MAIDEN, NC (August 30, 2019) — Winning a high school football game at what has been referred to by WBTV as the “biggest little football town in America” is ever a challenge. Under the era of legendary Blue Devils coach Tom Brown (stadium there named in his honor), Maiden will always be looked upon as legend in the annals of high school football in North Carolina.
South Caldwell entered this game tonight with a convincing 60-7 rout over county rival West Caldwell. In reading one post on NCPreps Rivals, Maiden was projected as 21-point favorites. When the Blue Devils have an outstanding wide receiver like Dylan Abernethy (six catches for ninety-eight yards on the night) along with their tradition, they are customarily expected to win by wide margins.
However, South appears to have greatly improved as their 2-0 start indicates. The Spartans, like the Blue Devils, came to play. What is even more significant is the improvement of the Spartans defensive play. In their first two matchups, South has held both opponents to less than 100 yards rushing.
In fact, it was standout defense along with quarterback Avery Raynor, that propelled the Spartans to a 14-13 victory. Raynor led the Spartans rushing game with 117 yards and a score. He also threw a five-yard touchdown strike to Spencer Piercy in the first half. Piercy also ran for a total of 73 yards. But it was Piercy’s heads up defense that stalled a Blue Devils touchdown drive as he intercepted quarterback Ethan Rhodes with 1:30 left in the game. Stopping the two-point conversion when Maiden scored earlier in the fourth frame was also very much significant. Piercy commented that “When it got tough, we all bought in and put our faith in one another.”
“It’s been a while since we’ve been 2-0. Both teams had turnovers, but we finished strong at the end. We did well in our running game. Maiden’s solid defense made it difficult for us to pass the ball. The defense has a bend don’t break mentality and it helped with containing their excellent quarterback and receivers” commented Spartans Head Coach Marc Kirkpatrick.
Bandys will bring their triple option running game to Jack Clarke field this Friday evening. Kickoff for this home contest will be at 7:30pm.
Scoring Summary
M- Rhodes 34 pass to Abernethy, Hayden kick 11:38 2nd
SC- Av. Raynor 5 pass to Piercy, Au Raynor run 6:16 2nd
SC- Av. Raynor 3 run, run failed 10:56 4th
M- Thomas 4 run, pass failed, 6:32 4th
Game Statistics
SC M
First Downs 10 11
Rushes/Yards 42/233 31/96
Passing Yards 22 172
Comp Att Int 4-10-4 13-19-1
Total Yards 255 268
Penalties 6-60 6-60
3rd Down Conv 1-4 2-5
4th Down Conv 2-2 0-2
Individual Statistics
SC: Rushing – Av. Raynor 18-117,TD, Piercy 12-73, Kirby 5-25, Crawford 5-17, Au Raynor 2-1
Passing – Av. Raynor 4-10-4,TD
Receiving – Au. Raynor 3-17 Piercy 1-5 TD
M: Rushing – Craig 17-67, Thomas 4-19,TD, Gossett 1-6, Abernethy 2- -2, Rhodes 7-2
Passing – Rhodes 13-19-1, TD
Receiving – Abernethy 6-98,TD, Morgan 1-4, James 4-66, Craig 2-4