Newspapers / The Kings Mountain Herald … / Nov. 28, 1985, edition 1 / Page 17
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Third Round Of State Playoffs Mountaineers Host Brevard Kings Mountain’s Mountaineers will play their first state playoff game ever in John Gamble Stadium Friday at 8 p.m. when Brevard’s Blue Devils come to town for a third round 3-A playoff contest. Both ball teams carry 11-1 overall records into the contest. Brevard won the Western Athletic Conference for the third time in six years and Kings Mountain finished second in the Southwestern Conference. The Blue Devils, who have won 11 straight games since a 14-7 non-conference loss to 4-A Asheville Reynolds in their season’s opener, have scored playoff victories over East Rutherford (21-14) and West Henderson (23-0). The Mountaineers, the winngest foot- ball team in KMHS history, have playoff wins over Canton Pisgah (14-13) and Shelby (7-0). The Brevard team, coached by Frank Robinson, is a perennial power in western North Carolina football. The Blue Devils won the state 3-A championship in 1982 and won the state Division II title in 1981. This year’s team is young, but is big and powerful. The Blue Devils operate from a wishbone attack, but in sharp contrast to most wishbone teams, they run mostly power plays. “They’ll be the biggest team we’ve seen,” says KMHS Coach Denny Hicks. ‘They have MOUNTAINEER PRESSURE - Kings Mountain defensive end Otis Brooks (41) puts the pressure on Shelby quarterback Michael Spangler in Saturday’s state 3-A playoff game at Shelby. Mountaineers won 7-0 to set a new school record of 11 wins in one season. SHELBY MISSED FIELD GOAL - Shelby’s Sam Wheeler (14) gets pressure from Kings Mountain defensive end Vince Sullens (27) as he misses a 22-yard field goal attempt in first SPORTS 1-C ~ November 28, 1985 a big line and big running backs with ex- cellent speed, and they have an excellent passing attack.” The battle up front will feature a pair of Shrine Bowl players, Brevard’s 6-4, 240-pound Mike Mehalic, and Kings Moun- tain’s 6-4, 265-pound Calvin Stephens. Both are on several major college recruiting lists. The Blue Devils’ field general is 6-1, 185-pound sophomore quarterback Jeff Bailey, who has passed for over 1,100 yards. Their leading rushers are 160-pound sophomore David Winn, who has excellent speed, and 210-pound senior Patrick Lan- dreth. “The thing that makes us nervous about Brevard is if we’re not able to keep the ball away from them,” said Coach Hicks. ‘‘Our offense has to be consistent and get first downs. If we're able to break two or three long plays for touchdowns, that’ll be fine, but the main thing we’ll have to do is maintain ball control. We can’t give them the ball many times and expect to keep them out of the endzone. We're going to have to play as well or better than we did Saturday night at Shelby and have a lot of people around the football.” Coach Robinson, who expects to bring over 2,000 fans with him Friday, says he expects a close, hard-fought ballgame. “I was very impressed with Kings Moun- tain in their win over Shelby,’ he said. ‘They have good speed and are big up front. They seem to be on a roll. Everything is coming up roses for them.” Hicks said he’s been concerned the past few weeks that every phase of the KM game is not clicking, and he hopes everything will 11th Win Sets School Record Kings Mountain’s Moun- taineers drove 59 yards on their first possession to take a 7-0 lead, then put on one of the greatest defensive perfor- mances in the history of KMHS football Saturday night to blank Shelby in the second round of the State 3-A playoffs at Shelby’s Blanton Memorial Stadium. The victory, KM’s 11th in 12 outings, puts the Moun- taineers into a third round game Friday at 8 p.m. at John Gamble Stadium against Brevard’s' Blue Devils, also 11-1 and cham- pions of the Western Athletic Conference. “You can be in this game for a long time and never be involved in anything more ex- citing than that one,”” KMHS Coach Denny Hicks said after his charges scored their eighth straight victory and - avenged their only loss of the season. “The defense was the ma- jor factor,” he went on. “Our defense controlled the ballgame the entire four uarters. Offensively, our first possession was as good a drive as you could hope to have. We overcame a five- yard penalty and still manag- ed to put the ball in the end- zone.’ Photos by Gary Stewart half of Saturday’s state playoff game at Shelby. Kings Mountain won 7-0. come together Friday. “We've got to start getting something out of the kicking game,” he said. ‘‘Our coverage team has slacked up. We’ve done a good job most of the season holding people inside the 25 on their returns and that’s what we’re go- ing to need Friday. ‘““We’ve gone five games now without retur- ning a kickoff or punt for a touchdown,” he added. “If we're going to keep proceeding in the playoffs, all phases of our game is going to have to produce. We're down to eight teams now, and I guarantee you there are no weak sisters left.” Hicks said the Mountaineers have been well-pleased with their fan support this year and hope to see the biggest turnout ever for a KMHS football game Friday night. “I guarantee you Brevard will bring a big crowd to cheer them on,” he said. “I can’t Say enough about how our fans have con- tributed to our success this year. The support has been tremendous. This is going to be a big week and one that our kids will have to han- dle well. Both teams will be out of school Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving. Fri- day’s game is going to be a challenge for both teams and the one that can handle the change in proceedure is probably the one that will be successful.” Early TD Gives Mountaineers 7-0 Victory Over Shelby Advance tickets for Friday’s Kings Mountain-Brevard state high school foot- ball playoff game at John Gamble Stadium are on sale at the principal’s office at KMHS. Advance tickets are $3. Tickets at the gate are $4. Reserved seats in the middle section of seats on the home side are on sale for $5. Principal Ronnie Wilson said that tickets will not be sold Thursday because of the Advance Tickets - them all. Thanksgiving holidays, but that someone will be at the school Friday morning from 10 a.m, until noon to sell tickets. Fans are urg- ed to buy their tickets Wednesday if at all possible. Fans are urged to come to the stadium early because Brevard has been issued 2,000. advance tickets and expects to sell Gates will open at 6 p.m. Friday. Kickoff isat8 pm. Senior fullback Sam Smith gave the Mountaineers a se- cond and goal at the one-foot line on the 11th play of the - drive. However, on the next play, the Mountaineers were nalized five yards for il- egal proceedure. Quarter- back Roderick Boyce took the ball back to the three on an option play and Smith gained two yards to make it fourth and goal at the one. Smith scored on fourth down and Rusty Bumgardner kicked the point after to make it 7-0. Smith was KM’s bread- and-butter man during the drive, carrying the ball six times for 28 yards. Boyce also had a big eight yard run and threw a fourth down pass to Vince Sullens which covered 14 yards and kept the drive alive. The Mountaineers picked up all four of their first downs during the touchdown march. “We didn’t move the ball very consistently after that,” noted Hicks. ‘‘But our defense sure did the job for us. We didn’t make any ma- jor adjustments but had two or three wrinkles that we put in that we thought would help us. The biggest thing was that our kids executed as well and played as aggressively as they have all year.” The Mountaineers played without the services of All- Piedmont defensive back Ed- win Sherer, who was out with i a virus. The Lions tried to . take advantage of his absence by throwing the ball against his replacement, | junior Raynard Roberts, but Roberts played an outstan- ding defensive game. “They figured they had a y big height advantage on him, but he did an excellent job,” noted Coach Hicks. “Mike Brown filled in at Edwin's split end position on offense and also played a good game.” The Mountaineer defense forced three Shelby fumbles and made a couple of big defensive stands to keep the Lions from getting too close to the endzone. One Shelby march was stopped by a fum- ble at the 18 and on another occasion the Lions’ Sam Wheeler missed a 22-yard field goal try. Prior to the field goal attempt, the Lions had a second and one at the KM six but the determined Mountaineer defenders stop- ped the Lions dead on two running plays. The Mountaineers did an excellent job against Shelby’s high-powered wishbone runn- ing attack. The Lions’ leading rusher, fullback Jody Cook, who had 97 yards rushing in Shelby’s ‘early-season 10-0 win over the Mountaineers, was held to 18 yards in nine carries. The Mounties held halfback Rodney Robinson to 35 yards rushing and held quarterback Michael Spangler to minus 16. After the opening drive, the Mountaineers were held to 25 yards rushing. Leading rusher Jerry Jordan manag- ed only 10 yards in eight car- ries. Smith was the top ground gainer with 35 yards in 13 tries and Boyce added 20 yards in seven carries. Despite the loss of offense, the Mountaineers had a golden scoring opportunity and a chance to clinch the victory with four minutes left when linebacker Monyel Mc- Cullough picked up a Shelby fumble and returned it to the Shelby 15. However, the Mountaineers were penalized 10 yards for two consecutive illegal proceedure penalties Turn To Page 3-B KM S First Downs 4 10 Yards Rushing 70 63 Passes 3-9-2 6-19-0 Yards Passing 22 57 Fumbles Lost 1 3 Punts 6-29 4-31 Score by quarters: T KM7 0 0 0 7 S 0000 0 Scoring: KM - Smith, 1-run (Bumgardner kick) MOUNTAINEER RUSHING Player Carries Yards Smith 13 35 Boyce 7 . 20 Jordan 8 10 Hollifield 3 5 MOUNTAINEER PASSING Player Att. Comp. Int. Yds. Boyce 8 3 1 22 Jordan 1 0 1 0 MOUNTAINEER RECEIVING Player Catches Yards Sullens 2 ; 20 Brooks 1 2 i ne YP
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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Nov. 28, 1985, edition 1
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