Not the game you were expecting? Vance, Richmond Senior set up NC 4AA regional final.
All season, it seemed as though a Myers Park-Mallard Creek N.C. 4AA regional championship game was coming.
It was the game many high school fans told me they wanted to see most.
Myers Park and Mallard Creek were the highest ranked teams in the national polls, both in the top 60, and they spent almost the entire season sitting at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the Charlotte Observer’s Sweet 16 poll. Both teams were full of elite talent and it just seemed as though nothing could stop these two freight trains from colliding.
But next week, we’ll get one heckuva N.C. 4AA Western Regional championship game, and it won’t involve either team.
Vance took out Mallard Creek last week, and Friday night, Richmond Senior used a daring man-to-man defensive scheme to beat Myers Park 35-32.
The same night, Vance dominated West Forsyth 35-7 in Forsyth County.
So that sets up a pretty tasty regional championship next week in Rockingham.
It’s just not the one we were expecting.
It’ll be Vance going for back-to-back state championship appearances and Richmond going for its first one since 2008. And it’ll be worth the drive up to Rockingham to see.
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Friday’s high school basketball scores, videos, top performers, schedule
Friday’s NC/SC scores, how the Sweet 16 fared, next week’s schedule
Richmond Senior stuns Myers Park in regional semis
Vance dominates West Forsyth to advance to regional final
Charlotte Catholic one win away from another state final appearance
3 Quick Thoughts (plus 2)
1. Next Friday, Cleveland County gets a big game of its own. Lawndale Burns, the No. 6 seed in the 2AA West playoffs, has advanced to the finals to face No. 1 seed Shelby.
It’s a rematch of Shelby’s 26-13 win over its county rival at home Oct. 18. Since then, Burns has won five straight by an average of 49-15. Shelby has only lost to 3A Kings Mountain, another Cleveland County team, and the Golden Lions have won eight in a row. The average margin of victory in those games is 50-9.
Shelby and Burns haven’t met in the playoffs since 1988, when Shelby won a 3A game 28-0. So I’m pretty sure this one will be sold out early.
2. Richmond Senior challenged Myers Park’s elite passing game with a version of a man-to-man defense. Richmond chose to try to pressure Myers Park QB Drake Maye, whom the Raiders sacked four times, and guard the Mustangs elite receiving corps -- including Muhsin Muhammad (Texas A&M recruit) and Porter Rooks (N.C. State) -- basically with one defender each, and little extra help.
That’s a risky proposition.
But the strategy worked. After the Mustangs jumped out to a 21-7 lead, Myers Park struggled offensively, beyond Maye’s 46-yard pass to Jordan Bly late in the fourth quarter, when Richmond briefly abandoned its defensive approach. Not too many teams would try that with Myers Park’s receivers, but the gamble worked.
3. If Vance reaches the state final, going through Mallard Creek, West Forsyth and Richmond Senior -- all on the road -- will be a tremendous feat. Richmond is the No. 1 seed in the West. Mallard Creek and West Forsyth were No. 2 and 3.
And considering the Cougars are doing this not too far removed from an embarrassing 42-28 loss to Hough on Nov. 8, it’s extra impressive. That loss dropped Vance to a No. 10 overall seed, and set up this tough playoff journey. But the Cougars’ defense has rebounded from the Hough game and allowed just 14 points in three postseason games.
▪ Remember when Charlotte Catholic lost 45-0 to Weddington on Oct. 4? Catholic was 2-3, had lost its best running back to transfer (to Gastonia Huss) and was having trouble scoring.
Since then, Catholic has rediscovered itself and run off eight straight wins. Credit Mike Brodowicz and the Catholic coaching staff for figuring out a way to fix things.
Next week, the Cougars will host Kings Mountain -- a third Cleveland County team in a regional final -- to try to reach a third straight N.C. 3A state championship. Catholic has won the past two.
▪ Weddington’s postseason run, and season, has been nothing short of dominant. The Warriors beat Northwest Cabarrus 49-7 in a N.C. 3AA quarterfinal Friday and it felt like a lot of Weddington wins this season.
Weddington is beating teams 44-5 this season and will host Boone Watauga in next week’s regional championship game.
If Weddington is able to win a state title, its second in a row, you have to start thinking about the Warriors’ place in 3A history, alongside such teams as three-peat state champs from Rockingham (1962-64) and Sanford (1966-68) and West Rowan (2008-10) and Northern Guilford (2010-12) and Havelock (2011-13).
We’ve just not seen too many class 3A teams be this dominant, and with a roster full of underclassmen, including 5-star recruit Will Shipley, Weddington will be a 2020 state title favorite, too.
Friday’s #BIG5 Top Performers
Jakolbe Baldwin, Richmond Senior: Caught five passes for 122 yards against Myers Park.
Caleb Hood, Richmond Senior: completed 12 of 26 passes for 206 yards and ran for 110 yards and four touchdowns on 10 carries in the Myers Park win. He went over 3,000 total yards this season.
Marqui Lowery, Vance: intercepted two passes in a 35-7 win that sent Vance to its second straight N.C. 4AA Western Regional championship game.
Cam’Ron Sweezy, Lawndale Burns: scored a 10-yard touchdown on his team’s first play in overtime to beat North Lincoln 30-24. Sweezy finished 5 of 11 passing for 229 yards and two touchdowns.
Salisbury defense: Hornets got eight stops against Hertford in the first half of a 12-7 win. Hertford was averaging more than 40 points per game. Salisbury drove nearly 250 miles to advance to the regional final. The Hornets are the first Rowan County to reach the regional round in seven years.
This story was originally published November 30, 2019 at 3:14 AM.
