Defeat Cavaliers 29-20 In Rain
2
Mounties Clinch Playoff Berth
Kings Mountain’s Mountaineers clinched
their first post-season playoff berth in 21
Years and their first ever playoff berth since
oming a member of the North Carolina
High School Athletic Association with a
come-from-behind 29-20 victory over East
Rutherford Saturday night at John Gamble
Stadium.
The game, which was postponed Friday
because of heavy rains, was played in a
steady rain before several hundred faithful
Mountaineer followers. Kings Mountain
scored 15 points in the final minute of play to
earn its fitth win in six Southwestern 3-A Con-
ference outings and eighth victory in nine
‘games overall.
The Mounties, now 8-1 going into Friday’s
regular season-finale at North Gaston, have
matched their best record since 1964 (8-2 in
1976 and 1979) and will be favored to better
those marks Friday. The 1964 team was 10-0
in regular season play and 10-1 overall.
Kings Mountain will enter the state
playoffs on November 15 at the home site of
the number two team in the Mountain
Athletic Conference. It appears at this point
that team will be Canton Pisgah. If the Moun-
taineers win their first playoff game and
Shelby wins its first playoff game against the
number three team from the Western
Athletic Conference, those two teams would
meet in a rematch on November 22 in Kings
Mountain.
BIG GAIN - Kings Mountain’s Jerry Jordan goes around right end for a big gain in
Saturday’s Southwestern 3-A Conference football game with East Rutherford at Gamble
Stadium. Mountaineers won 29-20.
SPORTS
PAGE 1-C
Thursday, November 7, 1985
East Rutherford, which fell to 3-3 in the
SWC and 6-3 overall, used two long kickoff
returns and one sustained drive to build a
20-14 lead over the Mountaineers going into
the late stages of the game Saturday. The
Mounties, who lost to South Point 21-19 on a
late bomb a week earlier (the Mounties later
were credited with a victory after South
Point forfeited two games for using an in-
eligible player) used a bomb of their own to
pull out the victory with just over a minute
showing on the clock.
A pass from quarterback Roderick Boyce
to flanker Otis Brooks which the Mounties
call the “veer option pass left throw back)
covered 46 yards and tied the game at 20-all.
On the extra point attempt, holder Jerry Jor-
dan was forced to go for two when the snap
from center was high and Aubrey Hollifield
caught the pass in traffic to put the Mounties
ahead 22-20.
LEADING RUSHER - Kings Mountain’s Sam Smith (33) picks up a huge chunk of yardage
through the middle of the line in Saturday’s 29-20 Southwestern 3-A Conference victory over
East Rutherford at Gamble Stadium. Smith led all rushers with 89 yards in 14 carries.
Photos by Gary Stewart
Kings Mountain squib-kicked the kickoff
because East had burned the Mounties on two
previous kickoffs and the KM coverage forc-
ed East to start from its own 20 with 1:10 re-
maining. East fumbled on the first play and
KM linebacker Monyel McCullough
recovered and returned the ball to the one-
foot line. Boyce sneaked it over and Rusty
Bumgardner booted the point-after for the
final margin with 59 seconds left. A fight
broke out and when both benches poured onto
the field the officials stopped the game.
The pass from Boyce to Brooks, which
clicked twice to break open a recent 20-0 vic-
tory over Burns, caught the East Rutherford
defense entirely off guard. On the previous
play, tailback Jerry Jordan had ran for 9%
yards to give KM a second and foot situation.
The East defense was thinking run and
Brooks breezed past the cornerback and was
wide open for the pass.
Coach Denny Hicks. praised the quick-
thinking of assistant coach Bruce Clark and
the execution of quarterback Boyce and
fullback Sam Smith for pulling the play off.
“Clark pulled the play out of his hat,” said
Hicks. ‘‘He came running up the sideline and
saying ‘run the pass play that we used
against Burns’. Roderick and Sam did a
great job on the fake. If they hadn’t, we might
not have pulled it off. When their cornerback
saw the flow, he came up and that got him out
of position for the extra second Brooks need-
ed to get downfield.”
Mountaineers
East Rutherford grabbed a 7-0 lead by driv-
ing 17 yards after B.J. Hamilton took the
opening kickoff and returned it 70 yards to
the KM 17. Rodney Surratt scored from five
Jords out and Hamilton kicked the extra
point.
The Mountaineers came right back to drive
71 yards in 10 carries to tie the game. Smith,
who had his best game from fullback with 89
yards in 14 carries, scored from 26 yards out
and Bumgardner added the PAT.
Kings Mountain grabbed a 14-7 lead mid-
way through the second quarter after
recovering an East Rutherford fumble at the
KM three yard line. Smith rambled 13 yards
on the first play for a first down and a 34 yard
run by Jordan to the East 15 set up a 15-yard
TD around end by Boyce. Bumgardner added
the PAT.
Tony Grant of the Cavaliers fumbled the
kickoff into the endzone, then picked it up and
ran 101 yards up the middle of the field for a
TD. Hamilton’s kick tied it at halftime.
