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KingstMountain 1 ER Li Rs Kings Mountain quarterback Brandon Bell (9) scrambles for a 12-yard touchdown run against East Burke Friday at Gamble Stadium. Mountaineers hold off Cavaliers 28-20 for best regular season record since ‘08 It wasn’t easy, but Kings Mountain’s Mountaineers defeated NC coaching leg- end Tom Brown’s East Burke Cavaliers 28-20 Fri- day night at Gamble Sta- dium to complete their best regular season (8-3) since their Southwestern champi- onship season of 2008. Now, head coach Greg Lloyd and his charges hope to repeat the post-season they had ’08 when they made it to the Western Re- gional championship game and finished 11-4 overall. East Burke’s Ryan Newell turned a short pass into an 80-yard touchdown play on the second: play of the game to give the Cava- liers (3-8) an early 6-0 lead. Kings Mountain came right back to drive 58 yards "to take the lead 7-6 on a three-yard run by Darian McClain and an extra point kick by Sam Liss. The Mountaineers never trailed again, but the game was still in ‘doubt until quarterback Brandon Bell hit Jake Mer- chant with a 15-yard pass for a first down at the East Burke 23 which allowed the Mountaineers to keep pos- session of the ball and run the final 1:33 off the clock. “We got off to a slow start,” said Mountaineer coach Greg Lloyd. “We had a hard time getting them off the field. They had a good receiver (Newell, who had six catches for 141 yards). He’s the best receiver we've seen all year. They kept the game closer than we wanted it.” McClain, who recently sat out three games with an ankle injury, was back to his early-season form. He car- ga = ried the ball 17 times for 132 yards rushing to bring his season’s total to 828 yards. He added two later touch- downs on runs of five and four yards. His two second half scores came on - back-to- back drives after the EB de- fense held the Mountaineers to three and out after the sec- ond half kickoff. The Moun- taineer defense limited the Cavs to two three-and-outs in the third quarter. “In the second half we controlled the line of scrim- mage,” Lloyd noted. “It was good to get a win in our last home game, and it was a big accomplishment for us to. win eight games after win- ning only two last year.” Lloyd said Graham Keeter, Max Peterson, Cory Hester and Gage Kornegay all did a great job blocking as the Mountaineers finished with 356 yards total offense. Quarterback Brandon Bell, one of 14 seniors hon- ored in a pre-game cere- mony, also had his best game since returning from an injury. He hit 9 of 18 passes for 131 yards, break- ing the 1,000-yard passing mark for the second year in a row. He has 1,022 yards passing heading into the playoffs. Bell scored KM’s other touchdown on a 12-yard scramble in the second quar- ter. He was trying to find a receiver on a rollout and had to retreat to around the 20 but kept zig-zagging around defenders and got inside the pylon for the score. “It was good to see him get back going good, and Darian McClain had the best game he’s had since early in Kings Mountain split end Xavier Johnson catches a pass near the sideline the year,” Lloyd said. Bell’s TD put the Moun- taineers up 14-6, but East Burke responded with a three-yard touchdown run by Brandon Clark and a two-point conversion recep- tion by Newell to tie the game at 14-all at intermis- sion. McClain’s two second half scores put the Moun- taineers up 28-14 with 11:32 remaining but the Cavaliers, who were fighting for an outside chance to get into the playoffs, wouldn’t go down easily. ‘They used a crisp passing attack to move the ball “Kings Mountain running back Darian McClain (23) picks up a huge chunk of yardage " downfield in a hurry and scored on a 12-yard run by Landon Ward with 7:12 re- maining. KM linebacker Dwayne Capps intercepted a two-point conversion pass to leave the score at 28-20. The Cavaliers recovered an onside kick to take pos- session again at the Moun- taineer 49. Very quickly, Newell caught a 15-yard pass at the 36, but on a fourth and eight play from the 34 KM’s Shawn Adams batted down a pass to end the threat. East Burke still wasn’t through, as they held the Mountaineers to three and out and gained possession again when Jarrett Ledford’s punt rolled dead at the East 28 at the 4:48 mark. Facing third and 7, quarterback Joe Duckworth rambled 10 yards