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Kevin Carver
With only a few short weeks to prepare, Bailey stepped in and became the leader of a solid group of football players, going just 2-9 last year. This past Friday, they matched last year’s mark as they dispatched of Chesnee 35-14 on the road to stay undefeated on the season.
There is no contesting it, the defense has really proven itself over the past two games giving up just 80 yards rushing combined so far.
They also had four interceptions with Blake Green and Keyshon Crawford returning one each for touchdowns. Tajae McMullens and Carlos Watkins (choosen #86 in Rivals.com top 100 recruits) picked off the other two passes in the win.
Tyreece Gossett, who is averaging 111 yards rushing this season at quarterback, remains their biggest offensive threat, despite a number of options to choose from.
Chase (2-0) continues it road trek with a visit to Bessemer City (0-1) this coming Friday. The Trojans trounced the Yellow Jackets 42-12 last year and Bessemer City lost by 40 last week to Hunter Huss. Bessemer City has just one win in the last 13 games dating back to last year.
Across town, East Rutherford (1-1) got back on track with a narrow 31-30 victory over McDowell last Friday. Trailing 17-10 after three quarter, East outscored McDowell 21-13 in the victory.
T.J. Watkins had one of the best nights a high school football player could have with over 200 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving. Watkins ran for one score and then sped away for the game-winning 81-yard touchdown reception with just three minutes left in the contest.
While Watkins seems to be the go-to guy, Rahkim Franklin and Justin Barksdale also ran for a score each last Friday. Trevor Dobbins has been perfect in extra point tries (6-for-6) and posted a 26-yard field goal against McDowell.
The Cavs will hit the road for the first time all year as they head to North Gaston (0-2) this Friday. Nick Haskins leads the always troublesome triple-option offense of the Wildcats.
In Rutherfordton, R-S Central (1-1) held close to East Henderson at 14-14, but the Eagles scored 27 unanswered to take a 41-14 win at The Palace last week. Devante Austin scored for the second straight week on a touchdown reception and Jhari Miller caught the other score. Taylor Ledbetter, who threw three picks last Friday has thrown four touchdowns in two weeks.
Depth has been the issue for Central so far, but the effort has been there both weeks. The Hilltoppers will visit highly touted and ever tricky Polk County (2-0) on Friday night. Polk has put up 38 points in each of its two wins this season. Cary Littlejohn has rushed for over 115 yards in the first two games with three plunges into the end zone in 2011.
Thomas Jefferson (0-2) couldn’t get the ship righted as they fell, 60-21 to Andrews last Friday night. They also couldn’t stop Jordan Collins who ran for nearly 200 yards and five touchdowns. Travis Waldroup-Rodrigues caught three touchdown passes in the loss. The Gryphons are on their bye week, but take on Rosman September 9th on the road.
On the bright side, the Gryphons boys soccer team is making the best of it, posting four straight wins to begin the season. The all important conference season begins on September 7th at home against Mitchell.
