Weekly Middle School Roundup: September 16-20, 2019

Weekly Middle School Roundups for September are sponsored by:
Ihrie Supply

Middle School Roundup will be published each Saturday. Results and stats are compiled through emails from coaches and athletic directors. If you don’t see a result from your team, please encourage your coach or AD to start emailing them to tim@coastalpreps.com.

FOOTBALL

Noble 12, Trask 6 (OT)

(Played Wednesday)

***Click here to view a gallery of 36 photos from the action***

Tyjhere Crudup scored a 1-yard touchdown on fourth down in the first overtime to lift the Eagles to a dramatic comeback victory in the season opener that was played at Laney High School.

Noble (1-0) trailed 6-0 late into the fourth quarter before Crudup found the end zone from 35 yards out with just over two minute to play.

Trask (0-1) got the ball first to begin overtime, but Zac Unruh came up with an interception in the end zone to give the Eagles a chance to claim the victory.

Noble gained nine yards on its first three plays before Crudup barreled his way into the end zone for the game-winning score.

Both teams are back in action on Wednesday at 4 p.m.. Noble hosts Myrtle Grove and Trask welcomes Williston.

Murray 36, Virgo 6

(Played Wednesday)

The Falcons had no trouble in their season opener, cruising to a road win thanks to three rushing touchdowns from Drew Piner.

Quarterback Cohen Locklear connected with Casey Gladden for a 30-yard touchdown and Alex Raeburn found the end zone from 26 yards out and also added the ensuing two-point conversion.

Defensively, Murray got fumble recoveries from Caden Alkins and Tanner Berry as well as an interception from Jaelen Brewington.

Both teams return to the field at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Murray plays at Roland-Grise, while Virgo (0-1) travels to Holly Shelter.

Roland-Grise 36, Holly Shelter 0

(Played Wednesday)

Tim White scored a pair of touchdowns and converted a two-point attempt, and the Roland-Grise defense earned a shutout in a season-opening road victory.

The Knights (1-0) also got a touchdown from Luke Skipper, Teague Roach and Skyler Merrill. Jason Smith and Blake Fisher each converted a two-point conversion.

Both teams hit the field on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Roland-Grise hosts Murray and Holly Shelter is home against Virgo.

Myrtle Grove 12, Williston 6

(Played Wednesday)

The Gators opened the season with a hard-fought home victory thanks to a pair of touchdowns – one rushing and one receiving – from M’Kel Bellamy.

Jared Ankrom also had a big day, finishing with 70 rushing yards.

Both teams are back in action at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Myrtle Grove (1-0) plays at Noble, while Williston travels to Trask.

Standings

Murray 1-0

Myrtle Grove 1-0

Noble 1-0

Roland-Grise 1-0

Holly Shelter 0-1

Trask 0-1

Virgo 0-1

Williston 0-1

SOFTBALL

Trask 14, Holly Shelter 2 (4 innings)

(Played Tuesday)

Bailey Betencourt allowed only two hits and struck out five to help the Bears open the season with a mercy-rule victory.

Trask (1-0) scored nine runs in the first inning before adding one in the second and four more in the third. They finished with seven hits, including two from Kalli Short. She also drove in a pair of runs.

Makenly Horrell had a double, three RBI and two runs and Jayden Peterson went 1-for-2 with a pair of runs.

Holly Shelter (0-1) scored both of its runs in the top of the fourth inning.

Murray 16, Myrtle Grove 0 (4 innings)

(Played Tuesday)

Brooke Kennedy struck out seven hitters to lead the Falcons to a dominant home victory.

Murray (1-0) was led offensively by Eliza Wood, Peyton Francis, Emerson Lee, Chloe Flowers and Kylee Doyle.

Roland-Grise 14, Williston 1 (4 innings)

(Played Tuesday)

The Knights got a pair of RBI from Alyssa Norris as well as 11 strikeouts in the circle from Macey Ciamillo to open the season with a home victory.

Trask 5, Roland-Grise 3

(Played Thursday)

***Click here to view a gallery of 38 photos from the action***

The Bears rallied for four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to secure a hard-fought home win.

Sophia Smith tied the game at 3-3 with a two-run single and Layla Carr put Trask (2-0) on top for good with a two-run triple. 

Carr finished with three RBI and Cameryn Cooper also went 1-for-2 with a run. Brileigh Matthews allowed only two hits and struck out eight to earn her first victory of the season. 

Roland-Grise (1-1) got a pair of hits and a run from Ayla York. Macey Ciamillo had a nice game in the circle, allowing three hits and striking out a pair.

Noble 13, Murray 4

(Played Thursday)

Murray (1-1) was led offensively by Kloey Flowers, Reagan Martin, Caliegh Brooks and Eliza Wood. Kylee Doyle had a tremendous catch in center field.

Standings

Trask 2-0

Noble 1-0 

Holly Shelter 1-1

Murray 1-1

Roland-Grise 1-1

Myrtle Grove 0-1 

Williston 0-2

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

Meet at Wallace Park

(Held on Thursday)

Williston’s Colin Egan crossed the finish line first in 12:03.64 in the season-opening race.

