North Gaston 8
Alexander Central 17
The Cougars won their home opener over North Gaston Friday night in a game that to say the least, was sloppy.
AC held North Gaston and forced a punt in the game’s opening possession. North’s punter bobbled the snap and tried to escape the Cougar pursuit but was dropped on the Wildcat 19 yard line. The Cougars took 5 plays to cover the 19 yards capped by a 1 yard run by Logan Shoemaker. It looked like it could be a rout.
The visitors continued to struggle on offense leading to the Cougar’s second score. AC got a 22-yard field goal after having 1st and goal only to be backed up by penalties. Corey Lawson kicked a 22-yard field goal with 4:43 left in the half to push the lead to 10-0.
North Gaston would strike on a 49-yard touchdown toss from TJ Belton to Jurnee Latimore with 1:33 remaining in the first half. The Wildcats added a two-point conversion and the half ended with Alexander Central clinging to a 10-8 lead.
The home-standing Blue and Gold would march the second-half kick 70 yards in 11 plays. QB Tanner Moore would hit tight end Garison Millsaps from 8 yards, The extra point made it 17-8 in favor of AC.
The Cougars would threaten only to have a Tanner Moore pass picked-off in the end zone and North Gaston was thwarted by the stingy ACHS defense that held the Wildcats to 100 yards on the night.
Logan Shoemaker gained 158 yards on 23 bruising carries to lead Alexander Central.
Jonathan Specht led the defense for AC with 7 tackles, Chad Lasher added 6
AC committed 10 penalties for 96 yards. They had a pair of turnovers and went only 3 of 5 in the red zone.
Alexander Central is 2-0 headed into a game in Taylorsville against Asheville Reynolds on Friday, September 2nd.
North Gaston drops to 0-2.