Peyton Fisher’s all-around performance on the football field during the fall earned the Kings Mountain High senior the team’s most valuable player trophy at Thursday’s annual awards presentation at B.N. Barnes Auditorium.
Fisher, an All-Big South Conference performer, seldom came off the field. When he did it was early in the season when the Mountaineers had their opponents blown out and the coaches were working reserves into the game.
“We had a lot of excellent players,” Mountaineer coach Greg Lloyd said, “and Peyton stood out in everything he did. He could have been All-Conference at four different positions.”
Fisher was not just an outstanding receiver with 342 yards on 30 catches, and an outstanding punter with a 40-plus yard average, but he was an excellent defensive player with a huge number of tackles and quarterback sacks. And, no doubt, he will probably be best remembered when he took a pass interception to the house to clinch a very important victory at South Point, which head coach Greg Lloyd noted was the first KM win over South Point in Belmont in many years.
“He was a hard worker and a great leader,” Coach Lloyd said. “He had a lot of big touchdowns, big catches and big sacks.”
Prior to the trophy presentations, Lloyd recognized players that made post-season all-star teams, including:
All-Big South – Seth Neal, AJ Richardson, Jaden Ellis, Peyton Fisher, Isaiah Eskridge, Jake Lloyd, D’Andre Hoyle and Tykel Smith. All of them also made the All-Area team.
Hoyle and Smith were named All-State.
Other awards presented included:
Outstanding defensive lineman award – Seth Neal. Coach Michael Kennedy said he was privileged to have a “very young group with a lot of talent.”
Neal, who transferred in to KMHS, was a tackling machine, registering 54 solo tackles, including 18 for loss and 12 quarterback sacks.
“He was one of those every day, team-first guys,” Kennedy pointed out. “We had a lot of guys like that that played many different roles.”
Defensive back awards – D’Andre Hoyle and Jake Lloyd.
Hoyle, an outstanding two-way player, was also the team’s leading receiver with 29 catches for 659 yards. He had a team-leading six pass interceptions. “He was the spark of the team,” Kennedy noted. “He made big plays in crucial situations.”
Lloyd was another player that stood out on both offense and defense.
On defense, he led the team in tackles with 98, including three tackles for loss and an interception. He also had several blocked punts, including two for touchdowns.
“He had a knack for the ball,” Coach Kennedy said. “He was always a step ahead of the offense.”
Jeff Putnam Linebacker of the Year – Micah Ward.
“He gave his heart and soul, just like Coach Putnam did,” Coach Wilson said. “He was a hard worker and he was tough.”
Wilson pointed out that Ward had 81 tackles and two interception, “and the best thing about him is that he is a junior and will be back in the fall.”
Wilson also presented the Defensive Coaches Award to sophomore standout Zavian Smith.
“He always played his best,” Wilson said. “He can play any position. He loves to be challenged. He’s special and we expect good things from him for two more years.”
The defensive MVP award was presented to junior standout AJ Richardson, who was a monster on defense and was also called

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upon anytime the Mountaineers needed tough rushing yards on offense.
“He is very determined to be successful,” Wilson said. “He has an infectious energy and leads by example. He always plays hard and wants to make the big plays.
“Late in the year he was injured, but he was still important to us as he was always on the sidelines talking to the players and helping them give their best. He’s a player coach.”
Junior placekicker Jaden Ellis received one of the Special Teams MVP awards from assistant coach Mike Harris.
“He had two huge field goals that gave us leads in two big games,” Harris pointed out.
Jake Lloyd received the other Special Teams MVP Award.
“You could count on him every game to return punts and kickoffs,” Harris said. “He led us in special teams tackles and also blocked two punts for TDs that broke open close games.”
First-year varsity quarterback Lamont Littlejohn Jr. received the Outstanding Offensive Back Award.
