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Three of the four schools in Rutherford County lost on the football field this past week. Thomas Jefferson was the lone winner of the weekend as they beat Asheville School 44-13.
Nick Mintz contributed to four touchdowns as he ran for three scores and tossed a pass for the other. McGraw, who scored once in the game had 169 yards rushing and another 18 receiving. McGraw is up to 444 yards rushing this season, while Mintz has 533 passing with five touchdowns and 11 touchdowns on 342 rushing yards. Thomas Jefferson (5-0, 1-0) gets a bye this week and will travel to Rock Hill to play the Carolina Crusaders on October 3rd.
East Rutherford fought tooth and nail with East Burke on homecoming night, but fell short in a 42-24 loss. East Rutherford (2-3, 0-2) got over 100 yards rushing from Kameron Garrison, but they could not stop an explosive and balanced East Burke offense. East Rutherford also lost the Kings Mountain last week 42-23 in a make up game. Malik Hamrick ended up with two touchdowns and 130 yards receiving in the loss to the Mountaineers. East Rutherford also has a bye and will visit Burns on October 2nd.
Chase (2-3, 0-2) was easily handled by Shelby, 48-14. The Trojans get a better chance to get back in the win column when they host Draughn September 25. Chase will have to establish the run game, keep their defense off the field since they are short handed and use their athleticism to their advantage.
R-S Central (3-2, 0-2) had the most heartbreaking week in deal with the injury of quarterback Keith Ervin and then getting beat by Draughn 21-18. R-S Central trailed 14-0 early, came back and took the lead at 18-14 in the second half, but couldn't hold onto it. The Hilltoppers drove all the way to Draughn's 5-yard line late before a turnover (fumble) sealed their fate. It's a devastating loss for them and the schedule gets no better as they will host undefeated Crest (4-0, 1-0) this coming Friday, September 25th.
On the soccer field, Chase continues to impress. They now sit 7-0-1 on the season and faced Shelby on September 23rd.
The Carolina Panthers should have won by more this past week, but escaped with a 24-17 win over Houston. Carolina left at least 10 points off the board, but it's still a win. Cam Newton showed up though. So, that's the good news.
They have New Orleans at home this week and Tampa Bay the week after. Both are winnable games, but not a sure thing. This comes before the a brutal four week schedule that includes: at Seattle, Philly, Green Bay and Indy at home.
Finally, NASCAR's round one of the playoffs lived up to the billing. Some controversial racing saw Kevin Harvick get angry with Jimmie Johnson. I could understand Harvick's frustration, but Jimmie hasn't been the man to beat all year, it's been Harvick again. So, it was bound to happen as the two got together Sunday. Harvick now has to have two spectacular finishes to even advance to the next round of "The Chase."
It's no surprise that Denny Hamlin won and this coming weekend isn't a bad track for him either.
Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman were resurrected back into contender mode albeit Gordon finished 14th but led a number of laps. Newman finished fourth and looks to do what he did a year ago by sneaking into the final round of the championship chase at Homestead.
Next up is New Hampshire. Kyle Busch won their earlier this year, but I'm taking Brad Keselowski this weekend.