Murray edged Noble by two points thanks to five top-15 finishes. Isaiah Perry led the way for the Falcons with a second-place finish in 12:04.19. Murray, which scored 50 points, also got a 10th-place finish from Ryan English (12:26.74).

Noble’s Clark Beery was third with a time of 12:09.23, Roland-Grise sixth grader Sawyer Harrison was fourth (12:11.08) and Williston’s Stephen Mattis (12:15.11) rounded out the top five.

The rest of the top 10 went as follows: Roland Grise’s Caden McNutt (12:15.39), Noble’s Owen Hurley (12:18.31), Roland-Grise’s Jackson Hughes (12:18.77), Noble’s Trevor Sage (12:19.68) and English.

Murray finished with 20 points and Noble scored 52 points, followed by Roland-Grise (70), Williston (74), Holly Shelter (143), Myrtle Grove (176) and Trask (183).

Meet at Wilmington Christian Academy

(Held on Thursday)

Myrtle Grove Christian placed four runners in the top 15 to finish with 58 points and the team victory.

Jack Sterrett was second in the two-mile race with a time of 10:35.08, William Holmes was 10th (12:08.76), Ethan Arnette was 12th (12:21.91) and Bradley Arnette was 14th (12:42.80).

St. Mary Catholic School’s Alex Walker finished fourth by crossing the finish line in 11:21.59.

Other area runners in the top 10 were: Southeastern Homeschool’s Stuart Shaver (fifth in 11:40.69), St. Mark Catholic School’s Elliott Johnston (seventh in 11:49.04), St. Mark’s Taylor Blackwell (eighth in 11:49.92) and Southeastern Homeschool’s Brandon Carian (ninth in 11:55.04).

Southeastern Homeschool was third as a team with 84 points. St. Mark was fourth (87), St. Mary was fifth (117) and Wilmington Christian Academy was seventh (162).

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

Meet at Wallace Park

(Held on Thursday)

Murray eighth grader Maris Toppin earned a three-second victory over Williston’s Kalaia Peters and the Falcons cruised to a team victory with 31 points.

Toppin completed the course in 13:11.69 with Peters crossing the finish line in 13:14.23. Noble’s Kathryn McGrath was third with a time of 13:15.72, followed by Roland-Grise’s Sofia Magne (13:20.92) and Murray’s Holly McKee (13:22.52).

The rest of the top 10 went as follows: Roland-Grise’s Danner Harrison (13:26.60), Murray’s Anna Benfield (13:36.52), Murray’s Kieran Bradley (13:39.52), Noble’s Emma Bufalini (13:41.60) and Murray’s Caroline Fubay (13:42.55).

Noble was second in the team standings with 61 points, followed by Roland-Grise (71), Williston (95), Holly Shelter (124), Trask (166) and Myrtle Grove (170).

Meet at Wilmington Christian Academy

(Held on Thursday)

Running on her home course, Wilmington Christian Academy seventh grader Martha Smith crossed the finish line first with a time of 12:47.60 on the two-mile course.

St. Mark Catholic School had three of the top seven finishers to score 43 points and defeat St. Mary Catholic School by 10 points. WCA was third (74) and Myrtle Grove Christian was fourth (79).

Southeastern Homeschool’s Emmie Backman placed second with a time of 12:49.48, followed by St. Mary’s Abbie Hohl (13:26.70), St. Mark’s Raegan Pickard (13:27.50) and St. Mary’s Catalina Butler (13:32.84).

The rest of the top 10 went as follows: St. Mark’s Piper Campomanes (13:43.13), St. Mark’s Kate Knoblauch (13:43.90), St. Mary’s Valentina Butler (13:56.80), WCA’s Taylee Williams (14:03.76) and Myrtle Grove Christian’s Olivia Kruger (14:07.75).

D1 BOYS SOCCER

St. Mark Catholic School remains unbeaten

The Lions improved to 6-0 on the season with a pair of victories.

On Tuesday, they downed Wilmington Christian Academy behind goals from Kip Thomas and Sam Dieffenbach. Two days later, St. Mark picked up a nonconference win over Southeastern Homeschool.

Other scores

Tuesday: Cape Fear Academy 1, Myrtle Grove Christian School 1

D1 VOLLEYBALL

St. Mark Catholic School earns two wins

The Lions downed Wilmington Christian Academy in straight sets on Tuesday and Thursday. The highlight of the second match was Sophie Bachman reeling off 21 straight serves.

Other scores

Thursday: Myrtle Grove Christian 2, Harrells Christian Academy 0 (25-5, 25-7)

D2 VOLLEYBALL

St. Mary Catholic School 2, St. Mark Catholic School 1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-18)

(Played Tuesday)

After dropping the opening set, St. Mary won the final two to secure the road victory.

Violet Hakan, Mary Ryan Campbell, Ellie Dixon, and Peyton Schlossnagle combined to serve 12 aces for the Lions in defeat. St. Mark also got numerous digs and accurate passing from Sarah Todt.