By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
Area athletes update …
A very quiet night for Virginia back K.P. Parks (West Rowan) transformed into a loud celebration.
Parks was limited to just 28 yards at Florida State, but he scored a game-tying TD on a 10-yard run with 1:16 remaining. The PAT gave the Cavaliers a 14-13 lead, and they survived a late missed field goal by the Seminoles and a turbulent finish.
It was the first time Virginia ever has won in Tallahassee. The Cavaliers (8-3) have taken four straight games and can still win a division title in the ACC if they can beat Virginia Tech.
n Shaun Warren (Carson) had his best game in a while, rushing 12 times for 56 yards in Western Carolina’s loss to Coastal Carolina.
Warren wrapped his freshman season with a team-high 454 rushing yards and five TDs.
nChris Smith (West) contributed two tackles in Arkansas’ romp against Mississippi State.
Fortunately, neither came against Mississippi State receiver Chris Smith. That might have caused some confusion.
nIke Whitaker (Salisbury) earned All-SAC second team honors for his fine season at Lenoir-Rhyne. Whitaker rushed for 815 yards and six TDs.
nTristan Dorty (West) got banged up late in the contest, but he helped Wake Forest whip Maryland 31-10.
A starting defensive end, Dorty enjoyed a solid Senior Night. He racked up five tackles.
Wake won its sixth game and is bowl eligible.
nJamill Lott (A.L. Brown) made three tackles and Gordy Witte Jr. (Salisbury) shared a sack, as Appalachian State made an unbelievable comeback Saturday after spotting Elon 21 points. The Mountaineers haven’t made a bigger comeback in the last 40 years.
n Emory & Henry’s Matt Turchin (West) tied the school record when he kicked three field goals in last week’s win against Guilford.
Men’s basketball
Alex Weant (Salisbury) had a nice college debut for Roanoke on Saturday.
The Maroons lost to Emory, but Weant made both his field-goal attempts and scored six points in nine minutes of action.
n Sophomore Darius Moose (Carson) is becoming one of the standouts for struggling Brevard (0-5).
Moose scored 14 points and went 6-for-6 at the foul line in a 100-78 loss to Mount Olive on Friday.
On Saturday, Moose had 12 efficient points and six rebounds in a lopsided loss to Barton. Moose again shot 6-for-6 on free throws.
nK.J. Sherrill (West) had a good offensive game for Charlotte on Saturday, even though the 49ers were beaten handily by Lamar. Sherrill got a starting assignment, played 24 minutes and scored 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting.
The bad news is he had only two rebounds, and the 49ers got destroyed on the boards.
Women’s basketball
Charlotte freshman Ayanna Holmes (Salisbury) was in the starting lineup and produced 11 points, four assists and three rebounds in 23 stout minutes in a blowout win against Elon.
n Freshman Ayana Avery (West) poured in 10 quick points off the bench for Radford in an easy romp against USC Upstate. Avery shot 4-for-8 and drilled two 3-pointers.
n Gardner-Webb’s Jessica Heilig had five points and four rebounds in 21 minutes in a 69-41 loss to App. State.
Heilig’s early free throw put the Bulldogs up 1-0, but it’s the only time they led.
nRashonda Mayfield (West) started the season red-hot for Voorhees with 35 points in two games.
She’s cooled off lately, but she still had 16 3-pointers in her first seven games.
Cross country
Southern Wesleyan’s Sierra Zemanick (Carson) was clocked in 21:23 in the NAIA Nationals held in Vancouver, Wash.
Baseball
Corbin Shive (East Rowan) was one of the standouts of Charlotte’s fall Niner World Series. Shive had a dominant relief outing in which he fanned five in two scoreless innings.
n Noah Holmes (East) and Preston Troutman (East) were among the top performers for Appalachian State in fall scrimmages that concluded with the Black vs. Gold World Series.
Troutman had a two-run triple in the World Series.