Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The Kings Mountain Herald
Sports
Page 1B
| Postgame
PLAY OF THE GAME
After Hickory scored to cut Kings
Mountain's lead to 10-7 with 8:00 left
in the game, KM’s Terrance Young
returned the kickoff 26 yards to the
49-yard line to set in motion a 51-
yard, 8-play scoring drive that iced
the win.
PLAYERS OF
THE GAME
Terrance Young, return specialist, 11
and 56-yard punt retums and 22 and
29-yard kick returns; Zach Hopper,
LB, 9 tackles and pass interception
return for TD; Thomas James, 11
tackles, including sack and TFL; JT
Putnam, 8 tackles and forced fum-
ble; Anthony Dalton, fumble recov-
ery; Tori Belcher, 5 tackles, including
one sack and one TFL and constant
pressure on Hickory QB; Michael
Roberts, 23-135 rushing and 1 TD;
Carlos Bell, 6-65 rushing. Jake Allen,
P, 38-yd. Average; Edward Black-
burn, PK; FG and 3 PAT.
THE YARDSTICK
H KM
Firstdowns . 13 12
Rushes/Yds. ~~ 37-164 41-227
Yds. Passing 140 51
Passes 7-20-1 5-17-0
Punts 7-324 5-37.6
Fumblesflost ~~ 1-1 1-0
Penalties/Yds. 6-47 9-76
RUSHING
KM — Michael Roberts 23-135, Joe
Chambers 12-27, Carlos Bell 6-65.
H— TJ Wimbush 19-113, Tyshon
Chsholm 4-21, Trevin Parks 7-19,
Tavish Johnson 3-9, Linberger Quai
2-3, Kevin Shelton 2-minus 1.
PASSING
KM — Roberts 5-17-0-51. H — Shel
ton 6-19-1-104, Parks 1-1-0-36.
RECEIVING
KM — Chambers 2-19, T. Young 1-
15, Jacoby Giles 1-9, Devin
Thompson 1-8. H — Parks 3-65,
1-16.
BY THE NUMBERS
H0 0 0 7 ¥
KM 0 =0 "3 =21% 124
THIRD QUARTER
3:02 — KM — Edward Blackbum 29
FG. 76 yards, 12 plays. Bell 3
rushes for 28 yards, Roberts 26-
yard run to Hickory 13. :
FOURTH QUARTER
9:53 — KM — Roberts 1 run (Black-
burn kick). 2 play, 10-yard drive, set
up by Terrance Young's 56-yard
punt retum to the Hickory 10 and
Roberts’ 9-plus yard run on first
down.
8:00 — H— Wimbush 13 run (Smith
kick). 64 yards, 6 plays. Shelton 16-
yard pass to Anthony Wilson, Wim-
bush 3 rushes for 41 yards.
3:25- KM — Chambers 3 run
(Blackburn kick). 51 yards, 8 plays,
set up by Young's 29-yard kickoff
retum to 49. Bell 28-yard run to 18,
pass interference against Cham-
bers at goal line.
2:33 — KM — Zach Hopper 40 inter-
ception return (Blackburn kick).
NOTABLE
This was Kings Mountain's first vic-
tory over Hickory since 1944 (7-6):
. The Red Tomadoes defeated the
Mountaineers in 1945, 1946, 1964,
2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.
THIS WEEK
Mooresville, Friday 7:30 p.m.,
John Gamble Stadium.
NOTABLE
This is the 9th meeting between the
Mountaineers and Blue Devils, but
their first meeting in the state play-
offs. The series is tied 4-4, with KM
winning the last two, 20-13 in 1995
and 19-14 in 1996.
Hunter Huss
basketball
game
canceled
Kings Mountain High’s
winter sports teams will be in
action during the coming
week. :
The basketball teams’
scheduled games with Hunter
Huss for Friday night had
been re-scheduled for Satur-
day due to the state football
playoffs, but now those
games have been cancelled.
They may be re-scheduled
again for later in the season.
Kings Mountain will host
Crest Monday night and
travel to Ashbrook on Tues-
day.
