Knights shine in Black Friday rout, clinch regional berth
Robbinsville – There is 223 miles of highway between Robbinsville and Spencer, the home of North Rowan High School.
In the immediate aftermath of a 44-14 smashing by the Black Knights on Friday, the Cavaliers probably needed every inch of the road to gather their bearings and figure out what had hit them.
It’s quite simply, actually: four rushing touchdowns from Cuttler Adams, a pair from Chase Calhoun and a scoring reception by Roman Jones was North Rowan’s undoing in the fourth round of the playoffs.
Well, that and a fired-up line, as the Knights limited North Rowan to just 153 yards on the night – and only 21 on the ground.
“They were a really good team. Our kids just came out right away and hit them really hard,” Knights head coach Dee Walsh analyzed. “It must have made them decide they didn’t want to be here.”
Before North Rowan (No. 4 seed, 11-3) could catch its breath, Robbinsville (No. 1, 13-1) led 24-0. Adams sped to consecutive 9-yard touchdowns in the first and second; he later burst past the Cavaliers on 49- and 85-yard dashes in the third segment, which dampened North Rowan’s spirits after finally scoring on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Jeremiah Alford to Amir Alexander.
Running like the grass owed him money, Adams stampeded his way to 282 yards on 27 carries against the Cavs; in the process, he seized bragging rights to another wide-reaching rushing mark: Brevard’s Manny Deshauteurs recorded 6,632 between 1997-99.
Adams now has 6,737, which puts him above all the rest in Western North Carolina history. Statewide, he is 17th all-time and could easily leapfrog his way to the top 12 in the Western Regional title game this week against Mount Airy (No. 2 seed, 14-0).
Quarterback Donovan Carpenter lofted the aforementioned touchdown pass to Jones in the second quarter; he also picked off Alford twice while manning the safety post.
Quinn Jumper’s fumble recovery in the second gave way to Calhoun’s first rushing score; the senior back struck again for the final touchdown of the game in the dawning moments of the fourth.
North Rowan’s final hope was staked when Alford found Jaemais Morrow on a 14-yard touchdown pass in the third. Alford then ran in the conversion.
The outcome was a stark contrast to the last meeting between the teams, which came in the third round of the 2021 playoffs.
Robbinsville won the back-and-forth battle, 50-47.