Littlejohn, whose father Lamont Littlejohn Sr. also played quarterback for the Mountaineers, quarterbacked the JVs to a 4-0 record during a COVID-shortened spring season. Those four wins were over Shelby, Burns, South Point and Crest.
He stepped into the varsity QB role in the fall and improved each week to become one of the best quarterbacks in the area.
He had a 95.2 quarterback rating.
“He’s a student of the game,” Coach Lloyd pointed out. “He’s always calm and prepared to lead the team. He made some really big plays for us in the playoff games.”
Assistant Coach Diron Bell presented the Outstanding Wide Receiver Award to D’Andre Hoyle.
“We had five good receivers who were always making plays,” Bell said. “He put in his time and led our receivers in yards and touchdowns.”
Line Coach Kevin Cruise presented the Blocking Award to Isaiah Eskridge.
“It was a very tough choice because we’ve been very balanced the last couple of years,” he said. “This year our offensive line paved the way for over 2,000 rushing yards and 2,000 passing yards. Every one of our linemen had a tremendous work ethic and great attitude.
“We have several that will be playing at the next level. Isaiah has a very bright future. He has the size, the strength and the footwork.”
The first annual Brent Bagwell Offensive Coach’s Award went to Bryson Brown.
Coach Cruise called Brown “an excellent student who comes to work every day committed to be second to none.
“He made some big time catches,” Cruise noted. “He scored the first touchdown in the Franklin playoff game, and the last one to win the game.” That one, came in the final seconds after the Mountaineers drove 99 yards with just over a minute remaining that allowed the team to go three rounds in the state playoffs before being eliminated by the eventual state champion Greensboro Dudley eleven.
Making the blocks to achieve such success as the above-mentioned nail-biter were a host of good offensive linemen. And, it was fitting that the Offensive Most Valuable Player Award went to All-State lineman Tykel Smith.
“He was a dominant blocker and a great leader,” Cruise said. “He plays the game the right way – in practice and games. He has a great attitude in every situation.”
The Weightlifter of the Year Award was presented by Coach Ted Trahan to senior Jonah Patrick.
“This is a prestigious award,” Trahan noted. “He came in as a freshman and spent a lot of time becoming a good varsity player. He worked extremely hard.”
The Tough Man of the Year Award, given in memory of longtime sideline manager Donnie Mace, went to offensive lineman Micah Lubas.
Coach Cruise pointed out that in previous years Lubas had some ailments that would keep a lot of people away but he “worked hard and was one of the strongest and best linemen out there.”
The Career Achievement Award went to running back Rashaard Brooks, who broke his leg during the spring season and had to have an operation that prevented him from playing in the fall.
“When you lose your senior season it takes a mature individual to work hard to recover,” Coach Lloyd said. “He was tough inside and out. He was a fantastic running back – small but with a big heart. He played his best in big games and he will be missed.”

Kings Mountain High’s varsity basketball teams swept the South Point Red Raiders in Big South 3A Conference action last Tuesday at Donald L. Parker Gymnasium.
The Lady Mountaineers remained atop the conference standings with a sound effort from all players, 70-37, and the Mountaineers held on to their strong second place standing in the nightcap, 78-65.
The ladies led by just 11-8 after the first period but they quickly took charge in the second quarter and won easily. In the second quarter, the Lady Mountaineers got a big lift from Khalia King and Saniya Wilson on offense and all of their players on defense to allow the Lady Red Raiders just one point until the two minute mark. By that time the locals were up 30-9 and had the game in hand by halftime, 34-15.
Coach Nick Inman’s team placed four players in double figures and every player performed well on defense, most notably CoRey Simpson who pulled down a career high 18 rebounds to go with her three points.
King led the scoring attack with 16 points, with 12 of them coming on a 4-for-5 shooting performance from three-point land. She also had three rebounds.
Senior standout Saniya Wilson once again had a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists. She also pulled down five rebounds and had three steals.
Alayna Patrick had one of, if not the best game of her career with 11 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals. Her points and rebounds were both career highs on the varsity level.
