Friday’s games …
SALISBURY — Isaiah Foxx’s 76-yard touchdown pass to DJ Jeter lifted Salisbury to an 18-17 win against East Rowan in a South Piedmont Conference game.
It was a happy homecoming for the Hornets (1-5, 1-2), who pulled out their first victory.
Salisbury scored first on a 17-yard run by Foxx, but the Hornets missed the PAT.
East (2-4, 0-3) took a 7-6 lead when Ashur Tesh crashed into the end zone from the 1 with 7:40 left in the second quarter, and Jett Conner added the PAT.
After an interception by Foxx, Khyre Sellers scored a rushing TD for a 12-7 halftime lead for the Hornets.
After a scoreless third quarter, Kevin Gillespie’s interception set up another 1-yard TD by Tesh with 5:49 left in the game. East tacked on a 2-point conversion run by Jaxon Lyons to lead 15-12.
Foxx connected on the long scoring play with Geter with 3:54 remaining for an 18-15 lead.
Geter made an interception to stop the Mustangs with 1:57 left on the clock.
East scored a safety when a punt snap went over the head of Salisbury punter Samuel Fatovic to make it 18-17. Fatovic made a smart play to kick the ball through the end zone.
After the safety, East got the ball for one last chance, but after one completion, Salisbury’s defense held.
Lyons was the workhorse for the Mustangs, with 176 rushing yards on 22 carries.
Foxx accounted for 246 yards for the Hornets, rushing and passing, while Jeter had five catches for 139 yards.
Collin Hensley made 12 tackles for East, while Tesh had 10 stops and forced a fumble. Keaton Ware made a fumble recovery. Jayden Peters and Darrell Shrewsbury had sacks.
Next for Salisbury is Northwest Cabarrus. East will take on West Rowan.
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KANNAPOLIS — A.L. Brown beat Olympic 38-21 in a game that included back-to-back kickoff return touchdowns.
When the Wonders took a 21-0 lead, Ahmir Boulware returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a Trojan touchdown, but Ashton Chavis responded with a a kick return TD of his own for the undefeated Wonders. A.L. Brown is enjoying its best start since 2015.
AJ Settles ran for a touchdown and threw a TD pass. He passed for 116 yards.
Lemar Grier rushed 20 times for 114 yards and two scores.
Morgan Burgess kicked a field goal and five PATs.
Dhilyn Hollis made 10 tackles for the Wonders, whiel Devonar Muskelly made nine. Jaylin Mobley had four tackles for loss.
Kenyan White had two rushing TDs for Olympic (3-3, 2-1) in the Greater Metro Conference game.
Central Cabarrus is next for the Wonders.
• • •
CHINA GROVE — Northwest Cabarrus won 21-7 against Carson in a South Piedmont Conference game that included a bizarre ending.
Northwest led 14-0 at halftime. The Cougars (3-3, 1-2) got back to 14-7 with a third-quarter TD run by Rosean Perkins.
When Northwest scored for a 21-7 lead in the fourth quarter, the Trojans had approximately a 95-percent win probability, but stranger things have happened in high school football, and the win probability certainly wasn’t 100 percent.
As Carson AD Josh Trexler explained it, the scoreboard malfunctioned at that point. Northwest scored for that two-TD lead with 6:47 remaining, but the clock was showing only 2:15 left when Northwest lined up to kick off.
Carson obviously noticed the technical glitch and the disappearance of over 4 minutes of precious time and brought the discrepancy to the attention of officials. Time was not being kept on the field. There were long conferences and discussions.
The game was being filmed and Trexler said film clearly showed 6:47 to be the correct time, but the officiating crew did not concur.
Informed that the game would be restarted with under 3 minutes on the clock, Trexler was convinced it was an incorrect ruling and informed officials that Carson would simply take a knee in protest rather than finish a “bogus” game.
Officials responded by telling Trexler that, if that was the case, the game was over, and officials sprinted from the field.
Perkins carried 25 times for 132 yards for the Cougars. Laden Montieth had 61 rushing yards, but Carson’s offense lacked some of its usual firepower without injured QB Colin Masingo.
Carson had 5 passing yards.
Carson’s defense played well, limiting Hudson Irwin to 116 passing yards. Sometimes, he gets 300. Irwin threw a TD pass to Matthias Woolfolk and he was intercepted by Carson’s Korbin Childers, a play that led to Carson’s only score.
Braxton Bashaw had two rushing TDs for Northwest (5-1, 3-0), which stayed tied for first with Robinson and West Rowan in the SPC. Linebacker Josiah Mitchell had two sacks for the Trojans.
Carson takes on Concord next, while Northwest battles Salisbury.
• • •
SPENCER — North Rowan hammered South Stanly 41-0 for another Yadkin Valley Conference win.
“Not our best offensive night,” North head coach Josh Sophia said. “But we were really good on defense.”
North (5-1, 3-0) led 20-0 at the half against the struggling Bulls (1-5, 0-3). North senior KeKe Carpenter was crowned Homecoming King.
Mike Alford threw a touchdown pass to Khi Walker to open the scoring. Alford scored on a keeper for a 14-0 lead in the second quarter.
Cam Hickerson had a fumble return TD to make it 20-0 at the half.
Alford found Walker again, for a 35-yard touchdown to push the lead to 27-0.
Dyaon Norman-Jackson’s 71-yard punt return TD made it 34-0. Brandon Clodfelter got North’s last touchdown on a 12-yard run.
Jonathan Lopez Saucedo kicked five PATs for the Cavaliers.
Alford was 10-for-16 passing for 184 yards. He was intercepted once.
Walker caught both of Alford’s TD passes and had six receptions for 87 yards. Norman-Jackson had 97 yards on four catches.
Clodfelter had 80 rushing yards on 13 carries.
North was scheduled to play Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy next, but TJCA has folded the program for this season, so that will be a YVC win for the Cavaliers.
