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The games of the week turned out not to be this past Friday.
East Rutherford was taken advantage of by Freedom, 42-14. And Polk had no problem with Thomas Jefferson, 44-21.
In a contest, that seemed to quest for a close game, the first half really doomed the Cavaliers.
In Morganton, Freedom scored an 83-yard kickoff return to start the game and the Cavaliers gave up an interception that also led to a touchdown. In the first five minutes, East is down 14-0.
The Cavaliers comeback with a 39-yard touchdown toss from Austin Hollifield to Lovell Robinson with Robinson giving a gigantic effort on the play to score. The score cuts the lead in half, but East couldn’t defend the kickoff again as an 85-yard return set up another Freedom touchdown. The Cavaliers had one more turnover for the third of the first half, which led to another Freedom score. Down 21-7 in the third quarter, East Rutherford missed opportunities to put up ten more points after a missed field goal and then catching a touchdown pass, which the receiver was ruled out of bounds. Instead Freedom led 28-7 at the end of the third.
Tyree Lindsay and Jordan Strickland were the defensive players of the game despite the score. Both had a half sack each and Strickland even blocked a field goal in the first half to keep East within seven points at the time. East Rutherford (4-5, 2-2)will be at home against Shelby on Senior Night this Friday.
In Avondale, the Gryphons were dealt a 29-0 deficit at the half and the neighboring bigger school cruised in the second half of play.
Although, Thomas Jefferson will make the playoffs, it’s likely they could see a rematch with Rosman, who they defeated at home 28-27 earlier in the season in the first round. That scenario is still left undetermined, but very possible.
At Chase, it was all Trojans as they won 40-6 over South Oak Charter. Chase (5-4, 2-2) will host Freedom this Friday and then play East Rutherford the following week at home for the County Championship.
Over in Rutherfordton, Senior Night didn’t go as well as hoped with Shelby easily handling R-S Central 48-12. Central fell 21-0 at the half as the Golden Lions have resurged winning five of their last six games, including four in a row. R-S Central will go out of conference and are eliminated from the playoffs with the Shelby loss. They go to Burns this week and then to South Caldwell the following week to end the regular season.
South of the Border, Chesnee is playing some real good football. Ranked sixth in 2A, now 7-1 and 5-0 in Region 1-2A, destroyed Powdersville 60-0 this past Friday. The defense has also stepped up for the Golden Eagles, allowing no points the last two weekends and 27 points overall in the last month.
Darius Proctor continues to impress in contributing to a 48-0 halftime lead this past Friday. Proctor rushed for one and threw three more touchdowns in the win. Chesnee will go to Blacksburg this Friday
Also in the local scene, the Thomas Jefferson boys soccer team sits seventh in the state among 1A programs. The Gryphons (10-2-2 overall, 7-1-2 conference) have just five more matches left with the only home game against a tough Hendersonville team at 6pm on October 22.
On the NASCAR front, we maybe looking at a four-man race. However, Brad Keselowski nearly delivered a punch that could have put himself in better shape of a first Sprint Cup title.
Just 58 laps from the finish after leading most of the race, Keselowski run out of fuel and fell to 14th after the final green flag pit stops. Keselowski finished 11th on the night and stays seven points ahead of Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin (28 markers behind and Clint Bowyer (35 behind). Keselowski could been up at least 19 markers if he could have kept the lead, but instead Clint Bowyer gets the fuel and the victory, thus placing himself among the top contenders now.
