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Only one team remains in the fall playoff among high school teams in the county and it's at Thomas Jefferson.
Thomas Jefferson's football downed Albemarle last weekend 49-7 in the first round of the 1A playoffs at home. The Gryhons posted a 28-0 lead at the half and then sealed it early in the fourth quarter on Zane Jackson's 90 yard interception return for a touchdown.
The Gryphons ran for five touchdowns and just over 250 yards in the victory. Seth McCraw and Nick Mintz each had a touchdown run, while Nick Norris tallied the last one. Jaylon Simmons also added a touchdown reception in the win.
No to be outdone, but the defense did a great job as well. Thomas Jefferson had eight tackles for loss and two sacks with two interceptions. Stephen Hargro delivered some big and nasty hits on defense and Hogan Modirzadeh was consistent as he collected seven tackles on the evening.
The Gryphons will host Union Academy in the second round this Friday (11/20/15) at 7:30pm.
Meanwhile, East Rutherford gave Reidsville all they wanted, but lost 16-7 in the first round of the 2A West playoffs. It's the second straight close first round playoff loss for the Cavaliers in as many years. They nearly upset Mount Pleasant last season.
Demetrius Mauney scored the only East touchdown to cut Reidsville's lead to 9-7 at the half.
Kameron Garrison ended up with 83 yards rushing in his final game as a Cavaliers and ended the season just shy of a 1,000 yards rushing. Jarvis Hutchins also had an interception, which puts him at 12 on the season and is among tops in the state. Hutchins, a senior, totaled 538 yards receiving, and two rushing touchdowns for the season.
On the other hand, R-S Central seemed poised for to bid an upset at Franklin, but that was not the case last Friday. The Hilltoppers were shutout 29-0 at the Panther Pit. They have now lost at Franklin 97-28 in the last two trips up the mountain.
Kelton Lowry scored the opening kickoff for a touchdown and things went downhill from there for the Hilltoppers who ended the season (6-6).
Although R-S Central is still young, they do lose a couple of key seniors. On offense, Tylor Brown and Trevon Carson. Brown made some keys catches this season, while Carson led the Central backfield with touches this season.
On the soccer field, the dream of a state championship has ended for the Rutherford County boys. Chase won their first two playoff games, but were upset by Trinity High School in round three. The Trojans, who were seeded #2 overall and undefeated until this past Wednesday posted their best ever season at 20-1-1 and won the SMAC outright. They lose just five seniors (Lossana Fofana, Jose Vasquez, Zion Deshommes, Trey Hawkins and Devin Davis) and should be a force to reckon with next season as well.
Thomas Jefferson won their 1A first round game easily, then upset Union Academy on the road. Unfortunately, the season ended to conference foe Highland Tech. The Gryphons fell in penalty kicks and had beaten Highland Tech twice already this season. The Gryphons were also young this season and graduate just seven seniors from the team (Sully Carpenter, John Kean, Sam Wagner, TJ Wallace, Jordan Padgett Will Kirkpatrick and Isaac Hunt).
Finally, NASCAR will finish up at Homestead this coming weekend. Matt Kenseth will be back off suspension, but a championship will also be determined. We are down to Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. Whomever wins the race or finishes better of the four drivers remaining wins the title.
Harvick won a year ago and he is guy to bet on in general. I really do think he will win the championship this weekend. He has been clutch the last two seasons. However, Gordon is determined to win the title in his last ever Cup race. If Harvick makes a mistake, it could be Gordon's title for the taking and he could go out like John Elway did in his professional sports career.
Kyle Busch just wins and that gives him the potential to be the champion. Still, Homestead has been a bad luck track for Busch. He has finished 20th or worse in seven out of ten trips to Miami. In 2012, Busch led 191 laps, but finished fourth at Homestead. All that makes Busch hard to trust.
Homestead has been a good track for Martin Truex Jr with three top fives and seven top tens in 10 starts there. It does give him the chance to play spoiler in Sunday's finale.