Jacie Jarvis also had career highs of 11 points and eight rebounds.
Tyasya Bell scored eight points to go along with three rebounds and two steals, Austyn Dixon had six points and five boards and Myracle Davis had four points, five rebounds and three assists.
Lexi Birtwistle led the Lady Raiders with 11 points and Maddie Frank added 10. Toney Melton and Claire Huv scored six apiece and Leah Cha and Lily Gregory two each.
In JV action, Kings Mountain improved to 5-1 with a 12-8 win over the Lady Raiders. Mia Bridges had six points, Maggie Honeycutt four and Desirae Thombs two.
Although the final score may not indicate it, the men’s game was also a blowout as the Mountaineers led by 24 points (76-52) with three minutes left when Coach Grayson Pierce took all starters out of the game. Even before that, many starters were being taken out from time to time to work everyone into the game.
The game was tied in the opening minute after KM’s Zeke Cannedy and SP’s Jackson Blee traded buckets. But by the end of the first quarter KM was up 22-7 and the game was basically in hand.
Cannedy’s free throw put the Mountaineers up 39-19 at halftime. He scored 18 of his game-high 41 points in the first half.
The Raiders scored the first six points of the third quarter to get the margin down to 39-25, and rallied again later in the period to cut it to 55-38 but the Mountaineers rallied to take a 61-42 lead into the final eight minutes.
With KM up 78-54 after a lay-in by Keedon Linney with 2:25 left in the game, the Raiders scored the last 11 points of the game to make it more respectable.

Kings Mountain High’s girls basketball team was able to play their first game in a week Friday night, defeating a very good Hunter Huss team 59-54 in overtime at Donald L. Parker Gymnasium to maintain sole possession of first place in the Big South Conference.
However, with snow coming down outside the KMHS gym the KM-Huss boy’s game was postponed and will be played at a later date.
Heading into this week, both KM teams had a makeup game against county-rival Crest. That game, which would have concluded first round play, was snowed out last Tuesday. The KM men  also have a makeup game with Forestview that was postponed earlier in the season.
Girls coach Nicholas Inman got a super performance from all of his players in Friday’s win over a Huss team that was mentioned as one of the pre-season favorites in the Big South Conference.
Senior Saniya Wilson continued her super all-around play with 28 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals. She also took five charging calls.
Khalia King contributed 10 points, three rebounds and two assists.
Wilson and King have been the 1-2 scoring punch for the KM ladies all season – and several seasons before this one.
But every Lady Mountaineer contributed greatly to Friday’s win.
Tyasya Bell barely missed double figures with nine points, and she also pulled down seven rebounds.
CoRey Simpson had eight points and eight rebounds, and Austyn Dixon had seven rebounds.
Alayna Pastrick had five rebounds and three assists, Myracle Davis two points and three rebounds, and Jacie Jarvis two points.
In the afternoon JV game, the KM ladies also were taken to the wire before prevailing 18-13. They improved their record to 4-0.
Kamari Odems led the scoring with seven points. Jailen Moore and Mia Bridges had three each,
Brooklyn Long and Maggie Honeycutt two each, and D’Aundra Ford one.
All Kings Mountain teams will be at home this afternoon and tonight to face arch rival Crest in .conference action.
Kings Mountain returns to BSC action Friday night at Forestview and will host the South Point Red Raiders next Tuesday. JV girls action gets underway at 4 p.m., followed by the JV boys, varsity girls and varsity boys.

Kings Mountain’s Mountaineers survived a tough battle from the Stuart Cramer Purple Storm in Big South 3A Conference basketball action Tuesday night at Donald L. Parker Gymnasium but remained undefeated in the conference with an 88-82 victory.
After leading most of the game, the Mountaineers ran into foul trouble in the second half and saw Cramer come from behind to earn their first lead since early in the game, 70-69, on a Will Kelly basket with six minutes remaining.
