Hibriten outlasts Alex, goes unbeaten in JVs

Tae Caldwell ran 16 times for 199 yards and two touchdowns on Thursday night, leading Hibriten High to an undefeated junior varsity football season.

Caldwell scored on runs of 30 and 47 yards, with his 30-yarder the game’s second score, in a 50-41 win by the Panthers.

Hibriten finished 9-0 overall and 6-0 in the Northwestern 3A-4A, one game up on South Caldwell, and Alexander Central (6-4, 4-2) finished third.

Darius Spratt ran for two scores and threw for another to lead the Cougars, who trailed 20-7 early and 35-21 at the half.

Alexander Central was within 35-27 after Jacob Reese caught a 54-yard TD pass from Tanner Starnes with eight minutes, 51 seconds left in the third quarter. Reese had earlier returned a kickoff 84 yards for a TD.

An 11-yard TD run by Devel Maxwell, who had 81 yards on seven carries, extended the Panthers’ lead to 42-33 with about eight minutes to play.

The Cougars had the game’s final TD when Spratt caught a 56-yard pass from Starnes 32 seconds after Hibriten had scored. Spratt’s two-point conversion run got Alexander Central within nine with 4:06 to play.

TiShawn Daniels had 16 carries for 95 yards for Hibriten. He ran for three TDs and the Panthers also got a 90-yard interception return for a TD by Hunter Penley.

The teams combined to gain 753 yards.

Bandys 24, Bunker Hill 6

The visiting Trojans (10-0, 7-0) finished unbeaten and won the Catawba Valley Athletic 2A title with their 15^th straight victory.

Quiante Derr had a 1-yard TD run and two-point conversion run for Bandys, Logan Hughes added the same combination and Colt Medlin caught a 55-yard scoring pass from Logan Beegle. Derr ran for two after that TD pass.

Cameron Chapman’s 32-yard TD pass to Casey King in the first half was the only score for the Bears (7-3, 4-3), who finished in fourth place.

Maiden 7, Draughn 0

Maiden’s defense held Draughn after the visiting Wildcats had first-and-goal twice, and the Blue Devils (8-1-1, 6-1) finished second in the Catawba Valley Athletic 2A.

The Blue Devils fumbled to set Draughn up in scoring position inside the 10, once in the second quarter and once in the third quarter.

Maiden, which lost four fumbles, got the game’s only score with about six minutes to go in the third quarter. Quarterback Jake McRee hit Ricky Taylor for a TD and Kyle Kelly added the PAT.

Hickory 14, Fred T. Foard 7

The Red Tornadoes (6-4, 3-3) nipped the visiting Tigers to finish fourth in the Northwestern 3A-4A.

Hickory went up 8-0 in the first quarter on a 36-yard TD run by Jahiz Linebarger and a two-point conversion run by Cole Cumberlander.

Ben Ansley’s 1-yard scoring run pushed the Red Tornadoes’ lead to 14-0.

Foard (3-7, 2-4), which finished fifth in the conference, closed within a TD on Stormy Lail’s 66-yard punt return for a score.

Linebarger had 13 carries for 72 yards for Hickory and Ansley completed 5-of-7 passes for 62 yards.

South Iredell 34, East Burke 12

Rasheed Degree ran for three TDs to lead the Vikings to a Catawba Valley Athletic 2A win in Icard.

Degree scored on runs of 1, 34 and 26 yards, leading South Iredell (1-8, 1-6) to its first win.

Larry Clark, who ran for 72 yards, had a 5-yard TD run and Tyler Craig had a 4-yard TD run for the Cavs (1-9, 1-6).

St. Stephens 19, Watauga 15

The Indians erased a 15-point deficit to beat the Pioneers in Boone for their only win of the season.

Marvin Sutton scored on runs of 8 and 6 yards and Eddie Goyco had a 4-yard TD run for the Indians (1-8, 1-5).

Sutton ran 21 times for 123 yards.

Watauga (0-6, 2-8) had a 15-0 lead in the first quarter.

West Caldwell 34, Newton-Conover 22

Daquan Suddreth had TD runs of 11, 67 and 43 yards and David Denison added two rushing TDs to lead the Warriors (3-7, 2-5)to a Catawba Valley Athletic 2A win.

West Caldwell scored the game’s final  14 points, on a 4-yard run by Denison and one Suddreth TD.

The Red Devils finished 4-6 overall and 2-5 in the league, tying the Warriors for fifth place.

VARSITY FOOTBALL

NCHSAA rejects an appeal filed by Pats

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) Executive Committee denied an appeal by Freedom’s football program on Thursday.

The Patriots (9-1) sought a change in a decision by the NCHSAA that they must forfeit its 2011 varsity football playoff privileges after having five players ejected in a game last Friday night against Chase.

Under NCHSAA rules, any team that has three or more ejections in a game under the fighting rule forfeits its playoff status.

Freedom administrators asked the executive committee to review the decision because they felt three of the five ejected for fighting were instead heading onto the field during a change of possession.

The NCHSAA ejection for fighting rule includes specifics that any player leaving the bench during an altercation is considered to be fighting even if the player makes no contact with anyone on the field.

NCHSAA officials said Freedom has no other means of appeal since it took its case directly to the executive committee.

Pairings for the state football playoffs are to be released on Saturday and the games begin on Nov. 4.

SOCCER

Newton-Conover 3, East Burke 0

Chandler Johnson’s hat trick led Newton-Conover’s victory at East Burke and capped an unbeaten run through the Catawba Valley Athletic 2A.

The Red Devils, 14-0-0 in the league, got assists from Kevin Iglesais, Lucas Hernandez and Jake LaFrancis in the makeup match.

Hunter Nestor had two saves for the Red Devils, who finished two games ahead of second-place South Iredell.

(bullet) West Caldwell won a coin flip over Bandys for the third seed into the state playoffs from the CVAC 2A. The Trojans will get the fourth seed.

TENNIS

CVAC 2A champions in the state tournament

The Catawba Valley Athletic 2A’s singles and doubles champions are in the field for state 2A girls’ individual tennis tournament that begins Friday at the Cary Tennis Center.

CVAC 2A singles champion Carson Shell of Bandys will play Lauren Delbridge of Wilkes Central in the first round.

Maiden’s doubles team of Molly Black and Abby Black open play against Haley Maloney and Anna Wooten of Ashe County.

Taylor Fredrickson of Patton, in 3A singles, is the only Greater Hickory area in that tournament at the Burlington Tennis Center. She plays Weddington’s Jasmine Gabriel in the opening round.

Watauga’s Hannah Peterson is in the singles field for the 4A tournament at the Millbrook Exchange Park in Raleigh. She first battles Hannah Templeton of Greensboro Page.

The tournaments conclude on Saturday.