Prep football roundup: South Pointe RB has huge game; W. Charlotte, Monroe, Corvian advance
Defending state champion Weddington and three Mecklenburg County teams — Hough, West Charlotte and Corvian Community — were among area teams advancing in the N.C. High School Athletic Association football playoffs with victories Friday night.
Weddington pounded Northern Guilford in 4A; West Charlotte blasted No. 1 seed Clyde Erwin in 3A: and Corvian Community downed Eastern Randolph in a meeting of 1A unbeatens.
Also advancing from the area were North Lincoln in 3A, and Monroe and Forest Hills in 2A.
Charlotte Catholic and Mooresville fell in 4A, as did Ashbrook (3A) and Community School of Davidson (2A).
But perhaps the biggest news of the night came from a team south of the border. South Pointe’s Mason Pickett-Hicks rushed for 485 yards and six touchdowns in his team’s playoff victory.
Here’s a roundup of all the area games from Friday night:
4A: GRIMSLEY 42, CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC 14
The visiting Cougars gave the Whirlies, the 4A West’s top seed, a battle in the early going. But Grimsley (13-0) overpowered Charlotte Catholic (9-3) behind a strong ground game and the accurate passing of heavily recruited junior quarterback Faizon Brandon.
The Cougars did everything right at the start. They ate up 8 1/2 minutes on their opening drive, scoring on a 30-yard by Jake Anderson for a 7-0 lead.
But Grimsley’s Mitchell Summers raced 57 yards on the Whirlies’ first play from scrimmage, and Brandon scored on a 10-yard run. Brandon capped Grimsley’s next possession with a 12-yard touchdown run, and Summers scored on a 3-yard run late in the first half for a 21-7 lead.
The Cougars fell behind 35-7 but narrowed the gap a bit on a TD run by Williams late in the third quarter. Grimsley answered with a scoring drive that ended with a Brandon-to-D.J. Howardton touchdown pass.
Charlotte Catholic drove to the Grimsley 1 with five minutes left but was stopped.
Summers finished with 164 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Howerton scored three times — twice on runs and once on the pass from Brandon.
The victory sends Grimsley into the 4A quarterfinals next Friday at home against Hough. Those teams will be meeting in the playoffs for the third straight year, with Grimsley winning in both 2022 and 2023.
4A: WEDDINGTON 55, NORTHERN GUILFORD 0
It was no-contest at Weddington, as the second-seeded Warriors (12-0) blanked the Vikings (11-2). Gregory Fee threw four touchdown passes, and Anthony Barrino scored twice.
The Warriors jumped to a 7-0 lead just three minutes into the game on a 7-yard pass from Fee to Anthony Barrino. Northern Guilford then gambled and went for a first down on fourth down from its own 32, but Weddington stopped the visitors.
Two plays later, Nick Diamond ran 21 yards for a touchdown. Aiden Harris and Barrino scored on runs later in the opening quarter.
Weddington added 27 points in the second quarter, on a 15-yard pass from Fee to Kelson Tate; a 27-yard pass from Fee to Max Drakulic; a 55-yard pass from Fee to Brody Anson; and a 26-yard pass from reserve quarterback Walker Powell to Matthew McCoy.
The victory set up a Weddington home game next Friday against third seed East Forsyth.
3A: WEST CHARLOTTE 56, CLYDE ERWIN 0
Erwin was the 3A West’s No. 1 seed, but the visiting Lions looked more the part of a state title contender with a thorough drubbing.
Jamouri Nichols threw three touchdown passes, as West Charlotte built a 36-0 halftime lead. The Lions scored five times on runs, along with Nichols’ touchdown throws.
Clyde Erwin (10-2) had been sacked only once this season, but West Charlotte recorded four sacks Friday night.
The victory set up a quarterfinal game next Friday in Greensboro between West Charlotte and iconic 3A state power Dudley.
1A: CORVIAN COMMUNITY 27, EASTERN RANDOLPH 14
The fifth-seeded Cardinals (13-0) kept rolling along, knocking off the host and fourth-seeded Wildcats (12-1). A.J. Jackson scored on runs of 1 and 30 yards, and Noah Best had a 65-yard touchdown run.
After Eastern Randolph took a 6-0 lead, the Cardinals tied the game on Kelvin Stinson’s 35-yard interception return. They took a 13-6 lead midway in the second quarter on Jackson’s first touchdown run. Best and Jackson scored in the third quarter.
The victory sends Corvian Community next Friday to the perennial powerhouse of 1A football in the western half of the state — top-seeded Mount Airy.
2A: SHELBY 35, COMMUNITY SCHOOL OF DAVIDSON 7
Shelby quarterback Lan Farmer threw two touchdown passes, and the Golden Lion defense shut down the Spartans’ air game in a 2A West game.
Shelby (11-2), the No. 2 seed, took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a 64-yard pass from Farmer to Tyler Morgan and a 3-yard run by Jaylen Tate.
The Golden Lions built the lead to 35-0 in the second half on a Nick Norris run, a short pass from Farmer to J.J. williams, and a short run by Tate.
Community School of Davidson (9-4) got on the board with five minutes remaining, on Oliver Morris’ 1-yard run.