But Maddox James, who played one of his best games of the season with 19 points and numerous rebounds, put the Mountaineers back out front 74-72 and they were able to hold on for the victory.
Cramer stayed within striking distance but, even with KM’s leading scorer Zeke Cannedy on the bench with five fouls, the Mountaineers were able to survive behind clutch play by James, sophomore guard Zavion Smith and others.
Cramer got to within 84-80 with 26 seconds remaining, but had to foul and Smith went to the line to go 4-for-4 and wrap things up.
The Storm scored the game’s first points to go up 2-0 and led 15-14 with 1:25 left in the first period. Cannedy scored the last six points of the period to put KM on top 21-17. The Mountaineers built a 45-35 lead following a Cannedy basket with a minute left in the half, but the visitors rallied to cut the margin to 48-42 at the break.
Will Kelly (24 points) and Francisco Vardezas  (11) accounted for 35 of the Storm’s first half points.
The Mountaineers were able to get their lead to double-digits (63-53) on a bucket by James with just over a minute left in the third quarter, but the Storm began brewing again and cut it to 67-60 heading into the final eight minutes. The visitors scored the first seven points of the third quarter to knot things up at 67-all with 6:50 left in the game.
Cannedy’s three put the Mountaineers up 72-70 and they were able to build a 78-72 lead before Smith was hurt and had to go to the bench with 4:05 left.
Things got a little shaky in the final two minutes as a pair of technical free throws by Kelly brought the visitors to within four at 82-78. But, upon getting the ball out of bounds the Storm committed a charge. KM got a big bucket by James for an 84-78 lead. Cramer’s Talen Whitley followed a miss shot with a put-back to make it 84-80 with 26 seconds left.
With the Mountaineers now on offense, The Storm had to foul for a chance to win, but Smith hit 4-of-4 from the charity stripe to seal the deal.
Despite his time on the bench due to fouls, Cannedy still led the Mountaineers with 32 points. He and James were joined in double figures by Linney with 12 and Smith and Simpson with 10 each.

Gaston Day defeated Kings Mountain 83-74 in the championship game of last week’s Mountaineer Christmas Tournament at Donald L. Parker Gymnasium, but all eyes were on KM’s Zeke Cannedy who stripped the nets for 53 points and a new KMHS men’s scoring record.
The KMHS women’s scoring mark of 58 points was set by Judy Medlin against Belmont in 1958.
Cannedy’s effort, as well as his teammates’, kept the Mountaineers close to one of North Carolina’s private school powerhouses but the visitors outscored the home team 21-16 in the fourth quarter to clinch the victory.
The Spartans managed to barely lead after each of the first three periods – 21-20 after the first, 46-41 at the half and 62-58 going into the final eight minutes.
Included in Cannedy’s 51 point total were 10 three pointers, also the most any Mountaineer has ever canned in a single game.
The Mountaineers advanced to the title game by rolling past Davidson Day 88-36 in the opening round and squeezing past a very good 4A Charlotte Independence team 61-60 in the semi-finals.
Maddox James’ put back of a missed free throw attempt at the buzzer gave the Mountaineers the semi-finals victory.
James led the scoring with 21 points, Curtis Simpson had 12 and Cannedy 10.
Kings Mountain returns to Big South Conference action Friday at South Point with girls action beginning at 6 p.m.
The KM teams return to Parker Gymnasium on Tuesday, January 11 when the Stuart Cramer Purple Storm comes to town.

REMAINING 
SCHEDULE
JANUARY
7 – at South Point
11- Stuart Cramer
14 – at Ashbrook
18 – Crest
21 – Hunter Huss
25 – at North Gaston
26 – Shelby*
28 – at Forestview

FEBRUARY
1 – South Point
2 – at Shelby
4 – at Cramer
8 – Ashbrook
11 – at Crest
14, 16, 18- BSC tournament (place and times to be determined).