The Mountaineer
wrestling team will open its
season Friday at 6:30 in a tri-
match at North Gaston. The
Mountaineers’ first home
match is next Tuesday at 7
p.m. against Hunter Huss.
Kings Mountain’s swim
teams will host East Ruther-
ford Thursday at 5:30.
Shook 2-23, Shelton 1-36, Wilson«
Hickory first
Mountaineer victim
in state playoffs
Gary Stewart photo
Joe Chambers (22) runs up the middle for the Mountaineers.
Break scoreless tie
“Our defense bent but
it didn’t break. To
hold a team like that
to seven points was a
fantastic effort.”
Coach Greg Lloyd
By GARY STEWART
SPORTS EDITOR
Kings Mountain’s Mountaineers
broke a scoreless tie late in the third
quarter and went on to defeat Hickory
24-7 in the first round of the State
3AA playoffs Saturday night at John
Gamble Stadium.
The game was postponed from Fri-
day due to heavy rain and an accurate
forecast for evening thunderstorms.
Although the field had some soft
spots, it didn’t bother either team as
both turnovers of the game (a fumble
recovery and pass interception by the
Mountaineers) were a result of out-
standing defensive plays by the home
team.
Both teams failed on some scoring
opportunities in the first half, but
broke the tie in the third and fourth
quarters. Kings Mountain had a drive
deep into Hickory territory end with a
bad snap on a field goal attempt and
Hickory had two touchdowns nullified
by penalties.
The Red Tornadoes also had a po-
tential score snuffed out when the KM
defense gang-tackled fullback TJ
Wimbush inside the one, causing a
fumble which Anthony Dalton
scooped up and returned 29 yards out
of danger.
Kings Mountain made some defen-
sive adjustments at halftime (Hick-
ory’s only sustained drive in the
second half was their only TD drive)
and went to a two-back set in the third
period to begin moving the ball better.
They also got three outstanding
special teams plays to turn the game
into a rout in the final minutes.
The Mountaineers broke the scor-
ing drought with 3:02 left in the third
period when freshman Edward Black-
burn nailed a 29-yard field goal to cul-
minate a 12-play, 76-yard drive.
Carlos Bell, who came in to join
Joe Chambers in a two-back set, had
three big runs for a total of 28 yards,
and quarterback Michael Roberts got
loose on a 26-yard run to the 13 yard
line to set up the field goal.
Early in the fourth quarter, Ter-
rance Young brought the big home
crowd to life with an electrifying 56-
yard punt return to the Hickory 10
yard line, setting up a one-yard sneak
by Roberts and a 10-0 lead.
Hickory’s offense, which had been
3rd quarter
Gary Stewart photo
Tori belcher (32) rushes the Hickory Quarterback.
snuffed out since halftime by better
coverage by the KM defense, came to
life briefly and responded with a 6-
play, 64-yard march that culminated
with a 13-yard touchdown run around
right end by Wimbush at the 8:00
mark.
Young answered again with a 29-
yard kick return to midfield, and Bell
followed with a 28-yard run to the
Hickory 18 to set up a 3-yard touch-
down run by Chambers and a 17-7
lead at the 3:25 mark.
The drive got new life when Cham-
bers was interfered with on a pass at
the goal line.
With the Red Tornadoes going to
the air to try to pull off a miracle fin-
ish, Mountaineer sophomore line-
backer Zach Hopper broke in front of
the intended Hickory receiver -and in-
tercepted the pass and returned it 40
yards for a touchdown to close out the
scoring.
Coach Greg Lloyd, who got his
first playoff win with the Moun-
taineers after being eliminated in the
first round last year at South Point,
was highly pleased with his team’s ef-
fort.
“All of the kids played hard,” he
said. “We played good in all three
phases of the game. Our defense bent
but.it didn’t break. To hold a team like
that to seven points was a fantastic ef-
fort.”
Hickory’s defense was obviously
geared to stop Chambers, who was
limited to a season-low 27 yards on 12
carries. But the decision to go to a
two-back set in the second half made
Bell and Roberts more effective.
Roberts finished with a game-high
135 yards in 23 carries and Bell fin-
ished with six carries for 65 yards, all
of them coming on two second half
TD drives.