SOUTH POINTE BACK RUNS FOR 485
Mason Pickett-Hicks put together one of South Carolina’s greatest single-game performances, rushing 34 times for 485 yards in his team’s 49-35 victory over Daniel in the 4A playoff quarterfinals.
Pickett-Hicks scored six touchdowns, on runs of 1, 84, 65, 54, 39 and 34 yards. His final touchdown came with 1:13 to play and clinched the victory after Daniel had narrowed the gap to 42-35.
Pickett-Hicks, a South Carolina State commit, has now rushed for more than 2,400 yards this season.
The most rushing yards in a single game this season in the United States, according to MaxPreps, is 593 yards by junior Adam Nunes of Buffalo (N.Y.) South Park.
4A: EAST FORSYTH 35, MOORESVILLE 30
Visiting Mooresville raced to a 17-7 lead midway in the second quarter, but the host Eagles (13-0) rallied with 21 straight points for the victory.
The Blue Devils (11-2) scored first on a 23-yard interception return by A.J. Graham, but East Forsyth evened the score on a 42-yard touchdown pass by Corey Baker.
Andrew Cummings’ 34-yard field goal and a 47-yard touchdown run by Brody Norman put Mooresville ahead 17-7 with 5:48 left in the half. East Forsyth narrowed the gap to 17-14 a few minutes later on a touchdown pass.
The Eagles took the lead for the first time, at 21-17, on Cannen Rottwiler’s 4-yard run with 8:14 left in the third quarter. But Mooresville regained the lead three minutes later on a touchdown pass from Norman to Ja’Darius McCombs.
East Forsyth then took the lead for good, 28-24, on a 1-yard run by Blair early in the fourth quarter. Blair scored again on a run with 4:31 left for a 35-24 lead. Mooresville scored for the final time with 41 seconds left, on a 1-yard run by Norman. The Blue Devils’ two-point conversion attempt failed.
East Forsyth’s Robbie Whitney then recovered the onside kick to clinch the victory. The Eagles will travel to Weddington next Friday.
3A: DUDLEY 20, JAY M. ROBINSON 7
The fourth-seeded Bulldogs (12-1) stunned Dudley with an early touchdown, but Dudley (13-0) rallied with three scores in the fourth quarter for the victory.
Dudley had allowed only 15 points all season, but Jay M. Robinson drove for a touchdown on its opening possession, scoring on an 8-yard run by quarterback Jon Bissonnette.
The score remained 7-0 until the fourth quarter.
Dudley, which has a combined record of 117-20 over the past 10 years, tied the game with 11 minutes left, on a 32-yard pass from Jacquez Crawford to C.J. Neely. The Panthers took a 14-7 lead with 8:11 remaining, on a 50-yard pass from Crawford to Nasir Newkirk.
Dudley clinched the victory with a minute left, on a 90-yard run by Koredell Bartley.
The Panthers will host West Charlotte in a 3A quarterfinal next Friday.
3A: NORTH LINCOLN 20, ASHBROOK 20
The host Knights (12-1) built a 20-0 lead, then held off the Green Wave (10-3) for the victory. The triumph moves 10th-seeded North Lincoln into a quarterfinal game next Friday at defending 3A state champion Hickory.
Hickory and North Lincoln finished 1-2 in the Western Foothills 3A Conference, and North Lincoln’s only loss this season was to the Red Tornadoes.
North Lincoln built its lead on first-quarter touchdown runs of 26 yards by Landon Agee and 13 yards by Shannon Wingate. Tim Folk’s 8-yard scoring run midway in the second period made it 20-0.
Ashbrook got on the scoreboard with four minutes left in the third quarter on an Oziel Garcia field goal, and the Green Wave cut the deficit to 20-10 late in the quarter on A.J. McClain’s 13-yard run.
North Lincoln’s Jimani Ellington had a key interception of an Ashbrook pass with nine minutes left and the Green Wave at the Knights’ 37.
2A: MONROE 48, WEST STOKES 21
It was another impressive victory by the Redhawks (12-0), who got three touchdowns from Kaegan Chambers and two each from Zion Lindsey and Nymir Kendall.
Chambers scored on runs of 20, 70 and 2 yards. Lindsey’s scoring runs were of 4 and 35 yards, and Kendall covered 30 and 39 yards on his two touchdown runs.
Monroe built a 34-7 lead early in the third quarter and was never threatened.
The victory set up a 2A West showdown next Friday, with third-seeded Monroe visiting second seed Shelby.
2A: FOREST HILLS 38, SALISBURY 31
The 13th-seeded Yellow Jackets (10-3) scored an upset victory over No. 5 Salisbury (11-2), , behind two touchdown runs by Rodney Smith and a pair of scoring passes by Zach Dillworth.
Kylan Polk also scored on a 52-yard run in the second quarter, which put Forest Hills ahead to stay 21-14. His touchdown was set up by a 40-yard run from Smith.
Salisbury narrowed the gap to 31-24 with three minutes left in the third quarter, on a kickoff return for a touchdown by Jaylin Johnson. But Forest Hills responded with Dillworth’s 7-yard pass to Jerel Bolder.
Forest Hills converted a key first down in the final minute to clinch the victory.
The Yellow Jackets will travel to Brevard in a 2A quarterfinal next Friday.
