Saturday’s Observations: The Bell stays with Kannapolis. Brown 4-peats over Concord
Back when he was hired as football coach at Kannapolis Brown in 2011, Mike Newsome -- a two-time state champion from Butler High -- said he had two jobs:
No. 1? Compete annually for conference and state championships.
No. 2? Beat Concord.
Concord and AL Brown’s annual “Battle for the Bell” is the oldest and perhaps most storied rivalry in the Carolinas. It’s the talk of both communities for almost 12 months a year. It delivers a standing room only crowd, bragging rights and the ability to paint that bell in your school’s colors and cherish it for a year.
And Newsome won his first Bell game, beating Concord 31-26 in 2011. But then he lost the next three. He said that wasn’t too much fun.
Flash forward to Saturday’s 54-35 win and Newsome’s team has now won four straight games in the series. While this hasn’t been the year the Wonders have wanted -- they are 6-5 and 3-3 in the South Piedmont 3A, three games out of first -- this win still had to feel really good.
First-year Concord coach Marty Paxton’s team fell to 1-10. It is the fewest wins at Concord since 1957.
Saturday’s game was postponed from Friday after some heavy rains came into the area. Brown led 26-15 at halftime and ran out to a 47-21 lead in the second half.
Northwest Cabarrus 33, Cox Mill 30 OT: After Cox Mill kicked a field goal in overtime, Northwest Cabarrus QB Sam Walker threw the game- and South Piedmont 3A championship-winning pass to Cam Saunders. Northwest Cabarrus tied the school-record for wins set in 1976.
Richmond Senior 23, Scotland County 8: Scotland County led 8-7 after the first quarter and at halftime bidding for a big upset in the annual rivalry game. But Richmond got a field goal in the third quarter to get the lead and two touchdowns in the fourth to put the game away. Shyheam McQueen ran for 195 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries for Scotland. Richmond got 102 yards rushing from QB Caleb Hood and 118 yards and two touchdowns from tailback Jahiem Covington.
Bandys 30, North Lincoln 29: Ethan Howard scored a 6-yard touchdown with 3:35 to play to give Bandys the win and the South Fork conference champonship. Howard ran 29 times for 198 yards and three touchdowns for Bandys (10-1, 7-0). North Lincoln fell to 8-3, 6-1.