Area athletes update …
Michael Church was a backup quarterback at A.L. Brown, but he’s an inspiration now to everyone who sat on a high school bench and didn’t given up on dreams of bigger things.
After redshirting at Coastal Carolina in 2011 and playing very briefly in 2012, Church has moved up to the second team for the Chanticleers this season as a sophomore.
And on Saturday, with starter Alex Ross out with an injury, the 6-foot-4 Church was called on to start.
He helped FCS school Coastal (8-0) stay unbeaten.
In a 66-27 win against VMI, Church was 12-for-15 passing for 164 yards. He threw three touchdown passes of 17, 32 and 12 yards — all before halftime.
• Guilford’s Adam Smith (Davie) is a guy who did get to shine at quarterback in high school, but he’s now a standout receiver. He’ll probably collect some national and league awards this week after his unbelievable outing in a 28-21 victory against Randolph-Macon.
Smith caught TD passes of 86, 58 and 18 yards and finished with 227 yards on seven catches.
• Jarvis Morgan (West Rowan) had a homecoming on Saturday and made two catches for 12 yards for Winston-Salem State in its 40-0 win against Livingstone at Alumni Stadium.
• UNC Pembroke suffered its first loss Saturday when it fell to Newberry 24-21. Cadarreus Mason (South Rowan) did his part for the Braves with two tackles for loss, including a sack. Ben DeCelle (East Rowan) was limited to three catches for 9 yards and added a tackle on special teams.
• T.J. Bell (Carson) was the long snapper for Wingate in a 41-33 win against Tusculum.
• Ike Whitaker (Salisbury) rushed for 70 yards on 24 carries for Lenoir-Rhyne in a hard-fought 27-20 SAC win against Mars Hill.
• Ibn Ali (Salisbury) is on the Livingstone roster, but he’s been hampered by a lingering groin injury.
• Charleston’s John Knox (Salisbury) was held to 18 rushing yards on 10 carries and two catches for 16 yards in Saturday’s 9-3 loss to Concord.
• Erick Amaya (A.L. Brown) continued to shine as a kicker for Johnson C. Smith. In a 39-33 loss to Shaw, he kicked two field goals and four PATs and had two touchbacks on kickoffs.
• Quentin Sifford had a quiet Saturday for West Liberty with one tackle in a loss to West Virginia Wesleyan.
• Trey Mashore (West) rushed five times for 32 yards in the 34-17 win against Brevard, while cornerback Mark McDaniel (South) made two tackles.
• Kevin Parks (West) rushed 13 times for 54 yards and had four catches for 15 yards in a loss to Georgia Tech. Parks scored another TD on a 6-yard run.
Domonique Noble (West) played well in the defensive secondary for the Yellow Jackets. He made five tackles and had two pass breakups.
• In a 34-10 UNC win against Boston College that was easier than expected, Romar Morris (Salisbury) rushed nine times for 33 yards for the Tar Heels and caught four passes for 29 yards. Darien Rankin (Salisbury) made three tackles for the Heels.
• Kalif Phillips (A.L. Brown) only had 23 rushing yards in a loss to Charleston Southern, but he scored two touchdowns on runs of 7 and 14 yards. He also returned two kickoffs for 27 yards.
• West Virginia linebacker Jared Barber (Davie) and Western Michigan defensive end Keion Adams (Salisbury) had quiet Saturdays with one tackle each, although Western Michigan got its first win by beating UMass. West Virginia fell to Kansas State.
• Shaun Warren (Carson) ran back two kickoffs for 22 yards as Western Carolina surprised Elon 24-21.
• South Carolina State’s Javon Hargrave (North Rowan) had four tackles, one for loss, in a 14-3 loss to rival Bethune-Cookman.
• Clemson’s Bradley Pinion (NW Cabarrus) averaged 37.2 yards on four punts and had three kickoffs for touchbacks as the Tigers beat Maryland.
Nicole Barringer (South) had 64 assists, 26 digs and 12 kills as Averett won matches against N.C. Wesleyan and William Peace. Averett is 22-8.
• Lela Moore (West) had 19 assists, four digs and two kills for Hollins in a 3-0 loss to Roanoke.
• Guilford’s Taylor Whitley (Carson) had 29 assists, eight kills and nine digs in a Senior Night win against Salem.
• Kayla Morrow (South) had seven kills and four blocks for Lenoir-Rhyne in a 3-2 loss to Tusculum. Emma Pope (South) had nine digs and made only one error in 17 chances receiving serves.
• Catawba Valley Community College won again Saturday, sweeping Spartanburg Methodist. Tiffany Brooks (South) had six kills. Aimee Cloninger (Carson) had five kills, 12 digs and two aces.
Mooresville’s J.B. Mauney is recognized as the No. 1 bull rider in the world after winning the Professional Bull Riders Championship Sunday in Las Vegas.
He earned $1 million for the season points title and another $250,000 for topping the six-round PBR World Finals. He finished the season with earnings of $1,810,711.
In the Bridgestone Collegiate, UNC Greensboro’s Roy Dixon III (Salisbury) placed 26th. He shot 73-74 — 147 and had four birdies on his final round.
Daniel Hemric (South) debuted in the NASCAR Trucks Series on Saturday at Martinsville, Va.
Hemric’s transmission failed after three laps, sending him to pit road, but he later returned and finished 32nd.
Hemric will return to action in the All-American 400 in Nashville on Nov. 2.