for a first down at the 41, but a tipped pass by Dil- lon Frederick, no gain by Clark on a hard tackle by Collin Watkins, and two more incomplete passes re- sulted in a loss of downs at the East 41 with 2:29 left. Sparked by a 15-yard pass from Bell to Jake Mer- chant for a first down at the 23, the Mountaineer offense wouldn’t surrender the ball again. “We found out about 5:30 that Julian Coulter was- n’t going to be able to play because of a hurt back and that put a little wrinkle in our game plan,” Lloyd said. “But Chance Frederick stepped in and did a good job on offense.” Wednesday, November 12, 2014 The Kings Mountain Herald | www.kmherald.com Mountaineers at W. Henderson for first round 3A playoff game Kings Mountain’s Moun- taineers will play their first NCHSAA playoff game in three years Friday when they travel to West Hender- son for a first round 3A game. The Falcons and Moun- taineers have gone through similar struggles the past two seasons. The Falcons suffered through a 1-10 sea- son a year ago while the Mountaineers went through a 2-9 campaign. Both teams went with young players last season, and it has paid off for them this year as they have re- versed their fortunes with a host of players with playing experience. West Henderson has 21 returning lettermen including 10 on offense and nine on defense. “They’re very similar to us,” noted KM coach Greg Lloyd. “They haven’t won a lot of games the last two years but they have a senior laden offense.” The Falcons, coached by Paul Whitaker, finished 5-2 in the Western NC2A/3A ! Conference with their only losses being to perennial Western NC = powers Franklin and Canton Pisgah. They are 7-4 overall. Kings Mountain goes into the game with a 5-3 SMAC and 8-3 overall record. The Mountaineers are in the playoffs for the first time since 2011 when they defeated Forestview in the first round and fell to Crest in round two. The Falcons operate mostly out of a wing-T of- fense, but Coach Lloyd said they do switch to a shotgun on occasion. “They run a lot of buck sweeps and sweeps,” he noted. “They do a good job with their defense,” he added. “They’re in a 3-4/4-4 de- pending on what you’re doing on offense. They're definitely a good team and it will take a good effort for us to have a shot at winning. It’s going to be extremely cold Friday but it ought to be a lot of fun.” The Falcons, who are in the state playoffs for the first time since 2010, have a host of outstanding players. Sen- ior running back Cody Jack- son has 909 yards rushing and seven touchdowns and Results of the W. Henderson and KM 2014 regular season: WEST HENDERSON WH Pts. Opp. Pts. 28 Madison 26 20 Hendersonville 29 35 North Buncombe 28 21 Mtn. Heritage 40 35 N. Henderson 10 37 Smoky Mtn. 15 0 Canton Pisgah 3 56 Brevard 21 23 Tuscola 21 13 + Franklin 42 28 E. Henderson 12 (296) (247) KINGS MOUNTAIN KM Pts. . Opp. Pts. 34 Hunter Huss 21 43 East Gaston 15 35 Forestview 20 21 East Rutherford 14 28 Burns 0 7 Shelby 27 62 Draughn 0 7 Crest 35 14 RS Central 21 (ot) 54 Chase 13 28 East Burke 20 (333) (186) Ne quarterback Dustie Fender rushed for 130 yards on 16 carries in last week’s win over East Henderson. Defensively, the Falcons are led by linebackers Stephen Perron, Tanner Bul- lock and Tristan Thomas with 111, 88 and 75 tackles, respectively. Coach Lloyd said he hopes to see improvement in his defense this week. “We have to get back to being more aggressive on defense,” he said. “We suf- fered a setback against R-S Central and again this week because we didn’t come away with any turnovers. We are at our best when we are aggressive and making things happen.” Offensively, Lloyd said the Mountaineers need to “establish the run and get the ball out to.our receivers. “In playoff games, some- times the one that makes the least mistakes will come out the winner,” he said. “We need to play smart. If we do, we’ll be okay. We have to get mentally prepared to play and we have to take care of the ball.” Friday’s winner will ad- vance to a second round game against the winner of the Freedom-East Rowan game. Kings Mountain Mountaineers Athlete of the Week MOUNTAINEERS Graham Keeter Football rr \ Breakfast! SUBW > Al Day... All The Time... 105 York Rd., Kings Mountain $325 Combo! 6" sand. & drink 704.734.4782
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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