22 – State playoffs begin

Kings Mountain High’s women’s volleyball team fell to a strong North Iredell team 29-27, 25-11, 25-10 in the quarter-final round of the NCHSAA 3A state playoffs Saturday at North Iredell.
The winners advance to the state 3A semi-finals with a 25-1 overall record while the Lady Mountaineers, who won the Big South Conference with a perfect 14-0 record, ended with a 21-3 overall mark.
Aaliyah Byers completed a great high school career with 16 kills and Paige Bagwell ended her career with eight digs and 24 assists.
Meile Songaila had five kills and 11 digs, Myracle Davis four kills and Caroline Barber 19 digs.
Before losing on Saturday, the Lady Mountaineers eliminated East Lincoln 26-24, 25-16, 25-13 in a second round playoff match Tuesday, and county rival Crest 25-17, 25-12, 25-14 in a third round match Thursday.
Against East Lincoln, Songaila had 13 serve receptions, six digs, three blocks, 16 kills and 13 service points.
Byers had two serve receptions, 10 digs, three blocks, two assists, 20 kills and five service points.
Barber had 14 serve receptions, 15 digs, three assists and three service points.
Bagwell had seven digs, five blocks, 38 assists, two kills and five service points.
Davis added four digs,
six blocks and six kills.
Against the Lady Chargers, Bagwell dished out 31 assists to give her over 1,500 for her four-year career. She also added three blocks, two digs and eight service points.
Byers had 21 kills, two blocks, five serve receptions, two digs and four service points.
Songaila added nine kills, one block, eight serve receptions, 12 digs and four service points.
Barber had 13 digs, six serve receptions and 27 service points.

Two big defensive plays late in the third quarter and early in the fourth and the running of Mari Adams were the big differences as the Crest Chargers broke open a close game for a 42-20 victory over the Mountaineers in the Big South Conference championship game Friday night at Kings Mountain’s John Gamble Stadium.
Adams was an offensive highlight reel, gaining 264 yards rushing which was by far the top offensive output against the Mountaineer D this season; but during crunch time the big plays came when the Chargers intercepted a KM pass in the end zone and recovered a fumble on a potential KM TD drive early in the fourth quarter.
The Mountaineers, down 21-14, were on the Crest five with a first and goal late in the third period but couldn’t get in. Three plays  later with the Chargers on the 11, Adams got off a 63-yard run before being chased down by D’Andre Hoyle. But, three plays later Adams went four yards into the end zone and all of a sudden Crest had doubled the score to 28-14.
Kings Mountain was able to answer with a 60-yard drive which featured a 27-yard reception by Peyton Fisher and a 15-yard touchdown pass from Littlejohn to Hoyle to get back to within a TD at 28-20.
KM later made it to the Crest 41 but lost the ball on a fumble with 6:50 left in the game. Two plays later, the Chargers’ Carter Green broke a 29-yard touchdown for a 35-20 lead. After the kickoff, the Chargers’ D held the Mountaineers to three and out and they ran the clock from the 4:29 mark to 52.8 seconds to score on six straight carries by Green to account for the final margin.
Kings Mountain had one of its lowest offensive outputs of the season, gaining just 107 yards rushing and 186 passing for a total of 293 yards but opened with a 74-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead on a 16-yard touchdown reception by Bryson Brown and an extra point kick by Jaden Ellis.
Fisher made three key tackles, and Zaylen Ramos and Curtis Simpson had tackles for loss to hold that lead through the end of the first quarter.
An 18-yard run by Robert Kendrick and 12-yard reception by Hoyle got the Mountaineers to the Crest 43 but they lost the ball on downs. Keyed by a 22-yard sneak by Green, the Chargers drove 56 yards in seven plays with Adams covering the final three to tie the score.
A pass interception by Brandon McCall and return to the KM 42 set up a seven-play drive capped by Adams’ 17-yard run to put Crest up 14-7 with 3:44 left in the half.
