By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
Area athletes update …
Salisbury coach Joe Pinyan’s trip to Hickory on Saturday served multiple purposes.
It was an opportunity to let Salisbury running back Dominique Dismuke and kicker Michael Mazur visit the Lenoir-Rhyne campus and it was also a chance to watch former Hornets Ike Whitaker (Lenoir-Rhyne) and Joseph So (Wingate) perform for their respective teams in a SAC contest.
It was the right day to be in Hickory. Whitaker, a redshirt freshman fullback, had a monster outing, rushing for 177 yards on 32 carries and scoring three touchdowns in a 52-28 L-R victory. Whitaker had scoring bursts of 4, 10 and 14 yards. He also broke a run for 25 yards.
“I accused Ike of showing off,” Pinyan said. “I don’t know that he ever had a day that big in high school — but maybe I didn’t get him enough carries.”
For the record, Whitaker’s biggest rushing day as a Hornet was 111 yards in a playoff win against Shelby in 2009.
Pinyan said So, Wingate’s starting center, also had a good day.
nT.J. Johnson (A.L. Brown) had a career day for UNC Pembroke, catching three passes for 105 yards in a win against Newberry.
Johnson’s 65-yard TD reception opened the scoring.
Cadarreus Mason (South Rowan) made three tackles for UNCP’s Braves, who won their fourth in a row since losing to Catawba.
nJon Crucitti (West) got to play in the snow on Saturday and scored his first college TD in Army’s rout of Fordham. Crucitti found the end zone on a 4-yard run in the third quarter. He rushed three times for 12 yards.
n Wake Forest defensive end Tristan Dorty (West) was active in Saturday’s 49-24 loss to UNC. Dorty was credited with four tackles, a QB hurry and a pass breakup.
n Freshman Emmanuel Gbunblee (West) had a fine day for Brevard in a 27-24 SAC loss to Carson-Newman. He made six tackles and was credited with a sack.
nChris Smith (West) made one tackle in Arkansas’ win against Vanderbilt.n West Liberty State’s Eric Cowan (West Rowan) has returned from an injury and returned a kickoff 22 yards on Saturday.
nTrey Mashore (West) returned three kickoffs for a total of 60 yards in Catawba’s loss to North Greenville.
nGordy Witte Jr. (Salisbury) and Jamill Lott (A.L. Brown) played in Appalachian State’s huge win against Georgia Southern in Boone in front of more than 30,000 fans.
nZack Grkman (Carson) had a terrific day for Averett in a win against Methodist.
He picked off a pass, broke up two passes and made five tackles.
Averett’s Anthony Bowles (South) caught a pass for a two-point conversion.
nMatt Turchin (West) kicked two PATs and made a tackle on a kickoff for Emory & Henry in a loss to Bridgewater.
nK.P. Parks (West) ranks 10th in rushing in the ACC with 471 yards and seven TDs in seven games.
n Western Carolina’s Shaun Warren (Carson) didn’t play Saturday, but he’s been named to the Jerry Rice Award Watch List. The Rice Award goes to the top freshman in FCS football.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Gardner-Webb freshman Jessica Heilig (Salisbury) will get an exciting introduction to college hoops. The Bulldogs open against North Carolina and also play Duke in November.
CROSS COUNTRY
USC Upstate’s Ross Oden (East Rowan) was 35th in Saturday’s Atlantic Sun Championships in 26:31. USC Upstate won the championship in Nashville, Tenn.
n Western Carolina senior Olivia Jacobs (South) ran 18:17, a personal best, and finished 32nd in the Southern Conference Championships held in Charleston, S.C.
VOLLEYBALL
Guilford setter Taylor Whitley (Carson) had 30 assists, two aces and nine digs in a sweep of Salem.
nNicole Barringer (South) had 28 assists, 11 digs and two kills as Averett split two matches on Saturday.