Prep football roundup: Mooresville, Weddington, West Charlotte advance in NCHSAA playoffs

Weddington and Mooresville scored victories Friday night and joined Hough and Charlotte Catholic in advancing to the third round of the Class 4A state football playoffs.

West Charlotte scored a lopsided victory in its 3A game against West Rowan and also will advance.

Friday’s playoffs also included victories by two Mecklenburg County teams playing in the smaller size classifications — Community School of Davidson and Corvian Community — along with a big upset involving a pair of Gaston County 3A teams.

Friday night’s roundup:

CLASS 4A

Weddington 35, Sun Valley 12: The second-seeded Warriors (11-0) trounced their Union County neighbor for the second time this season and advanced to a third-round game next Friday at home against Northern Guilford.

Nick Diamond ran for two touchdowns as Weddington built a 35-0 lead midway through the third quarter. Sun Valley (9-3) scored on a pair of Noah Lineberry touchdown passes in the final four minutes of the game.

Mooresville 27, Northwest Guilford 10: The sixth-seeded Blue Devils (11-1) rallied in the second half for this victory. The teams were tied 10-10 at halftime.

Mooresville pulled ahead on Andrew Cummings’ 31-yard field goal just one minute into the third quarter. The Blue Devils extended the lead to 20-10 late in the quarter on a 6-yard run by quarterback Brody Norman. Ja’Darius McCombs’ 40-yard touchdown run with eight minutes left in the game closed the scoring.

Mooresville scored in the first half on a Cummings field goal and a 4-yard run by Eric Heal.

Northwest Guilford finished 9-3.

Mooresville travels next week to third-seeded East Forsyth (11-0).

Northern Guilford 28, Marvin Ridge 24: The Mavericks (5-7) suffered a heartbreaking defeat, as they drove to the Northern Guilford 16 in the final minute but turned the ball over on downs.

Marvin Ridge, leading 24-21 with three minutes to play, forced Northern Guilford into a fourth-and-6 situation at the Vikings’ 33. But on what could have been Northern Guilford’s final offensive play of the season, Dwight Hall broke free for a 67-yard touchdown run and the winning points.

The Mavericks raced to a 21-0 lead on runs of 67 and 32 yards by Zach Lee and a 2-yard run by Hill Despard. In all, they drove three times inside the Northern Guilford 30 and had only a Ford Fehling field goal to show for it.

CLASS 3A

West Charlotte 44, West Rowan 3: The Lions (9-2) built a 28-3 halftime lead and coasted to a second-round victory over the Falcons (7-5).

West Charlotte, the West’s No. 8 seed, will travel to the Asheville area next week to face top-seeded Clyde Erwin (10-1).

Ashbrook 31, South Point 28: On paper, this was an upset, as the 15th-seeded Green Wave (10-2) knocked off the second-seeded Raiders (9-2). But it was Ashbrook’s second victory this season over South Point.

The winning points came on a Benjamin Gregory field goal with two minutes left in the game.

South Point built a 21-7 lead on two touchdown passes by Patrick Blee and a short scoring run by Chancye Ford. But Ashbrook battled back, with A.J. McClain passing for two scores and running for another.

The Green Wave sealed the victory when Caleb Gordon intercepted a Blee pass with about one minute left.

Ashbrook will travel to North Lincoln in a third-round game next Friday.

Jay M. Robinson 41, Kings Mountain 14: The fourth-seeded Bulldogs (12-0) looked every bit the powerhouse with a dominating victory over the 13th-seeded Mountaineers (9-3).

Jon Bissonnette threw two second-quarter touchdown passes to Dom Testa and ran for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. L.J. Watson and Ennis Stiles also scored on short runs for Robinson, and Myles Hudson returned a fumble for another score.

The victory set up a huge third-round game next week, with Jay M. Robinson hosting fifth-seeded Dudley (12-0), a perennial state powerhouse.

Hickory 42, Statesville 7: The first time these teams met, in October, Statesville gave Hickory its toughest test of the season. The rematch was a different story, as the third-seeded Red Tornadoes (12-0) won their 28th game in a row.

Brady Stober threw four touchdown passes, as Hickory raced to a 28-0 halftime lead. Statesville finished 9-3.

Hickory will be home next week against 11th-seeded Crest (10-2).

