No. 3 Hough rolls past South Iredell in first round of the NCHSAA 4A playoffs

Having never played South Iredell before, neither Hough head coach DeShawn Baker nor his players knew how they would stack up against the Vikings.

As things turned out, the Huskies stacked up pretty well, dominating on both sides of the ball in a 59-0 victory Friday night in the first round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A playoffs.

Behind senior quarterback Trey Blakeney and their fast-paced offense, and a tough defense, the fifth-seeded Huskies (10-1) had their highest-scoring game of the season in winning their 10th straight — six of those coming on shutouts.

“We faced it pretty good,” Baker said. “We had some challenges at the beginning of the game — they were doing some things that we didn’t see on film, and we really couldn’t correct it. … But we saw what they were doing, we corrected it and we got rolling.”

And roll Hough did, scoring on six of their eight possessions in building a 38-0 halftime lead, then quickly adding another touchdown on its first possession of the second half to push it to 45-0 — and kick in the rule-mandated “running clock.”

Blakeney threw for three touchdowns — a 20-yarder to Tyran Evans in the first quarter, a 30-yarder to Sean Brady in the second, and a 76-yarder to Ashawd Wynn in the third — and ran for a 7-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

Even when Blakeney and the first-team offense came out in the third quarter, the Huskies kept going behind sophomore Ethan Royal, who hit Wynn for his second touchdown catch (a 12-yarder) late in the third quarter.

Hough also had rushing TDs from Jycen Anciso (24 yards) in the second quarter and Joey Lembo (24 yards) in the fourth, a 14-yard blocked punt return from E.J. Gregory in the second quarter and a 25-yard field goal from Kandler Happe in the first quarter. Kappe also went 7-for-7 on extra-point kicks.

“We expected to dominate the game — that’s what I told the guys,” Baker said. “Our defense just played lights out again; they got another donut. And again, once our offense got rolling, we’re really dangerous when they get rolling. We get in that groove, and just start rolling.”

All that had No. 28 South Iredell (6-5) back on its heels most of the game, with the Huskies’ defense forcing three turnovers and holding the Vikings to 40 yards total offense.

“They’re nationally ranked for a reason … (and) the 4A bracket in North Carolina is like the tenth-toughest in the country,” South Iredell head coach Lee Linville said.

“They’re a really good football team, and they’ve got a lot of kids that are going to play at the next level. Hopefully, over the next few years, our kids get in the weight room and get bigger, faster, stronger, and we progress towards that. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

Three who made a difference

Trey Blakeney, Hough — Added to his Huskies record for career touchdowns (he now has 36) by throwing for 211 yards, completing 10 of 13 attempts, and rushing for 47 more.

Jycen Anciso, Hough — Ran for 72 yards and one touchdown on just seven carries, giving the senior 584 rushing yards and six TDs this season.

Karmel Quick, Hough — The senior made life difficult for South Iredell’s offense, sacking Vikings quarterback Tyler Johnson twice, as well as blocking a pair of punts in the first half, the second which led to Gregory’s touchdown.

Up next

Hough advances to host No. 21 Independence in the second round of the 4A playoffs next Friday.

GAME SUMMARY

S. IREDELL 0 0 0 0 – 0

HOUGH 17 21 14 7 – 59

First Quarter

H—Trey Blakeney 20 pass to Tyran Evans (Kandler Happe kick), 8:47.

H—Blakeney 7 run (Happe kick), 6:11.

H—Happe 25 FG, 28.2.

Second Quarter

H—E.J. Gregory 14 blocked punt return (Happe kick), 10:58.

H—Blakeney 30 pass to Sean Brady (Happe kick), 7:41.

H—Jycen Anciso 24 run (Happe kick), 1:18.

Third Quarter

H—Blakeney 76 pass to Ashawd Wynn (Happe kick), 11:20

H—Ethan Royal 12 pass to Wynn (Happe kick), 1:44.

Fourth Quarter

H—Joey Lembo 22 run (Happe kick), 3:02.