Near-fight mars Sun Valley’s stellar playoff win over Olympic on Friday
Zach Cullen and Noah Lineberry were sent to the sidelines early in Sun Valley’s game Friday night against Olympic.
That was fine by the players and their coaches — after all, the duo had already done all the damage they needed to for the Spartans.
Lineberry threw for three touchdowns and Cullen ran for a pair of scores as Sun Valley romped to a 42-6 victory over the Trojans in their second-round NCHSAA 6A playoff game.
However, the end of the game was marred by a near-fight near the Sun Valley student section.
After the postgame handshakes, Olympic quarterback Chance Cato and at least a half-dozen of his teammates jumped the fence and challenged students — who had been taunting the Trojans all game — to a fight.
It was broken up by coaches and law enforcement officers before any punches were thrown.
“Those guys will be held accountable,” Olympic head coach Brandon Thompson said. “There wasn’t a fight or anything like that. Still, we’ve got to keep better control of our emotions. It was a very emotional moment, with our season coming to an end, but we’ve got to keep better control of our emotions. We’ve got to do a better job there, so we will hold them accountable.”
Cullen and Lineberry scored all of their touchdowns in the first half as the Spartans (8-3) — the No. 4 seed in the West Regional bracket — jumped on 12th-seeded Olympic (9-3) early and often in building a 35-0 lead at the half.
“Nah, I’m good with it,” said Lineberry, who has thrown for more than 1,700 yards this season. “It was a good team win. We don’t want to take any risks or getting hurt.”
Lineberry actually went to Sun Valley’s bench not long after his third TD pass, and Cullen joined him there after a couple of plays on the Spartans’ first possession of the second half.
“They’ve played a big role for us all year,” Sun Valley head coach Ryan Smith said. “Anytime at this time of the year that you can get a chance to take a couple extra hits off of them, that’s good for them. It’ll keep their legs fresh.”
The Spartans’ fast start — they scored on their first five possessions, with four of those touchdowns coming in the first quarter — also put the game under the “running clock” for the second half.
Still, Sun Valley’s second string still managed to add a touchdown in the third quarter, with Josh Bell — Cullen’s heir apparent as the starting back next season — breaking loose for a 27-yard TD run midway through the period.
Olympic — which saw its nine-game winning streak come to an end — managed to break the shutout in the final minute of the third quarter on Cato’s 2-yard keeper with 55 seconds remaining.
Outside of the late touchdown, the Trojans — who also had a two-game winning streak over the Spartans end — never really mustered any offense, finishing with just 132 total yards.
“I’m really proud of those young men — they go 9-3 and win a conference championship this season,” Olympic coach Thompson said. “But we didn’t control the line of scrimmage on either side. … My guys played hard, but we could never get anything going.”
Three who made a difference
Noah Lineberry, Sun Valley — The Spartans quarterback had a “perfect game,” completing 8 of 8 passing attempts for 104 yards and three TDs — a 10-yarder to Andrew Doody and an 11-yarder to his brother, Wyatt, both in the first quarter; and a 38-yarder to Thanasi Papazis in the second.
Zach Cullen, Sun Valley — The Spartans running back had just nine carries in the first half, but went for 135 yards and two TDs on runs of 7 and 3 yards in the first quarter. He also broke off two long runs – 48 and 54 yards -- that helped set up scores.
Sun Valley’s defense — The Spartan defense played a big part in the team’s first two touchdowns. It stopped Olympic on fourth-and-1 at its own 29-yard line on the game’s first possession, then Chris Dickey picked off a Cato pass on the second possession and returned it to the Trojans’ 7-yard line, leading to the second TD.
Up next
Sun Valley will travel to Morganton to face fourth-seeded Freedom in the West Regional semifinals next Friday. The Patriots (10-1) routed 20th-seeded Central Cabarrus 40-6 on Friday.
SCORING SUMMARY
OLYMPIC 0 0 6 0 – 6
SUN VALLEY 28 7 7 0 – 42
First Quarter
SV – Noah Lineberry 10 pass to Andrew Doody (Aden Haskins kick), 8:19.
SV – Zach Cullen 7 run (Haskins kick), 6:49.
SV—N. Lineberry 11 pass to Wyatt Lineberry (Haskins kick), 3:41.
SV—Cullen 3 run (Haskins kick), 0:13.3.
Second Quarter
SV—N. Lineberry 38 pass to Thanasi Papazis (Haskins kick), 6:39.
Third Quarter
SV—Josh Bell 27 run (Haskins kick), 7:55.
O—Chance Cato 2 run (pass failed), 0:55.0.
This story was originally published November 14, 2025 at 11:04 PM.