Cleveland High football seniors complete another unbeaten NCHSAA regular season

Cleveland’s 12th grade football players have experienced just one varsity regular-season loss among four seasons at the school. This fall’s Rams completed a 10-0 regular season with Friday’s 49-21 win over visiting rival Clayton.

Cleveland, which advanced to the spring 2021 season’s N.C. 3AA state final, followed up that season with a fall 2021 4A state quarterfinals berth.

The fall 2022 Rams have epitomized offensive balance. Anthony Greene and Jackson Byrd have rushed for 500-plus yards each, while teammate Robbie Albaugh has added another 350-plus.

Quarterback Byrd, a 10th grader, has a better than 10-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio, and has surpassed 2,400 passing yards. Jashawn Middleton (703 receiving yards), Ceejay Hargrove (526), Landon Inscoe (422), and Tristian Franks (369) have 350-plus receiving yards each.

Cleveland’s lone varsity loss among the last four seasons came in 2019 to Cardinal Gibbons, that fall’s N.C. 4A state runner-up. Rams coach Scott Riley is a Cardinal Gibbons graduate.

THREE-WAY TIES

The Queen City 3A/4A and Northern Athletic 4A Conferences affirmed their high quality parity and distinctions as the state’s most competitive leagues per teams’ achievements among the past decade. Friday’s outcomes forced three-way ties atop each conference’s standings.

Chambers, Hough, and Mallard Creek (each with 5-1 league records) will host first round state playoffs games Friday. Millbrook, Rolesville, and Wake Forest (each with 4-1 league records), will do likewise.

Chambers has played in four consecutive state finals (and won two titles), and reached last fall’s title tilt with a semifinal win over Hough. Rolesville reached the spring 2021 state final, and fell in last fall’s state semifinals to eventual state champion Cardinal Gibbons.

Wake Forest won three consecutive state championships (2016-18), while Mallard Creek won back-to-back state titles in 2013-14.

CHANGING CHAMPIONS

Cleveland County’s conference champions are the two schools yet to reach a state final in the 21st century.

Kings Mountain, the Big South 3A Conference champion, completed its undefeated season with a 35-20 home win over Crest. Burns (9-1) topped visiting Shelby 27-14. The Bulldogs’ lone loss was at Kings Mountain (27-0 on September 2).

Burns limited Shelby to its lowest scoring total this season. The Golden Lions had scored 21 or more points in all other games, and at least 45 in each of five preceding Southern Piedmont 1A/2A Conference games.

Burns will host Morehead while Kings Mountain will host Saint Stephens on Friday.

Burns won its only state final appearance in 1994, while Kings Mountain was the 3A state runner-up in 1998. (Shelby and Crest have won a combined 18 state titles.)

ANDREWS BREAKS THROUGH

Andrews achieved a 1A mountains milestone with its 42-12 win Friday at Murphy. The Wildcats completed a 10-0 regular season including the exceedingly rare feat of sweeping Murphy, Robbinsville, and Swain in the same campaign.

Robbinsville (14 state championships), Murphy (10), and Swain (8) have shared 32 state championships. Andrews, still, is seeking its first state final appearance.

The Wildcats will host Highland Tech in Friday’s 1A state playoffs’ first round. Andrews running backs Isaac Weaver and Austin Martin need five and 64 yards, respectively, to reach 1,000 rushing yards each this fall.

APEX RETURNS TO PLAYOFFS

Apex (9-1), per Friday’s 59-30 “Senior Night” win over Green Hope, earned a share of the Southwest Wake 4A Conference championship, the school’s first gridiron league title in 20 years, and first state playoffs berth since 2014.

Cougars senior running back Ian Bright (1335 yards) surpassed 100 ground yards and scored a touchdown in nine of 10 regular season games.

Apex will host conference rival Panther Creek, which the Cougars defeated (at home) 24-7 on September 16, the the first round of the playoffs.

Apex’s state playoffs return comes in the same season when Ian Boyd — a two-way player on the 2014 team — was inducted into the school’s Hall Of Fame.

ONE MORE FOR GONET

Ravenscroft’s 27-14 win Friday at North Raleigh Christian clinched the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA) Big East Conference championship. The outcome marked a 12th league crown among the 42 seasons for retiring Ravens coach Ned Gonet.

Ravenscroft (10-1) will visit Charlotte Christian in next Friday’s NCISAA Division I state playoffs’ opening round.