No. 2 Hough wallops South Meck in conference showdown Friday

Hough High School, ranked second in The Observer’s most recent Sweet 16 football poll, flexed its muscles in Friday’s Greater Charlotte 7A/8A Conference showdown with South Mecklenburg.

Hough got three first-half touchdown passes from QB Ethan Royal to receiver Jayden White to spark a 42-10 runaway victory.

Hough led 21-3 at halftime and broke the game open in the third quarter. Royal threw his fourth and final touchdown pass to Jahmere Anderson and Jamarion Morrison and Kynis Tinnin added touchdown runs for the Huskies (8-0, 3-0) as they snapped South Mecklenburg’s (6-2, 2-1) six-game win streak.

The Sabres are enjoying their first winning season since 2021, when South finished 9-3 and won a league title. To get in position for another, the Sabres will need to beat Garinger next week and Myers Park in their finale on Oct. 30, and they’d also need Myers Park to beat Hough at home on Oct. 24.

Hough coach DeShawn Baker said the distraction of homecoming, Senior Night and the looming matchup with Myers Park weren’t problems for his team.

“South Meck came in 6-1,” Baker said. “Any team that’s 6-1 has a lot of confidence. We came out and executed the game plan and what we talked about doing all week. We’ll do that again this week.”

Hough can clinch at least a share of the league title with a victory against Myers Park next week, and the Huskies finish the season out with an Oct. 30 home finale against Hopewell.

“Myers Park is a really good team,” Baker said. “They’ve got some ball players. Their D line is really good. Their O Line is really big. And their quarterback is really playing lights out. And that running back they’ve got gets behind them big boys and he’s hard to stop. And (Camdin) Portis and his brother (Chaz Portis) are both really good.”

Three who made a difference

Ethan Royal, Hough: Junior quarterback passed for 203 yards and four touchdowns and ran eight times for 70 yards, accounting for 273 of the Huskies’ 350 yards total offense.

Jayden White, Hough: With Miami, Fla., recruit Tyran Evans out with a right foot injury, White was Royal’s top receiver with seven catches for 104 yards and three touchdowns.

Carter Gillis, South Mecklenburg: The senior quarterback completed 15 of 25 passes for 198 yards and directed a 219-yard offensive attack.

Notable

• Both head coaches wore shirts with “Pay the Coaches” on the front and “Coaches for Change” on the back as part of a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools football coaches’ effort to raise awareness about their salaries, which lag behind salaries in other states and in some North Carolina counties.

• Of Hough’s 25 seniors that were honored before Friday’s game, 14 say they plan to play college football, highlighted by NCAA Division I commitments L.J. Porter (East Carolina), defensive back Micah Bright (South Florida), wide receiver Tyran Evans (Miami, Fla.), defensive back Samari Matthews (Texas) and offensive lineman Jarvis Potts (Appalachian State).

• Friday’s contest between the schools was their first as league rivals and only the second in history; Hough won, 42-7, over South Mecklenburg in a 2021 Class 4A state playoff game in their only previous meeting.

They said it

“It’s going to be a big game. We’ve just got to go play our brand of physical football for 48 minutes,” — Hough coach DeShawn Baker on next week’s game at Myers Park

Game Summary

South Mecklenburg 0 3 0 7 — 10

Hough 7 14 21 0 — 42

First Quarter

H: Jayden White 30 pass from Ethan Royal (Piercon Selland kick)

Second Quarter

H: White 38 pass from Royal (Seiland kick)

H: White 11 pass from Royal (Seiland kick)

SM: FG Mac Nails 28

Third Quarter

H: Jahmere Anderson 20 pass from Royal (Seiland kick)

H: Kynis Tinnin 1 run (Seiland kick)

H: Jamarion Morrison 32 run (Cole Johnson kick)

Fourth Quarter

SM: Ravon Paulding 3 run (Nalls kick)

This story was originally published October 17, 2025 at 9:24 PM.