We have had Grimsley and Northern Guilford ranked 1&2 in our weekly high school football polls, since back in early August…Nothing has ever wavered, and you look up and those two teams are still there, the only Guilford County reps heading toward Round Four of the NCHSAA Football Playoffs…
The two teams, Grimsley and Northern Guilford do have similarities, with both schools having top-tier receivers that can score on you at any time…Kaden Catoe with three TD receptions for Grimsley on Friday, and Grimsley TE D.J Howerton takikng one to the house…Grimsley has good running with sophomore Ty Shoemake, while back at Johnny Roscoe Stadium, Northern Guilford gets cooking with QB Jaxson Kemp going upstairs to his two phenomenal receivers, C.J. Morrison and Greyson Council…
Jaxson Kemp with four TD passes on Friday night, in Northern’s victory over Kings Mountain…Kemp was going for the deep ball on several occasions, Morrison twice, Council once, and Rimeeh Mack came up with a TD reception for Northern…
From our other reps, I saw Jaylen Moore, the top RB for the High Point Christian Academy Cougars running wild on the highlights shows, and HPCA went on to lay out the Asheville School, 50-13…I am thinking the HPCA Cougars’ Moore is currently the top RB in Guilford County….Moore with right at 40 touchdowns on the season…He is good, real good, so good, you might say he is BAD….And we do need to drop in some extra props for HPCA QB Amsterdam Knox…Excellent leadership job this season by A. Knox, in leading his Cougar sqaud to the Unbeaten State Championship season….Hez Krider, and that HPCA Cougars tough defense gets all-deserving props too…
We talked about Ty Shoemake running strong for Grimsley, but with Northern Guilford, the Nighthawks were without the services of their top running back, Amare Akers…Akers out this week, with the bad knee, which he hurt in NG’s Round Two Win over McDowell…Akers out, that means Christian Leach was in at RB for NG, and Leach was running strong filling the void of the missing Akers..And Northern got a super effort from backup RB, Cannon Herndon…Herndon was running at times like the “Bull in the Proverbial China Shop”, and he was running low to the ground and he was very hard to stop…And that is what you like from Northern, get the running game going, and then Jaxson Kemp can work on lighting up the opposing defense with his passes…Four TD passes on the evening, and Kemp had several of his passes dropped, and if Council and Morrison were able to catch them all, the numbers for Kemp would be jumping off the charts…
Northern was moving quick on offense and their defense was putting a hurting on Kings Mountain…Hunter Crews, the NG LB, had an exceptional night on defense for the Nighthawks….Sloan Littleton with a takeaway Interception for the ‘Hawks…Northern even had their offensive linemen, Chase Bell and MJ King working at times along the defensive line, beside Charlie Griffin and Jude Keyser….
Excitement for Northern Guilford in the form of Jaxson Kemp, Christian Leach, Cannon Herndon, CJ Morrison, Greyson Council, and Rimeeh Mack…Morrison had a couple of those drops and if not he could have had two more TDs…Rimeeh Mack is a very tall and tough package and he sees time on offense and defense…Northern has kids that are ready to go/ready to play…
If Northern gets Amare Akers back for next week vs. Gastonia Ashbrook, then the NG should be ready to unload Akers, and build their strong upfield passing game around him…If Akers gets running, them NG is going to be able to pass the ball, and QB Jaxson Kemp will also be able to run the ball…
Crum, Keyser, Griffin and others were in the Kings Mountain backfield most of the night, and they were bearing down on KM’s sophomore QB KJ Bell….Getting in his face, and forcing him to break out of the pocket…Pressure, Northern must continue to bring that from their Defensive Front and LBs….Bobby Bah, Sloan Littleton, Tajae Alston, and Lucas Hilliard are just waiting back, and looking for something to come their way, in the NG defensive backfield/secondary…
On offense and defense, Northern has it covered, and all that have to do now, is keep getting better at what they are doing…K Kobe Guardado contiues to a strong force for the Northern kicking game, and makes them very relevant, on Special Teams…P Kyle Shultz almost never punts, and NG loves that…Keep that ball, and let your offense get you moving, and let them carry you down the field…
Again, get those guys going again next week…Kemp, Akers, Leach, Morrison, Council, Mack, Bagley, King, Smith, Geddie, and Bell…Have Crum continue what he was doing on Friday night, with Crews, Noah Smith, Barclay, Bah, Littleton, Hilliard, Alston, Griffin, Keyser, and Khan…
From Friday night, in the NG Nighthawks win over Kings Mountain, 37-7, this is the scoring tally from the game, courtesy of Coach Randy Norris Sr…
7:13 First Quarter Northern gets a three-yard TD run from CJ Morrison, after he takes the outside handoff/pitch from NG QB Jaxson Kemp…Kobe Guardado’s PAT Kick was Good…NG 7, KM 0
2:12 First Quarter, Jaxson Kemp with a 9-yard TD pass to Rimeeh Mack…Guardado’s Kick is Good…NG 14, KM 0…
End of First Quarter:Northern Guilford 14, Kings Mountain 0
1:28 Left in the Second Quarter, and Kings Mountain 4-yard TD run from RB Kamren Houser, and Vidal Carillo’s Kick is Good…NG 14, KM 7
7.5 Seconds left in the Second Half, Jaxson Kemp connects with Morrison for a 43-yard TD pass…Guardado’s Kick is Good, NG leads KM, 21-7…
Halftime:Northern Guilford 21, Kings Mountain 7
10:09 Third Quarter, Kemp hooks up with Morrison again, and this time the pass covers 38 yards, and after a bad snap, and Kemp can’t do a Houdini and get the placement down, the PAT attempt was a Kick Try, that becomes a pass of run for the holder Jaxson Kemp, and it is unsucessful…Northern Guilford 27, Kings Mountain 7
First miscue of the night for Northern on their PAT scoring attempts…
7:18 Third Quarter, Jaxson Kemp and Greyson Council connect on a 58-yard TD pass, and after the Guardado PAT Kick, which is good, the score reads Northern Guilford 34, Kings Mountain 7
1:21 Third Quarter, Kobe Guardado is Good on a 38-yard Field Goal, and Northern’s lead is now at 37-7 over Kings Mountain….
End of Third Quarter:Northern Guilford 37, Kings Mountain 7
Final Score:Northern Guilford 37, Kings Mountain 7
Northern Guilford(11-1)/Kings Mountain(8-5)
Player of the Game on Offense for Northern Guilford:QB Jaxson Kemp with 4 TD passes, and he could have had more…
Player of the Game on Defense for Northern Guilford:LB Hunter Crum….
Too loss, 15-7, for the Dudley Panthers…If the Panthers would have won, they would be coming to Northern Guilford, next Friday night…Now we see, (12-0) Gastonia Ashebrook headed to Johnny Roscoe Stadium, next Friday night, for the 7pm Kickoff, vs. the NG Nighthawks….
The Grimsley Whirlies, (12-0) will be home again, as the #1 seed, and they will meet WS Reagan(10-2), after Reagan got past Mooresville, 32-31 on Friday night…
Two other Guilford County teams, were elminated from the playoffs on Friday night, but you have to tip your cap to he Northeast Guilford Rams, and the High Point Andrews Red Raiders, on their excellent seasons…NEG, HP Andrews, and Dudley all LONG GONE, but Grimsley and Northern Guilford will carry our Guilford County banner, from this point on…
Two Guilford County teams, left in “The Hunt”…Grimsley and Northern Guilford eyeing Fourth Round action, next Friday night…