“Our offense made some big plays
in the second half,” Lloyd said. “It was
a good win and it’s good for our mo-
mentum for the second round game.”
The halftime adjustments helped
both the offense and defense. In the
first half, Hickory was very successful
in its obvious game plan of keeping
the KM offense off the field. But that
was reversed in the second half, as
KM’s improved defensive play kept
the Red Tornadoes off the field.
“We moved our corners up to
tighten up on their receivers,” Lloyd
said, “and Anthony Dalton stayed on
the fullback a whole lot better. I think
they wore down a little, too. They
were playing a lot of guys both ways.”
Although Young, KM’s leading re-
ceiver, was held to one catch for 15
yards, Lloyd said he played his best
game of the year. His two kick returns,
which set up scores, turned the game
around.
“His returns gave us a short field,”
Lloyd said. “He did a nice job on all
punts and kickoffs. When he got the
chance to return some of them he
made things happen. It was his best ef-
fort of the year. He had a great game.
“Carlos Bell made the most of his
carries, t00,” Lloyd added. “He really
gave us a spark in the second half. And
Zach Hoppers interception and return
was nice.”
Lloyd credited Hickory’s defense
for stopping Chambers, but added the
Mountaineers didn’t take advantage of
some passes the Tornadoes were giv-
ing them.
“They were giving us a little bit on
the sides but we dropped too many
passes (five),” he said. “We can’t do
that this week. I think we’ll be ready
this week.”
Mooresville
here Friday
for second
round game
By GARY STEWART
SPORTS EDITOR
Kings Mountain’s
Mountaineers host another
traditional state power in
the second round of the
3AA playoffs Friday at
7:30 at John Gamble Sta-
dium.
Mooresville’s Blue
Devils, featuring a solid
running game that will
give KM’s defense its
toughest test yet, come to
town riding high with a 9-3
record and a 21-17 victory
over a good Sun Valley
team.
As was the case last
week, the Mountaineers
will be renewing a series
against a team they used to
play in non-conference
‘games. The two teams met
for a four-game series in
the 1960s, and again in the
1990s, with each team
winning four games.
Just as was the case in
the 90s, when the Blue
Devils featured a spectacu-
lar running back named
Corey Alexander, who
went on to star at the Uni-
versity of South Carolina,
they come to town this
week with another star,
Jjshaun Pinkston, who has
rushed for 2,143 yards and
-an 8.7 per carry average,
and 28 touchdowns.
Pinkston, who wears
number 7, and quarterback
Nathan Abraham, are just
as valuable to the
Mooresville attack as Joe
Chambers and Michael
Roberts (both 1,000-yard
rushers) are to the Moun-
taineers. The Blue Devils
are averaging 319 yards
rushing per game and have
a per-carry average of 7.5
yards.
“Pinkston is the best
running back we’ve seen,”
says KM Coach Greg
Lloyd, “He’s one of the
best in the state.”
Mooresville is also the
best team the Moun-
taineers have faced, Lloyd
said, and will be hard to
beat. But he’s confident his
players will rise to the oc-
casion.
“They’re the biggest
team we’ve played,” Lloyd
noted. “They’re bigger
than R-S Central. They
have a big offensive line.
They have wins over some
very good teams, including
A.L. Brown. They’re very
good - obviously the best
team we’ve played this
year — and it will take a
great effort to beat them.”
While KM’s main ob-
jective on defense is to
stop Pinkston, the Moun-
taineers have to also key -
on Abraham. He is also a
very fast runner and a
passing theat.
« “We have to slow num-
ber 7 down,” Lloyd said,
“and we have to score
points. It will be hard to
keep them from scoring.
We need to keep our of-
fense on the field.”
Mooresville is strictly a
two-platoon team. Wearing
them down physically
won’t be as easy as it has
been with some of the
Mountaineers’ opponents.
The Mountaineers will
have to play very well in
all three phases of the
game.
“Obviously, running is
their main thing,” Lloyd
said, “but they also have
very good special teams.
They have a good kicker
and good punter. They're
an all-around good football
team.”
Fans are encouraged to
come early because the
Blue Devils have a huge
following.
“It’s going to be a great
football game,” Lloyd said.
“We'll be ready.”
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