Busy Week in Sports

This past week, Rutherford County went 1-2, pending East Rutherford's delayed outcome with Kings Mountain. So let's recap what was week four of high school football and talk about a couple of other things outside of that.

Thomas Jefferson (4-0, 1-0) is now the only Rutherford County football team that remains unbeaten this season.

The Gryphons easily handled Statesville Christian 46-2 last Friday at home. Five Gryphons scored touchdowns, including two receiving touchdowns for Max Robbins. Hogan Modirzadeh ended up with 10 tackles on defense. Mick Mintz leads the team with eight rushing touchdowns and four more throwing for 12 total in just four games.

They next play Asheville School at home Friday (9/18/15). Both teams have a common opponent already. Asheville School just lost by two points to Hickory Grove. Thomas Jefferson beat Hickory Grove in week two.

Keys: Don't change anything. The Gryphons have found their identity so far. Just do what you do best.

Chase had the toughest loss last week in a 20-7 heart-breaker to Burns. The Trojans held a 7-6 lead at the end of the third quarter. Burns would score the go ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter. However, Chase had field position they wanted late in the game as their defense needed to make just one stop. They couldn't. A Burns 56-yard run for the touchdown in the final two minutes sealed the game.

Chase will visit Shelby (4-0, 1-0) this coming Friday.

Keys: Keep tight coverage in the secondary. So far, nobody has been able to stop the Golden Lions passing attack. Pressure Shelby's QB to make bad decisions.

East Rutherford postponed their game with Kings Mountain until Monday due to weather. At the time of this column, the game had yet to be played. The Cavs do have the game of the week though as they host East Burke (1-2), Friday.

Brandon Clark is East Burke's best athlete in the backfield. Ryan Newell will also run, but Joe Duckworth isn't a bad passer either.

Keys: East Rutherford does have a speed advantage and they have to establish the run game. East Rutherford must finish drives. They also must not let Clark take over the game.

R-S Central (3-1, 0-1) was dealt a 52-7 defeat last week at the hands of Shelby. Offensively, Shelby maybe as good as I have ever seen. It's going to take a lot for someone to beat Shelby this season. The have speed, a wide open offense and linebacker, Dax Hollifield pushing for defensive player of the year in the SMAC.

The Hilltoppers will face Draughn (2-2, 0-1) in Valdese this coming Friday (9/18/15). Both teams have very similar offenses. The Hilltoppers haven't played bad all season, they were simply outmatch last week. If R-S can deliver better execution of their offense and use their speed to it's maximum advantage, then Central should get back on track.

The NFL is back. Carolina went on to a 20-9 victory in week one over Jacksonville. Defensively, they didn't miss a beat. They forced three turnovers and registered five sacks in the win. However, Luke Kuechly received a concussion in the game. Hopefully, he can get better soon and not miss much time. While it was a win, the Panthers are going to need to find a down field threat. Greg Olson is their most dependable with Kelvin Benjamin out. Carolina will host Houston this coming Sunday.

I never would have thought Buffalo, St. Louis or Tennessee would have won Sunday. Marcus Mariotta throws four touchdown passes in his first NFL start! And the Cowboys came back to win 27-26 over the Giants in a game they should have never even had a chance in. Week two seems interesting with Dallas visiting Philly and Seattle going to Green Bay.

Finally, two former Chase graduates are doing pretty well for themselves.

Carlos Watkins, picked off a pass and took it for a 15-yard touchdown in Clemson's win over App. State this weekend. The current Tiger has three tackles, a tackle for loss and the interception for a TD in just two games this season.

Tyler White continues to impress major league personnel. In the Houston Astros

In 116 games this season, White is hitting .325, has 131 hits, 14 home runs and 99 RBI. White started the season in Corpus Christi Texas, but has since moved up to AAA in Fresno.