Despite an eight-yard quarterback sack, the Mountaineers got big pass receptions by Bryson Brown for 14 yards, Zay Smith for 22 and Sel Randloph for 11 to set up a 26-yard TD pass from Littlejohn to Brown for a 14-14 halftime tie.
Crest took the lead for good on the first drive of the second half, moving 80 yards in 13 plays to score on a six yard run by Adams. KM answered with its drive to the Crest five but couldn’t get it in as a run for no gain followed by two incomplete passes led to the Crest INT in the end zone.

Kings Mountain’s Thalia Kushman ran a 22:05 to win the women’s race and also the Big South Conference Cross Country Player of the Year Award in the annual conference meet last week at Gastonia Ashbrook.
Even though the two Kings Mountain teams didn’t win a team title - those went to the South Point women and Stuart Cramer men - they did place eight runners on the All-Conference teams. Joining Kushman on the ladies’ team were Divinity Ervin in fourth place, Brooke Waseman ninth, Nicole Poston 12th and Sindy Ulloa 14th.
Kings Mountain runners on the men’s All-Big South team were Parker Key who finished fourth, Isaiah Watts, ninth, and Kohen Johnson, 15th.
In the women’s race, South Point was followed by Kings Mountain, Stuart Cramer, and Forestview. The Lady Mountaineers had beaten the Lady Red Raiders twice in the regular season, “but they brought out their full team for this run,” KM Coach Rayvis Key noted.
Two South Point runners – Maddie Franks and Rachel Tolbert, ran second and third
and another, Emme Lewandowski, finished fifth behind Kings Mountain’s Divnity Ervin, who ran the course in 23:42.19.
Nicholas Willer of Cramer was the men’s individual winner in 16:20.43. Austin Brotemarkle of Forestview and Zachary Willer of Cramer finished just ahead of Key for the second and third place ribbons.
Isaiah Watts finished eighth to give the Mountaineers two runners in the top 10.
 

Kings Mountain High’s women’s volleyball team polished off an undefeated conference season last week by winning the Big South with a 14-0 record, and then opened play in the NCHSAA 3A tournament on Saturday with an impressive 3-0 victory over North Davidson at Donald L. Parker Gymnasium.
The Lady Mountaineers, 19-2 overall, were scheduled to host East Lincoln last night. A victory would have them hosting the winner of the Central Davidson-Crest game Thursday night. East Lincoln advanced with a 3-0 win over South Point Saturday.
The East and West Regional championships will be played November 2, and the State championship November 6 in Raleigh.
As usual, Kings Mountain got outstanding play from all of their ladies in the opening round 25-5, 25-5, 25-8 win over North Davidson.
Paige Bagwell provided 30 assists, four kills and three service points.
Aaliyah Byers, who recently registered her 1,000th kill over her four- year varsity career, added 17 more to her total while also providing six digs, two blocks and seven service points.
Meile Songaila had her usual strong performance with 10 kills, three serve receptions and two blocks; as did Caroline Barber with 21 service points, three serve receptions and five digs.
In their final regular season game at Crest, the Lady Mountaineers won their 14th straight BSC game over a talented Crest squad, 25-17, 25-23, 25-15. One of the amazing accomplishments of this BSC season was that the Lady Mountaineers did not drop a single set.
Songaila led the way with 14 kills, two assists, three serve receptions, 16 digs, 15 service points and two blocks.
Byers provided 14 kills, four digs, one block and six service points.
Bagwell had five kills, 31 assists, nine digs, three blocks and four service points.
Myracle Davis had five kills, five digs and six blocks.
Barber had five assists, 15 serve receptions, nine digs and six service points.
In JV action, the Lady Mountaineers finished off a 9-2 Big South and 14-3 season with a 25-11, 25-12 victory over Crest.
Sara Kate Bridges had nine service points, 20 assists, three digs and two kills.
Alexa Jones had three service points, nine kills and four digs.
