WADESBORO — The Anson High School Bearcat motto of one county, one team, and one cat was on full display at Thursday night’s Community Night football game where the Anson Bearcats sent the Piedmont Panthers packing in a decisive Rocky River Conference win, 45-0, last Friday.
Coming into the game, Anson had a 1-0 lead in conference standings compared with Piedmont’s 0-1. Piedmont High School has zero conference wins, while Anson’s win over the Panthers sealed 2 conference game wins for the Bearcats.
“Our players and coaches take great pride in the turn-out we had for a Thursday night game that was also a Community Night. We are so fortunate to represent Anson County and we are glad to have the platform to go out and show our youth and community all the hard work we have been putting in. I hope that the community continues to show up for these young men, they truly want nothing more than to make their community proud and they deserve to be supported,” Coach Landon Allen said.
The first half of the game saw senior running backs Jazear Griffin, Kendrick Maye and junior receiver Jayden Little all score touchdowns with kicker Justin Medlin assisting on the scoreboard with multiple successful extra point attempts. Maye not only received AHS homecoming king honors, he was also king of all-purpose yards with 112 yards rushing, 15 yards receiving and three touchdowns. Griffin also had three TDs while averaging 11.4 yards per carry on 8 touches for 91 yards, and also remains the top rusher in the RRC. Quarterback Doc Hyatt kept his title as leading passer in the Rocky River Conference while completing 11 of 14 attempts for 157 yards, including a TD pass to Little. Little ended the night averaging more than 15 yards per catch on 5 receptions for 78 yards.
On defense, Glenn Byrd blocked the Panthers first attempt at a touchdown. The stop set the tone for the rest of the evening with defensive end T’landis Carr racking up a team-leading 8 tackles, including a pair of sacks, followed by linebacker Dequan McKever (7) and linebacker Gabriel Maxwell (6). racking up a team-leading 6 tackles. Linebacker Daron Harrington made the most of his 5 tackles, which included a trio of sacks, which led the Bearcats last Friday with defensive end Jase Martin also wrangling a pair of sacks.
The second half continued much the same as the first with Kendrick Maye kicking the half off with a run to nearly the 35-yard line. Encroaching on Panther territory, Hyatt completed a pass to Mckever, earning a first down. A completed pass by Hyatt to Maye resulted in another touchdown, moving the Bearcats to a 32 point lead. Special teams showed up with several touchbacks and block punt, which led to a score.
“Every week we challenge our guys that no matter who we play, we play our best game. The boys have responded to that challenge the first two weeks of conference play and it feels good to be in the position we are in,” Allen said.
With the win against Piedmont High School now a notch in their belt, the Bearcats improve to their record to 4-3 and remain undefeated in conference play. They head on the road Friday to face the undefeated Monroe Redhawks, who also come into Friday’s contest with a full head of steam after running through Parkwood 55-6 last Friday.
“We still have three great challenges in conference. We look forward to the weeks ahead. The offensive coaching staff has done a great job preparing our guys and in strategizing to put them in successful situations,” Allen said.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.