High school football: North romps in first round

Published 2:47 am Saturday, November 5, 2022

By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

SPENCER — Carver arrived at North Rowan for the first round of the 1A state playoffs with a stop-the-run mindset.

The 20th-seeded Yellow Jackets crowded the box to try to contain the running adventures of Jaemias Morrow and Jeremiah Alford, but the trade-off was no deep help.

North’s offense can beat you in more than one way, and the Cavaliers, seeded 13th, reminded everyone who Amari McArthur is.

Alford threw four touchdown passes. The first two went to McArthur, who had touchdown catches of 50 and 33 yards to set the tone for a 49-6 romp over the visitors from Winston-Salem.

Both of McArthur’s touchdowns came in the opening five minutes.

“When we see Cover Zero, we’re going to take our shots down the field,” North head coach Nygel Pearson said. “When there’s no safety coming to help over the top, it’s one-on-one. And we’re going to like Amari’s chances one-on-one.”

The touchdown catches were the ninth and 10th of the season for McArthur who has amassed 31 for his career. He’s the record-holder at North and with one more he can move into the top five all-time in the county.

Alford, who also threw scoring passes to Emanuel Cantres and Tsion Kelly, boosted his season total to 18 TD passes. The sophomore has 41 for his career and will have a chance to break the school record (Mario Sturdivant’s 65) and the county record (Samuel Wyrick’s 74 for East) before he’s done at North.

“Jeremiah and Amari got us out early 14-0,” Pearson said. “It was good to see them get going, good to see them have big games. Jeremiah started completing some balls, and he fell into a good rhythm throwing the football.”

No matter how many guys are in the box, you’re not going to keep Morrow out of the end zone for long. He broke a 43-yard scoring run before the first quarter was over for a 20-0 lead.

Then the Cavaliers (7-4) produced a strong second quarter on both sides of the ball. Alford hit Cantres for an 8-yard touchdown early in the quarter, added a 2-point conversion run, and then connected with Kelly for a 35-yard score two minutes later.

After Morrow scored his second touchdown from the Carver 5, it was 41-0. Daniel Medrano’s PAT meant a 42-0 lead and a running clock for the entire second half.

“It was good to put them to bed early,” Pearson said. “Let a team hang around and anything can happen.”

North’s only score of the second half came on a pick-six in the third quarter by the ever-present Morrow.

Carver (3-8) finally got on the scoreboard with 3:45 left in the game to break up the shutout.

“Our defense had a good game plan and did a great job,” Pearson said. “Carver has shifty backs, but our guys were able to wrap up and did a good job of getting them on the ground.”

Yasir Wactor had a fumble recovery for North.

Next for the Cavaliers will be a road trip to Mount Airy (10-1). The fourth-seeded Granite Bears, who have lost only to East Surry, pulverized North Stokes 72-0 in the first round.

“We know they’re good, but we played very well on the road in the playoffs last year,” Pearson said.

Carver  0    0    0    6   — 6

North   20  22  7    0  — 49

Scoring plays

NR — McArthur 50 pass from Alford (Medrano kick), 1st

NR – McArthur 33 pass from Alford (Medrano kick), 1st

NR – Morrow 43 run (kick blocked), 1st

NR — Cantres 8 pass from Alford (Alford run), 2nd

NR — Kelly 35 pass from Alford (Medrano kick), 2nd

NR — Morrow 5 run (Medrano kick), 2nd

NR — Morrow interception return, 3rd