London Brown provided 10 service points, four kills, five serve receptions and three digs.
Addi Peeler had eight service points, eight serve receptions and four digs. 

It took Kings Mountain just four plays – and the first of those was an incomplete pass – to go 55 yards for a touchdown on their first possession and they continued to “roll the Wave” just about all night in a 51-0 Big South victory over Ashbrook Friday night in Gastonia.
The win was the eighth straight for the Mountaineers and puts them in the Big South Conference championship game against the Crest Chargers Friday at 7:30 at KM’s John Gamble Stadium.
After that incompletion, Micah Ward ripped through the Wave twice for 46 yards to set up a nine-yard touchdown run by Zay Smith with only 2:51 gone off the game clock.
On the third play following the KM kickoff, the Mountaineers’ Quay Sanders picked off a pass and returned it 25 yards for a 13-0 lead.
“Our defense played well,” Coach Greg Lloyd said. “They did what they had to do. Ashbrook’s quarterback was out and that hurt them some, but it gave us some momentum coming into the Crest game.”
Although they didn’t seriously threaten to score, the Green Wave rallied somewhat after that and had a couple drives that kept the ball away from the Mountaineers. KM did drive to the Green Wave 17 early in the second quarter but missed a field goal.
After the KM defense  held the Wave to three and out again, Mountaineer fans got a welcomed surprise when running back Caleb Holland, who had not played since suffering an injury in the second game of the year at Asheville, came onto the field. With the Mountaineers starting at their own seven after an Ashbrook punt, Holland ripped through the line for 11 yards and on the very next play quarterback Lamont Littlejohn hit D’Andre Hoyle behind the Ashbrook secondary with an 83-yard catch and run TD. Bryson Brown passed to Curtis Simpson for a two-point conversion and a 21-0 lead.
“It was nice to have Caleb back out there playing,” said Lloyd. “He looked good and quick. All of our backs ran hard and the offensive line continues to improve.”
Taking over with 1:32 remaining in the half, Holland carried three straight times for 28 yards and a first down at the Ashbrook 22 with 48.8 seconds left on the clock. A screen pass to Hoyle got the Mountaineers to the nine, but penalties set them back to the 38. Facing third and goal, Hoyle went deep but was surrounded by two Ashbrook defenders inside the five yard line. The ball actually tipped off both Ashbrook players’ fingers and Hoyle grabbed it for the TD and a 28-0 halftime lead.
A 23-yard reception by Jake Lloyd and several big gains by Holland and Ward had the Mountaineers deep in Ashbrook territory again but they lost a fumble at the 12. Facing third and 17 from their own 10, Ashbrook’s quarterback was scrambling to try to pass and threw the ball out of bounds from his own end zone, resulting in a safety and a 30-0 KM lead.
The Wave had to kick off from the 20, and a Smith return set the Mountaineers up at their own 48. Holland carried twice for 30 yards and Ward twice for 11 for a first and goal at the Ashbrook 12. Three carries by Holland resulted in a touchdown and Jaden Ellis’s PAT ran the score the 37-0.
On the first play following the ensuing kickoff, Peyton Fisher scooped up an Ashbrook fumble and hauled it 65 yards for a touchdown and a 44-0 KM lead at the 5:07 mark of the third quarter, resulting in a running clock.
After another three and out for the Wave, KM took over on its own 38. Jonah Patrick hit Bryson Brown with a 17-yard pass on the final play of the third quarter, and on the third play of the fourth period Patrick hit Fisher with a 19-yarder and a first down at the Wave 24. With 6:20 left in the game, Smith scored on a two-yard run and Ellis booted the PAT for the final 51-0 margin.
Holland finished with 140 yards rushing to lead the KM attack and Ward, who spent most of his time on defense, added 60 yards in just six carries. Overall, the Mountaineers finished with 233 yards rushing and 232 passing.
Hoyle finished with three catches for 133 yards.