yards.
Davie’s strength of schedule — the War Eagles played Mooresville and West Rowan, in addition to their CPC battles — still has the War Eagles in the playoff hunt.
Davie finishes up with Parkland and Glenn.
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Mooresville 54, West Cabarrus 7
MOORESVILLE – The Blue Devils demolished West Cabarrus at Joe Popp Stadium to stay unbeaten in the Greater Metro Conference.
Mooresville (7-1, 4-0) celebrated homecoming and got three touchdowns from Jawarn Howell.
The Wolverines (0-8, 0-5) haven’t won this season.