North Lincoln 54, West Henderson 21: The 10th-seeded Knights (11-1) went on the road and posted a dominating victory, building a 33-7 halftime lead and coasting.

Shannon Wingate opened the scoring for North Lincoln with a 3-yard touchdown run. West Henderson (8-4), the seventh seed, drove to the Knights’ 1 but fumbled the ball away. North Lincoln then drove 96 yards and scored on a 6-yard run by Wingate.

The Knights added touchdown runs by Landon Agee and Tim Folk and a pair of field goals in building their big halftime lead.

North Lincoln will be home next week against Ashbrook.

CLASS 2A

Community School of Davidson 30, Mount Pleasant 7: The 10th-seeded Spartans (9-3) went on the road and scored a lopsided victory over the No. 7 Tigers (9-3).

After a scoreless first quarter, Community School of Davidson took the lead on a 30-yard field goal by Liam Carneiro. Brandon Albert’s 12-yard touchdown run with two minutes left in the half gave the Spartans a 10-0 lead, but Mount Pleasant drove 80 yards in a little more than a minute and scored on a 3-yard run by Ethan Dempsey.

The game remained 10-7 late into the third quarter, but the Spartans broke it open by scoring two touchdowns and a pair of Carneiro field goals in the closing 13 minutes. The touchdowns came on an 8-yard run by Oliver Morris and a 40-yard scamper by Albert.

Monroe 56, Burns 14: The third-seeded Redhawks (11-0) crushed No. 14 Burns (8-4), scoring 28 straight points in the first half.

Monroe struck first, with Jayden Caudle returning a Burns punt 68 yards for a touchdown just 2:15 into the game. But Zavion Williams scored on a short run as Burns tied the score late in the period.

Monroe then pulled away, scoring on a long run late in the first quarter and on a run and two passes in the second quarter. They added special teams scores in the third quarter, tallying on a kickoff return and an interception.

The Redhawks will host West Stokes (10-2) next Friday.

Forest Hills 38, Randleman 21: Zach Dillworth threw two long touchdown passes in the first quarter, lifting the Yellow Jackets (9-3) past host Randleman (9-3).

Sam Mullis put Forest Hills ahead 3-0 with a 35-yard field goal, but Randleman took the lead two minutes later with a long pass. Two minutes after that, Dillworth connected with Kylean Polk from 55 yards, giving Forest Hills a 10-7 lead. Dillworth and Kemarion Massey connected on a 30-yard score late in the quarter for a 17-7 edge.

After Randleman narrowed the gap to 17-14, the Yellow Jackets pulled away on Rodney Smith’s 9-yard scoring run.

Randleman scored late in the first half, cutting the deficit to 24-21. But Forest Hills scored in the third quarter on a short pass from Dillworth to Jerel Bolder, and then on a 2-yard run by Bolder in the fourth quarter.

CLASS 1A

Corvian Community 42, Mitchell County 6: The fifth-seeded Cardinals (12-0) steamrolled to a second-round victory and set up a third-round game against a perennial North Carolina 1A power.

Corvian Community will travel next Friday to fourth-seeded Eastern Randolph (12-0) in a battle of unbeatens.

The Cardinals had little trouble Friday night, scoring in the first quarter on runs by Cam Johnson and Noah Best. They made it 21-0 in the second quarter on a 25-yard pick-six by Donovan Kirkwood.

Corvian Community extended the lead in the third quarter on a short run by Johnson and a 17-yard touchdown reception by A.J. Jackson. They added another score in the fourth quarter on Kelvin Stinson’s 7-yard run.

Murphy 21, Christ the King 11: The Crusaders’ season ended with a solid defensive performance. Murphy (11-1), the 1A West’s third seed, had averaged nearly 34 points a game until Friday night. Christ the King, the No. 19 seed, finished with a 5-7 record.

Mount Airy 35, Mountain Island Charter 14: Mount Airy’s powerful ground game was too much for the Raptors, and the top-seeded Granite Bears (11-0) advanced to the third round.

Mount Airy built a 35-0 halftime lead on four rushing touchdowns and an interception return for another score.

Mountain Island Charter (6-6), the 16th seed, scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second half.

Robbinsville 19, Bessemer City 0: Robbinsville (7-6) scored touchdowns in the second, third and fourth quarters and shut down Bessemer City’s air game for a second-round victory. Bessemer City finished with a 7-5 record.