From staff reports

KANNAPOLIS — Robinson outscored A.L. Brown, 49-42, on Friday in Kannapolis in a football battle for first place in the South Piedmont Conference. Que Reid’s interception in the end zone sealed victory for the Bulldogs (8-2, 4-0), who beat the Wonders for the first time on their 12th try.

The Wonders (8-2, 3-1) had a seven-game winning streak snapped.

Chase Orrock’s 21-yard TD pass to Dawson Williams with 5:25 remaining provided the decisive TD for the Bulldogs.

A.L. Brown scored first on a Jordan Medley 5-yard flip to Justin Rodgers, but after that it was a Robinson avalanche — 29 unanswered points, with rushing TDs from Williams and Reid along with Orrock TD passes to Williams and Chris Caldwell.

Down 29-7, the Wonders got back in the game with Medley’s 33-yard scoring pass to Antonio Knight and his 49-yard connection with Rodgers.

Action was fast and furious in the third quarter. Down 35-21, the Wonders caught up at 35-all on rushing TDs by Terry Anderson and Jaron Cooper.

Orrock’s 37-yard rushing TD at the end of the third quarter put Robinson up 42-35. With 9:16 remaining, the Wonders got even for the last time, with Medley and Rodgers connecting again. Rodgers had never scored a varsity touchdown. He had three on Friday.

Still, Robinson got in the last word with Williams’ third touchdown of the night.

The Wonders finish the regular season at home next week against Concord.   Robinson hosts Central Cabarrus.

ND 45, Salisbury 0

WELCOME  —  Salisbury knew North Davidson was going to be a tall order, but the Hornets hoped to be more competitive than they were in a 45-0 shellacking on Friday.

North Davidson (9-1, 7-0 CCC) stayed perfect in the league and will square off with Ledford for the   championship next week.

Salisbury (6-3, 5-2) is assured of placing third in the nine-team league and has already secured an automatic berth in the 2A playoffs.

North tailback T.J. Boyce was the dominant player with 23 carries for 198 yards and three touchdowns.  Boyce has a school-record 32 rushing TDs this season.

Salisbury had good field position right away after recovering the North Davidson onside kick that started the contest, but the Hornets couldn’t move the ball, and they really never found any offensive answers all night.

The Knights scored on their first possession on a  Josh Sicignano to Zi Russell pass and went up 14-0 later in the first quarter on a short scoring run by Maddox Johnson.

Salisbury’s Tyvion Wood had an interception to stop the next North Davidson push, but Shrine Bowler Chris Dunn kicked a field goal for a 17-0 North Davidson lead in the second quarter.  Boyce’s first TD, from 35 yards out, made it 24-0.

Sicignano finished with 216 passing yards.

Boyce added rushing TDs that swelled the lead to 31-0 and then to 38-0.

North Davidson’s last touchdown came through the air with 6:16 left and the issue long decided.

Salisbury will finish the regular season at home against South Rowan next week.

Statesville 48,  East 27

STATESVILLE — It was a tight game at Greyhound Hollow for a while, but Statesville beat East Rowan, 48-27, to stay tied with West Rowan for second place in the North Piedmont Conference.

The Greyhounds (8-2, 3-1 NPC) and Falcons will settle second place next week in Mount Ulla.

East opened with an impressive drive, and on fourth-and-goal from the Statesville 1, Noah Green found the end zone for a 6-0 East lead.

Bryant Young threw a TD pass to Izaiah Gathings on a fourth-down snap to get the Greyhounds even, but East responded again, this time with a 1-yard scoring run by Sam Wall with 10:25 left in the first half for a 13-6 lead.

Statesville got a break on a deep pass that was deflected — then caught by Gathings — and Young, son of former West Rowan coach Scott Young, scored on the ground  from 6 yards out to forge a 13-all tie.

That break on the long pass turned the game around. Young tossed another TD pass to Gathings, as the Hounds took a 20-13 lead to the break.

Brandon Joyner had back-to-back scores, on a run and on a bubble screen, in the third quarter, as Statesville took command at 33-13. Caylon Imes had a rushing TD for a 40-13 lead in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.

East (2-8, 0-4) finishes the season at home against winless North Iredell next week.

Prep girls tennis

The Salisbury doubles team of Maria Capito/Julia Honeycutt won twice on Friday in Cary in the individual 2A state championships and advanced to today’s semifinals.

Championship matches will follow the semifinals.

Salisbury’s doubles team of Emma Nianouris/Lillian Rusher lost a close match in the first round.

Salisbury’s Bethanie Stauffer lost in singles in the first round to Maiden’s Zoe Huffman.

  

2A Doubles

First round — Maria Capito & Julia Honeycutt (Salisbury) def. Jaiden Tweed & Ashley Valencia (Owen) 6-0, 6-2

Lauren Bush & Annie Thomas (Lake Norman Charter) def. Emma Nianouris & Lillan Rusher (Salisbury) 7-6(4), 6-3

Quarterfinal — Maria Capito & Julia Honeycutt (Salisbury) def. Hannah Watlington & Norah Massey (Bartlett Yancey)  6-0, 6-1

Semifinals —  Lauren Bush & Annie Thomas (Lake Norman Charter) vs. Gracie Arrowood & Easton Finger (Maiden)

Madison Polyasko & Veronica Judson (Smoky Mountain) vs. Maria Capito & Julia Honeycutt (Salisbury)

Championship — Follows semifinals

• Davie County’s Laura Becker, a regional champ, won two matches in the 4A state tournament in Raleigh and advanced to today’s semifinals.

• Gray Stone’s Emma Bost won twice in the 1A tournament in Cary on Friday and is in today’s final.

• Concord’s Kate Earnhardt and Hannah Jiang won two matches on Friday and are in semifinal matches today in Burlington.

Prep cross country

High school cross country regionals (to determine  individual and team state qualifiers) will be held early today.

The 2A Midwest Regional is in Kernersville, while the 3A Midwest Regional is at Charlotte’s McAlpine Park.

College cross country

  Livingstone  men’s and women’s cross country teams placed fifth in the CIAA Championships at Green Hill Park in Salem, Va., on Thursday.

Virginia State won the men’s race.

LC’s Aaron Thompson placed seventh in 29:29.5. Tyreese Jones was 15th in 30:12.6 Both received All-CIAA honors.

Fayetteville State won the women’s race.

Angel Ewell and Asia Green paced   Livingstone and earned All-CIAA honors.

Ewell was 11th in 21:25.1 and Green was 15th in 21:48.