KANNAPOLIS — With third place on the line in the Mecka 4A conference, visiting Hopewell took only 4 plays on their first possession to score their first touchdown on their way to a 19-14 win against A.L. Brown. The opportunity presented itself when Dominique Heath intercepted Wonder quarterback Damon Johnson’s first pass of the game. ”We believed in ourselves.” said winning head coach Matthew Jenkins.
Hopewell workhorse Dimitrius Camp (18 carries for 137 yards) scored on a 32 yard run to start the scoring.
Brown head coach Mike Newsome lamented that while the Wonders and Titans were evenly matched, Hopewell clicked while his team didn’t.
The Wonders were able to fight back with Senior running back Kenon Jones scoring two TDs, one a 2-yard plunge, the second from a yard out.
The fourth quarter started with the Wonders leading 14-13 thanks to a blocked PAT by Chris Hill.
Then things got weird. Despite Kannapolis getting five downs, they couldn’t cash in and turned it over on downs. Hopewell took it in on a 47 yard pass Justin Phillips to Heath. The two point try by Phillips was stopped short.
As Hopewell kicked off to the Wonders with 3:13 left in the game, the squib kick bounced off the foot of Christian Neal. Hopewell’s Seth Spillman recovered.
One minute later, the Wonders had a chance to pull the game out as Braden Harrington recovered a fumble. Despite running 7 plays, the Wonders turned the ball over on downs and the game was over.
Coach Newsome praised his defense for several sparkling plays. The Wonders recoverd three fumbles, the first one by Johnny Delahoussaey at the Kannapolis one yard line, thwarting a Hopewell drive. The Wonders second score was set up by Hayden Taylor’s pounce on a Jerry Chadwick fumble late in the seconds quarter. And Kenon Jones literally ripped the ball out of the arms of Dimitrius Camp in the first quarter.
“We have to get ready for the playoffs now,” Newsome said. “Everyone starts off at 0-0. It’s a matter of getting mentally ready.”
Hopewell’s offensive coordinator is former Central Cabarrus star, Natrone Means. “You’d never know he was a player in the NFL. He is so humble, he really cares about the kids.” said coach Jenkins.