Local Sports

Q&A with Reds HOF catcher Johnny Bench

October 25, 2011

Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench was the special guest speaker for the Hickory Sportsman’s Club bi-annual meeting on Tuesday at Rock Barn Golf and Spa.

Bench was a member of the “Big Red Machine” clubs that played in Cincinnati from 1970-1976. Those teams, which included Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, Ken Griffey Sr., Dave Concepcion and manager George “Sparky” Anderson, won two World Series championships and 683 games during the six-year period.

Indians Matt Williams impressive in first season

October 24, 2011

Ten games into his career as quarterback for the St. Stephens Indians varsity football program, Matt Williams is already making huge strides.

The 6-foot, 170-pound freshman is coming into his own after starting the season sharing the snaps for the Indians (3-7, 1-4).

“We knew coming into this season that he was going to be a solid quarterback for us,” said Indians coach Fred Whalen. “He worked out with us at the kids camp over the summer. When he worked with us, we saw the potential he had there.”

Maiden beats Bunker Hill in 70-46 shootout

October 22, 2011

"That was a dadgum basketball score."

These are words from Blue Devils coach Brian Brown following Friday's track meet of a football game between Maiden and Bunker Hill in Claremont.

Will Jenkins rushed for 315 yards and four scores, leading the Blue Devils (6-4, 5-1) to the 70-46 conference victory against Bunker Hill.

"It's just crazy," Jenkins said of his performance in Friday's game. "When you keep scoring like that, you are in a different state of mind. You just want to score every time you touch to ball."

Red Devils come up short in upset bid

October 22, 2011

Newton-Conover came up short on a critical fourth-and-18 hook-and-lateral play with under one minute to play, and as a result, the Red Devils came up short on an upset win over undefeated South Iredell.

After trailing 7-0, the home-standing Red Devils scored 12 unanswered points to take a lead over the Vikings. A 10-yard run by quarterback Kevin Cline and a five-yard run by Matt Coulter put Newton-Conover ahead 12-7 in the second quarter.

South Iredell’s Cameron Mattox regained the lead before halftime, 15-12, but the game was far from finished.