From staff reports
The Rowan Rampage semi-pro football team notched its second straight preseason victory by whipping the Burke County Storm 33-0 at Knox Middle School on Saturday.
D’Andre Hopper was 12-for-25 passing for 189 yards and two scores for the defending CCFL champs and rushed nine times for 44 yards and another TD. Willie Hosch paced the ground game with 13 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown.
Rampage defensive standouts were Phillip Brown, Will Himes, Manny Quinterro and Corby Jones.
Hosch’s 23-yard scoring run opened the scoring in the first quarter. After Himes crushed the punter following a bad snap, the Rampage took over on the Burke 22 and punched in another score. Hopper went 10 yards up the middle for the TD and a 12-0 halftime lead.
The Rampage put together a 70-yard drive in the third quarter that featured Hopper’s completions to D.J. Lyles for 42 and 16 yards. Hopper threw to Hakim Pearce for a 20-yard TD and an 18-0 lead.
The Rampage put the game out of reach with a drive early in the fourth quarter. Hopper hit Justin Davis for 18 yards and Lyles for 34 before finding Pearce for a 12-yard TD strike. Hopper’s PAT made it 25-0.
A sack by Brown and a tackle for loss by Quinterro stopped Burke’s last scoring chance. The Rampage attempted to run out the clock, but backup tailback Charles Scott broke a 23-yard run in the final seconds to make it 31-0. The Rampage then had a successful two-point conversion with Hopper tossing to James Allen.
The Rampage opens the regular season with a 4 p.m. kickoff at Knox on July 25. The opponent will be the Triangle Rattlers.
n American LegionLate Saturday night, Legion officials announced a revised formula for pairings for the third round that begins Tuesday.
Mooresville will now battle Randolph, while the Rowan-Stanly winner takes on High Point.
n Intimidators winThe Kannapolis Intimidators finished off a series split with the top team in the South Atlantic League by taking a 9-4 win against Lakewood on Saturday night at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium.
The Intimidators roughed up Lakewood starter Jason Knapp (3-7) for six runs early to get things rolling early. Brandon Short crushed an 0-2 pitch from Knapp to center field with the bases loaded and two out to chase Knapp from the game just eight batters in.
Stephen Sauer (5-3) earned the win with six innings on the bump. Sauer retired the first 10 batters in a row, eventually surrendering two runs on six hits.
Kannapolis got multi-hit games all over the order. Short and Eduardo Escobar had three hits each, while Drew Garcia and Luis Sierra had two hits apiece. Sierra stayed red-hot, driving in two runs to raise his season total to 10 RBIs in eight games.
n Braves beat Knights
Gwinnett built an early lead and held off a late Charlotte rally to win 5-4 in front of 9,645 fans Saturday night in Fort Mill, S.C.
Rehabbing Kelly Johnson helped the Braves prevail.
n Minor leagues
Rob Lyerly (Charlotte) batted .273 with five RBIs in his first 15 games for Staten Island in the New York-Penn League.
Both of Lyerly’s parents are Rowan natives. He was a sixth-round pick by the Yankees.
n Kane County’s David Thomas (Catawba) returned to the leadoff spot on Saturday and went 2-for-4, including a triple, to lead a 6-4 win against Great Lakes.
Thomas is batting .291 for Kane County.
n Bristol’s Daniel Wagner (South Rowan) had another good night Saturday, belting two doubles and driving in three runs in an 11-5 Appy League win against Kingsport.
Wagner is batting .306.
n Ogden’s Jerry Sands (Catawba) picked up his 20th RBI on Saturday despite going 0-for-4 in a 10-4 win against Billings.
n Wood bat leagues
Asheboro’s Craige Lyerly (East Rowan, Catawba) went 3-for-4 on Saturday and swiped his 29th and 30th bases of the season.
n Forest City’s Wade Moore (West Rowan, Catawba) is batting .306 with two homers and 16 RBIs in 30 games. Moore is 25-for-28 on steal attempts. He was 1-for-3 Saturday.
n Justin Roland (East, Charlotte) is batting .271 with six RBIs for the Bethesda Big Train in the Cal Ripken Sr. League.
n Chatham’s Whit Merrifield (Davie) is batting .225 with a homer and four RBIs in 22 games in the Cape Cod League.
n Indoor Football LeagueRon Ellington (Catawba) made six tackles, one for loss, as the El Paso Generals beat the San Angelo Stampede Express 78-63 in Indoor Football League action on Saturday night.
n South boosters
The South Rowan Booster Club will meet Monday night at 7 p.m. in Room 100 at the high school.