Kings Mountain, which gained 179 of its 211
yards rushing in the first half, found the runn-
ing tough against the soggy field and the
strong East defense in the second half. The
Cavaliers moved 60 yards following a KM
fumble to go ahead 20-14 on a two-yard run by
Tony Douglas.
The Mountaineers decided to go to the air
and Boyce hit four of six passes for 87 yards
Turn To Page 2-C
Seek Ninth
Victory At North Gaston
Each time Kings
Mountain’s Mountaineers
take the football field the re-
mainder of this season, the
will be trying to reac
another milestone in the
history of KMHS football.
In last week’s 29-20 win
over East Rutherford’s
Cavaliers, they became the
first Mountaineer team ever
to qualify for the North
Carolina High School Athletic
Association playoffs. When
the 1964 Mountaineers won
“the Southwestern 3-A "Con-
ference and participated in
post-season play, the school
was a member of the old
Western N.C. High Schools
Activities Association.
If the Mountaineers defeat
North Gaston Friday night in
Dallas, they will become the
first team since that cham-
pionship 1964 team to post
nine victories in a regular
season. The 1976 and 1979
teams were 8-2.
And, should the Mounties
defeat North Gaston Friday
and be fortunate enough to
win their opening game in the
state playoffs, they would
equal the school record of 10
victories in a season. The
1955, 1956 and 1964 teams
each posted 10 victories. All
three teams won the
Southwestern 3-A Conference
and the 1956 team won the
WNCHSAA with an overall
record of 10 wins and one tie.
Coach Denny Hicks, whose
club has made a complete
about face after going 1-9 last
fall, would love to see his
team equal or better those
records, but he isn’t about to
look past Friday’s regular
WINNING TOUCHDOWN TOSS - Kings Mountain quarter- pass to Otis Brooks to win Saturday night’s Southwestern 3-A
back Roderick Boyce (12) has excellent blocking from the Conference battle with East Rutherford at John Gamble
Mountaineer offensive line as he throws a 46-yard touchdown Stadium.
season finale at North
Gaston. Even though the
Wildcats’ won-lost record
isn’t the best in the world, the
team has played some good
ballclubs some very close
games.
They do a lot of things of-
fensively,’”’ said Coach Hicks,
who says he’s very impressed
with North’s 215-pound
fullback, Eric Wallace. ‘‘He’s
a real fine football player and
their quarterback (Todd
Anderson) is also’ real im-
pressive. He fakes inside and
runs the bootleg a lot, and he
throws real Suick.”
The Wildcats, playing
under new coach Bob Patton,
former head coach at
Salisbury, run a multiple of-
fense, and rely heavily on
hard running of Wallace. ‘‘He
gained almost 100 yards
against Shelby, so we’ll have
our work cut out containing
him,” Hicks says.
Defensively, Hicks said,
the Wildcats run a basic 50
“but they give you five or six
different looks out of it. They
run a stack 60 (eight-man
front) a lot and run a 6-1
where they pinch you a lot.”
The Mountaineers hope to
continue to play tough
defense, which has been their
trademark over the years,
and to continue to improve of-
fensively. Since a 10-0 loss to
Shelby in the fourth game of
the year, the offense has
made great strides and now
ranks as the highest scoring
offense in the conference.
- After Friday’s contest, the
Mountaineers will begin
preparing for the state 3-A
playoffs. They are scheduled
to open on November 15 at the
home site of the number two
team from the Mountain
Athletic Conference. It ap-
pears that game will be
against Canton Pisgah, which
is tied for first place with
Asheville Erwin. Erwin
defeated Pisgah 6-0 last Fri-
day in the rain, so if those
teams remain tied, Erwin.
will get the number one
playoff spot because -of its
regular season victory, and
Pisgah will get the number
two spot. Erwin plays Enka
Friday and Pisgah meets
Turn To Page 3-C
First Downs
Yards Rushing
Passing Yards
Passes
Fumbles-lost
Penalties-yards
By quarters:
ER7 7 0 6
KM7 7 0 15
Scoring:
ER - Surratt 4-run (Hamilton kick)
- KM - Smith 25-run (Bumgardner kick)
KM - Boyce 15-run (Bumgardner kick)
ER - Grant 101-yd. kickoff return (Hamilton kick)
ER - Douglas 2-run (Kick failed)
KM - Brooks 46-pass from Boyce (Hollifield pass from
Jordan)
KM - Boyce 1-run (Bumgardner kick)
MOUNTAINEER RUSHING
Player Carries Yards
Smith 14 89
Jordan 14 68
Boyce 7 43
Hollifield 2 8
Roberts 1 2
Brooks 1 1
MOUNTAINEER PASSING
Player Att. Comp. Int. Yds. TD
Boyce 10 5 0 98 1
MOUNTAINEER RECEIVING
Player Catches Yards TD
Brooks 1 46, 1
Sherer 2 27 0
Bumgardner 1 15 0
Jordan 1 10 0
ER KM
10 13
152 211
17 98
1-1 5-10
4-2 3-3
6-45 3-25
T
20
29
SS