Monday’s Observations: Rocky River rolls; huge brawl stops E. Meck-Hickory Ridge game
Rocky River High football coach Orlando Gray describes his team’s 2018 season as a little like riding a rollercoaster.
“It’s been,” he said, “kind of up and down.”
The Ravens won their first two games.
Then they lost their next four.
But after Monday’s 37-14 win over Mint Hill rival Independence, the Ravens have won two of their last three games and feel they are in position for a playoff berth.
Rocky RIver (4-5, 2-3) is tied with Independence (5-4, 2-3) for fifth place in the Southwestern 4A. The Ravens have games coming up with Garinger (2-8, 1-5) Nov. 2 and East Mecklenburg (1-8, 0-5) Nov. 9.
Gray feels strongly that if his Ravens can win those two games, they’ll make the small 4A playoffs begining Nov. 16.
“Right now,” he said, “the way the (playoff) projections look, if we can finish 6-5, we can get a first round game at home, and we’re hoping we can finish strong and get a playoff game at home and see what happens. We feel good about the small 4A and it’s just a matter of getting in the playoffs.”
A big key to that playoff push will be on defense, Gray said.
Rocky River got eight tackles, two interceptions Monday from Brian Grier, who returned one interception for a touchdown. Reigning Southwestern 4A defensive player of the year Jaylon Sharpe had nine tackles and a sack. Sharpe has visited Appalachian State and Old Dominion, Gray said, and plans to take visits to East Carolina and Marshall.
But there’s one other visit Gray and Sharpe want to take: a visit to the playoffs.
And after Monday’s big win, Gray thinks his team’s up and down season is going to pay postseason dividends.
“We went through that four-game stretch where we played some really good teams,” he said. “I thought we had a chance to come out of that at least 2-2....We have kids that are finally starting to get comfortable. We’re a good team. It’s just a matter of finishing games.
Brawl stops East Meck-Hickory RIdge in the third quarter
A big fight forced officials to stop Monday’s Harrisburg Hickory Ridge at East Mecklenburg game with three minutes left in the third quarter.
Hickory Ridge won 41-7 on East Meck’s homecoming.
A player from Hickory Ridge, who formerly attended East Mecklenburg, made a tackle near the East Mecklenburg bench, according to Hickory Ridge coach Sam Greiner. Greiner said the momentum of the play carried both players into the East Meck sidelines.
According to officials from both schools, the players then got tangled up as they attempted to separate. Greiner said his player was carried towards the East Meck student section.
The Hickory Ridge players on the field came over to get their player and a fight broke out.
Officials did not suspend anyone Monday, though East Meck officials said they planned to review the film on Tuesday. If suspensions are handed down, those players would miss games on Friday.
East Meck plays at Butler. Hickory Ridge plays Indian Trail Porter Ridge at home.
“It’s an unfortunate situation,” Hickory Ridge coach Sam Greiner. “There’s no suspensions right now. The officials don’t know who to (give them to). It’s just an unfortunate situation where you had a kid make a great play on the sideline and gets escorted to the student section. Game officials need to be able to handle that.”
Greiner said the incident went on for a few minutes. Eventually when order was restored, Greiner said he and East Meck coach Robert Forshee shook hands and Hickory Ridge went to its bus and left.
The teams did not shake hands, Greiner said. Forshee didn’t return calls from the Observer.
“I thought the officials did a good job of saying, it’s their homecoming and things ain’t going as planned and they’re a little frustrated as well. It was best the officials called the game. It was a good time to stop it. We don’t want to get their kids hurt and we don’t want to get our kids hurt. We want to go home and play again Friday.”
Elevator
↑Gastonia Highland Tech: beat Monroe’s Union Academy 46-32 to win the second conference game in school history.
Monday’s Top Performers
Hunter Deberardino, Mooresville: 15-of-25 passing for 310 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-6 win over Mooresville. He also ran for a score.
Korey Hailey, Rocky River: Quarterback was 18-of-32 passing for 250 yards and two touchdowns in a 37-14 win over Independence.
Chris Massey, Harrisburg Hickory Ridge: Safety had a dominant game in Monday’s 41-7 win at East Meck. He had a fumble recovery on a kickoff, an interception that he returned 45 yards for a touchdown, plus five tackles, one sack and two tackles for a loss. For the season, Massey has three defensive touchdowns.
James Maye, Rocky River: four catches for 110 yards and a score in the Independence win. Maye also ran three times for 75 yards.
Lukas Scott, West Stanly: tackled Anson County QB Wesley Lear for a loss on a potential game-winning two-point conversion on the game’s final play Monday. West Stanly won 35-34.
High School Games of the week
A look at the Observer’s high school football games of the week
High School Players of the week
Charlotte Observer Sweet 16: 1 vs 2 matchup on deck
Landon’s big moment
Last week, Newton Foard High beat East Burke 63-14 and the biggest winner was Foard student Landon Scronce. Scronce is battling muscular dystrophy and both schools arranged for Scronce to get into the game on the last play.
Scronce has been the football manager for four years, but is on the roster as a player.
Riding in his wheelchair, Scronce took a handoff from Foard’s quarterback as the crowd chanted Landon’s name. He got the ball and rode to his right, then he went down the sideline and past all of the East Burke players, who began to chase him in jest. One of them dived, as if he were trying to tackle Landon, intentionally missing his target.
Ultimately, Landon scored a 56-yard touchdown, drawing even bigger cheers.
This story was originally published October 29, 2018 at 11:01 PM.