Davis final-minute TD run helps Freedom avoid hangover loss

The Freedom football team avoided a hangover loss at St. Stephens on Friday night.

Barely.

The host Indians never trailed by more than a score, tying the game at 21-21 on a touchdown with 4:54 to play before Patriots senior quarterback Kaden Davis led his team down the field for the winning touchdown with 55 seconds left in a 28-21 victory.

Freedom (6-1, 1-1 Northwestern 6A/7A Conf.) narrowly avoided a second consecutive loss after falling to conference favorite Watauga the week before as the Patriots stayed unbeaten in nine all-time meetings with St. Stephens.

Davis capped the late nine-play, 79-yard Freedom go-ahead drive with his second rushing TD of the night, which came from 2 yards out.

He also completed passes covering 19 yards to Kaleb Pearson and 14 yards to Kobe Johnson for a pair of first downs on the crucial series and finished the evening with 192 passing yards on 14 of 23 attempts (with one interception) and 77 rushing yards on 18 carries.

Jaiveon Belin got Freedom on the scoreboard with a 3-yard TD run on the game's opening series, and fellow running back Cam Brown's 14-yard TD run pushed Freedom ahead at 21-14 late in the third period.

Between those scores, Davis' first TD run came from 1 yard out midway through the second period, after which the Indians responded to tie things at 14-all prior to halftime on their homecoming night.

Julius Dominguez had seven receptions for 101 yards to lead Freedom, while Johnson added 49 receiving yards, and Belin had 43 rushing yards and a first-half interception.

Zaydrin Hausley had a fourth-down stop to force a turnover on downs for the Patriot defense and also recovered a fourth-quarter fumble that was nullified by a penalty, while Trent Davis knocked a Saint pass away near the pylon as time expired to preserve the win, and Ian Clark made all four extra-point kicks.

West Caldwell 42, Patton 20

The Panthers (1-6, 1-3 Western Piedmont 3A/4A Conf.) were within a single score at halftime before being held scoreless over the final two quarters of Friday’s home loss to the Warriors.

Patton received a 52-yard touchdown run from Jet Chatman in the first quarter before getting a 7-yard scoring scamper from River McCrary in the second. McCrary also tossed a 17-yard TD pass to Landry Duvall in the final minute of the second period before Chatman tacked on the two-point conversion run to cut what was once a 22-6 deficit to 28-20 at the half.

Chatman finished with 25 carries for 135 yards, while McCrary amassed 100 total yards (60 passing, 40 rushing) but was intercepted three times. Cavan Sullivano (three catches, 22 yards) and Duvall (two catches, 20 yards) were McCrary’s top targets.

The senior trio of Jayden Quesenberry, Lathan Dula, and Nick Calhoun accounted for all of West Caldwell’s TDs, beginning with Quesenberry’s 76-yard punt return for a score at the 7:37 mark of the opening quarter, which gave the Warriors a lead that they would not relinquish. Quesenberry also caught a 62-yard TD strike from Dula later in the period before the Warriors’ Javontae Hallman picked off a pass that was tipped by a teammate and Dula scored from 1 yard out two plays later to make it 22-6 with 2:44 remaining in the first quarter.

Quesenberry also had two interceptions on defense in the second half. Additionally, the Warriors got two-point conversion runs from Dula and David Young in the first half and from Calhoun in the second half.

Patton’s Brody Suttles had one solo tackle for loss, and he was also in on another tackle for loss that involved two other Panthers. Alex Ryan added two pass breakups, while Sullivano had one as well. 

R-S Central 27, East Burke 14

The Cavaliers opened Friday's homecoming contest in Icard with a touchdown in the first 30 seconds but scored just once more en route to falling back to .500 in league play.

East Burke (2-5, 2-2 WPC 3A/4A) was in business early after a long Leelan Pyatte kickoff return set up a first-play touchdown strike from Carter Bennett to RJ Williams to cover 35 yards.

But R-S scored each of the game's next four touchdowns, taking as much as a 27-8 lead with 8:22 to go as it remained undefeated at 4-0 in conference.

Bennett found Jesiah Rees on a 6-yard TD pass with 2:29 left to account for the final score.

Bennett passed for 135 yards but also threw three interceptions, with Williams, Rees, and Cayson Mooneyham (who also had an interception on defense for a second consecutive week) each finishing with at least 37 yards receiving.

Mooneyham also recovered a fumble that Pyatte forced and posted seven tackles, as did both Trevor Fraley and Jaxson Wiley (team-high two tackles for loss), and Daniel Cook led the Cavs with 10 total tackles.  

Hibriten 56, Draughn 0

The Wildcats (0-7, 0-4 WPC) trailed 35-0 after one quarter on homecoming night on Friday in Valdese and were shut out for a third consecutive contest and fifth time this season as they remained winless.

Freshman Currie White started at quarterback, with he and Fore Putnam trading snaps in the second half.

Henry Cooper, Carson Murdock, Bryson Seagle, and Titus Dodd led the Wildcats receiving corps, with Dodd making three fourth-quarter catches including on a game-ending completion that saw the hosts' final drive reach the Hibriten 9-yard line but run out of time.