How the N&O top 25 fared: Conley knocks off Aycock in another record-setting football game, 83-68

No. 1. Middle Creek 49, Holly Springs 9: The Mustangs (7-0, 4-0 Southwest Wake 4A) used a winning combination of dominating defense, big plays and turnovers to hammer the Golden Hawks (3-4, 2-2). Daniel Jackson picked off a pass and rambled 69 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.

Dominique Shoffner was 12-for-15 for 182 yards and two touchdowns.

No. 2 Wake Forest 45, No. 12 Wakefield 0: Wake Forest (7-0, 3-0 Cap-8 4A) rolled by Wakefield (5-2, 2-1 Cap 8) as junior running back Marquis Dunn rushed nine times for 197 yards with two touchdowns and classmate Devon Lawrence ran 13 times for 72 yards and two TDs.

On the other side of the ball, senior middle linebacker Darius Hodge and senior defensive end Xach Gill led a defense that posted its fourth straight shutout. The Cougars limited elusive Wakefield quarterback Matt McKay to 14 carries for 4 yards. He was sacked six times for a minus-44 yards.

No. 3 Pinecrest 48, Lumberton 14: It was a big night for the Patriots (7-0, 1-0 Southeastern 4A), which host Scotland County next week. Pinecrest running back Malyke Justice ran eight times for 149 yards, and Nik Pry ran for three scores while completing 9 of 14 passes for 278 yards and a touchdown. Chris Owens caught four passes for 216 yards and a score.

No. 17 Clayton (6-1) at No. 4. Garner (6-1): Postponed to 6 p.m. Monday.

No. 5 Heritage 39, Enloe 7: The Huskies (7-0, 3-0 Cap-8 4A) beat the Eagles (2-5, 0-3) behind a balanced attack. Quarterback Gunnar Holmberg found wideout Thayer Thomas for big plays, and Heritage also forced three interceptions on the night. This sets up a showdown with No. 2 Wake Forest on Friday.

No. 6 Orange 14, Northern Vance 0: Sophomore Morgan Paschall rushed for a career-high 100 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries as the Panthers (8-0, 3-0 Big 8 3A), playing their second game in four days, stayed undefeated. It was the sixth time this year the Orange defense held an opponent to under 100 yards of total offense. The Vikings (4-4, 1-2) were held to four first downs, none in the second half.

No. 7 Hillside 40, No. 11 Cardinal Gibbons 35: Just when Gibbons had the game won, Hillside’s Jamal Currie-Elliott had other plans. He returned a kickoff 99 yards for the winning touchdown with just 0.4 seconds on the clock to send the Hornets (6-1, 2-0 PAC-6 4A) to their 41st straight conference win.

Gibbons (6-1, 1-1) had just taken the lead with two touchdowns with an onside-kick sandwiched between them in a 1 minute, 17 second span. Jack Biestek’s 2-yard run with 14.5 seconds left and no timeouts left looked like the winner before Currie-Elliott scored his fourth TD of the night.

No. 8 Rocky Mount 20, Nash Central 14: The Gryphons (6-1, 1-0 Big East 3A) survived a scare from the Bulldogs (4-3, 0-1) in a match-up of two Wing-T teams.

No. 9 Southern Nash 49, Fike 14: Southern Nash (7-0, 1-0 Big East 3A) scored 42 unanswered points to win its conference opener against Fike (4-3, 0-1).

After a Firebird fumble in the second quarter, Fike quarterback Jaelynn Melton connected with Syquan Hutcherson for an 80-yard score to put the Demons up 14-7 before Zonovan Knight scored his first touchdown of the night, going 60 yards to tie the game before the half. Kendrick Bell added a 12-yard scamper just before halftime to give the Firebirds a 21-14 advantage.

Knight finished with 250 rushing yards and added three more touchdowns on runs of 34, 37 and 41 yards in the second half as the Southern Nash defense held the visitors scoreless in the second half.

No. 10 West Johnston 42, Harnett Central 6: Senior running back Tony Mack led West Johnston (7-0, 3-0 Greater Neuse 4A) by the Trojans (1-7, 1-2) on Thursday. Mack carried for 150 yards and three touchdowns.

The Wildcats’ offense was clicking on all cylinders as senior quarterback Andre Wilson threw for 176 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for another 53 yards. Five separate Wildcats receivers caught passes from Wilson, including senior wide receiver Alex Brewington who had four catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns of his own.

Senior quarterback Mai’Son Adams led the Trojans, completing 10 of his passes for 85 yards and rushing for a team-high 26 yards. Adams broke up the shutout by the Wildcats with a 3-yard rushing touchdown in the final minutes.

No. 13 Lee County 41, Terry Sanford 28: Lee County (7-0, 2-0 Cape Fear Valley 3A) scored 28 points in the first seven minutes and got 296 yards from running back Jahmir Smith to race past the Bulldogs (5-3, 1-2) from Fayetteville. He now has 23 touchdowns this season.

No. 14 Millbrook 38, Broughton 7: The Wildcats (5-2, 2-1 Cap-8 4A) dominated Broughton (2-5, 0-3) thanks to their defense. Isaiah Bowman ran for a score and caught another while Larry Rountree III added three rushing touchdowns. Dacaurii Stanley forced a safety to start the Millbrook scoring.

Broughton’s only score came on 1-yard touchdown run by Cliff Chavis with 3:09 left in the game.

No. 15 Sanderson 27, Leesville Road 10: Trent Pennix rushed for 226 yards and two touchdowns, and Justin Dunn passed for a pair of touchdowns as host Sanderson snapped a two-game losing streak.

Pennix scored on touchdown runs of 77 and 29 yards. His 77-yard run, with 4 minutes, 9 seconds remaining in the third quarter, put the Spartans (5-2, 1-2 Cap-8 4A) ahead to stay. Dunn tossed touchdown passes of 11 yards to Alim McNeill and 16 yards to Jacob Feinstein.

Vince Amendola passed for 200 yards for Leesville Road (3-4, 1-2) but was intercepted three times. The Pride’s lone touchdown came via a 6-yard run by Cole Coleman in the third quarter that produced a 10-7 lead.

No. 16 Bunn 51, Southern Vance 14: Bunn (6-1, 1-0) began defense of its Northern Carolina 2A Conference football championship with a convincing road victory at Southern Vance (0-7, 0-1). Bunn led 30-0 at halftime led by 132 yards rushing on 15 carries from D.J. Jones. The defense limited the Raiders to 100 total yards, minus-50 on the ground.

No. 18 Fuquay-Varina 49, Apex 14: The Bengals (6-1, 4-1 Southwest Wake 4A) rushed for 407 yards while limiting Apex (2-6, 2-3) to 17 yards on the ground on the Cougars’ hall of fame night. Apex’s Duke Fruehauf had three TD passes.

Tyrus Townsend scored the Bengals’ first touchdown on a 75-yard burst. Townsend also caught a touchdown pass, and David Honeycutt, Michael Roberson, Isaac Morgan, Chris Canada and Luis Padua also scored for Fuquay-Varina.

No. 19 Southern Lee 42, Gray’s Creek 0: Jarvis Jackson ran for 113 yards, and Noah Terhune was 15-of-25 passing for 281 yards and three touchdowns as the Cavaliers (6-1, 2-0 Cape Fear Valley 3A) stayed tied atop the conference after downing the Bears (1-7, 0-3).

No. 20 Person 63, East Chapel Hill 6: The Rockets (6-1, 2-0 PAC-6 4A) still have conference title hopes after blitzing the Wildcats (1-7, 0-3) behind two rushing scores and one receiving from Justin Obie.

D.H. Conley 83, No. 22 C.B. Aycock 68: For the second time this year, Conley was involved in a record-breaking game where there was plenty of everything but tackles. The Vikings (4-3, 1-1 Eastern Carolina 4A/3A) outlasted Aycock (5-2, 1-1) in a game that sets a new NCHSAA record for points in a contest (151) breaking the mark of 144 set two weeks earlier by Conley and J.H. Rose (Rose won 77-67).

No. 22 Northern Nash 6, Hunt 3: The Knights (5-2, 1-0 Big East 3A) and coach Randy Raper slugged it out with Raper’s former school, Hunt (3-4, 0-1) in the kind of defensive battle the conference might become known for this year.

No. 23 Cleveland 42, No. 24 Triton 40: Cleveland’s Caiden Norman threw for 365 yards and four touchdowns, three to Jake Mason, to erase an early 13-point deficit as the Rams got off to a good start in the Two Rivers 3A Conference.

Cleveland (4-3, 1-0) fell behind 13-0 after Triton’s Byron Massey took the opening kickoff back for a score and the Hawks’ Da’john Williams raced for a 43-yard touchdown. The Rams built a 42-27 lead in the third quarter but needed a Tevin Sanders sack on a 2-point conversion in the final second to hold off a furious Triton (5-3, 0-1) comeback.

Tyson Dew rushed for 114 yards and two scores for the Rams, and Jacob Scott caught nine passes for 150 yards. Massey added a 79-yard touchdown run, and Williams ended his night with 100 yards rushing for Triton.

No. 25 J.H. Rose 68, Southern Wayne 28: The Rampants (4-3, 3-0 Eastern Carolina 4A/3A) raced by the Saints (1-6, 0-3) and topped the 60-point mark for the third time this year.

This story was originally published October 8, 2016 at 4:43 PM with the headline "How the N&O top 25 fared: Conley knocks off Aycock in another record-setting football game, 83-68."