Mills River – Undefeated West Henderson won its 3A football playoff opener 61-15 over Erwin on Friday, while North Henderson lost its rematch with Pisgah 35-17.
West, the West Region’s third seed, set varsity school football standards for most points scored in a playoff game and for average victory margin (45-9.5) in a season. Mountain Seven champ West, a recent Mountain Athletic Conference team, beat longtime MAC school Erwin by 30 points (40-10) in week four and by 46 on Friday.
Erwin head coach Rodney Pruett called West’s latest performance “total domination. Too much fire power. They threw on us all night. The barrage before halftime sealed the deal! Hats off to them.”
The Falcons (11-0) face 11th-seeded Pisgah (9-2) again in round three, if both win. On Friday, West hosts East Lincoln (8-3). The 19th-seeded Mustangs upset Ledford 49-13. The Mustangs are paced by stocky back Christopher Daley II and passer Grant Lawless.
Pisgah Black Bears play at sixth-seeded Oak Grove Grizzlies (10-1) in a Bear Bash. Pisgah beat North Henderson (7-4) 35-17 at home on Friday, a week after winning 55-41 at NHHS.
In the rematch, the Knights led 10-7 after Zion Fauntleroy-McDaniel’s 18-yard TD run wide on a fourth-and-one. Zion rushed for two TDs and about 200 yards (5.4 YPC) on 37 carries, with fellow RB Mason Gasperson out with a concussion. They are among 27 senior Knights on a squad that tied the program’s win record.
If the Falcons reach round four, they’ll likely tangle with explosive seventh seed A.C. Reynolds (8-3) which is due to get back injured star runner Max Guest, or else run-oriented tenth seed Kings Mountain (10-1).
Shrine Bowl selectee receiver Truitt Manuel has “faith we’ll go into deeper rounds.”
Falcon Flurries
West head coach Paul Whitaker, in the post-victory huddle, urged his Falcons to be “on our ‘A game’” from the get-go.
The air Friday night was chilly, still and dry. There was no snow. The only flurries were in Falcon scoring. Breezes were felt by Warrior defenders as Falcons zoomed by.
West lit up the scoreboard in two bursts — scoring three touchdowns in the final two minutes of the first half, and three TDs within three and a half minutes of the third quarter. The Falcons scored seven of nine TDs in the two middle quarters, to ice the game.
West scoring was a 1-2-3 punch of run, throw, and run. The balanced offense had 302 aerial yards and 236 more on the ground.
Cade Outdoes Caden
West Henderson’s Cade Young outperformed freshman Caden Ingle of Erwin. This was a duel of young, strong-armed, mobile, similarly-named quarterbacks. Sophomore Young passed for a career-best 302 yards. He threw long passes for three TDs, to close the second quarter.
On his first TD strike, right-handed Young rolled left. He backpedaled to avoid the pass rush. Leaning back, he threw across his body — which is tough to do. He delivered a pass 35 yards downfield to Tayman Howell, who was in full stride, at the 25. Howell zoomed in for a 59-yard TD. Howell, a junior, said that “it felt good” to contribute to the scoring barrage.
Seventeen seconds later, Young threw to Manuel for a 35-yard TD. Manuel outmuscled CB Lawson Reynolds to gain possession at the Erwin eight, spun away from Reynolds, and trotted into the end zone. “Cade has been playing great recently,” Manuel said.
Finally, Young threw a bomb to Diego Castro for a 49-yard score, a half-minute before halftime.
Young said that “it feels great” for the offense to click like that. He is grateful that Manuel, Castro and other “seniors trust me” to get the ball to them. If Young is ever honored as a state champion game MVP and is awarded a car, it’d surely be an Acura — since he is so accurate. He completed 16 of 22 passes, with no interceptions. He was sacked only once.
Castro similarly appreciates the “trust” between quarterback and receivers. Castro made five catches for 82 yards and a score. He calls it “amazing” how well Young distributed passes to many receivers.
That makes it harder for defenses to keep double- or triple-teaming Manuel. He again reached 100 receiving yards, on seven catches with one for a TD. Howell had 99 yards on three receptions. Tight end Tyler Nash like Manuel is a big, strong target. He made his one catch count for 21 yards, dragging three Warriors for extra yardage.
Dimsdale Brightens it Up
WNC-leading rusher Carson Dimsdale was a force — especially early on and later. He rushed for four scores and 158 yards, averaging over ten yards per carry. He scored on runs of five, 60, 38 and seven yards — in that order.
Dimsdale set a physical tone on his first TD run. Dimsdale smashed through a Warrior, who crumbled to the turf.
On his second TD run, he broke free and dashed 60 yards for the go-ahead score 22 seconds into the second quarter. “To break big runs means everything,” Dimsdale said with a grin. That score ignited the Falcons’ four-TD second quarter.
Zane McCraw also showed a blend of power and quickness. He ran up the middle for West’s final two TDs — for 43 and 12 yards. He gained 87 yards on merely four carries on Friday. Dimsdale and McCraw rushed for a combined 236 yards and six TDs.
McCraw, a sophomore, is in line to carry the running load in 2024-25. When he returned to the sidelines after scoring, he and grinning fellow back Dimsdale “high-fived.” This reflects an underlining ingredient in Falcon success. As star linebacker Eben Mann notes, “Our team chemistry is off the charts.”
Mann-to-Man ‘D’
Linebacker Mann leads a mobile, hard-hitting Falcon defense. “Our defense is our backbone,” Mann said, and many people agree. Mann was very analytical about what worked on defense Friday. He credited confusing “stunts,” as defenders shift about before the snap to disguise who might blitz and who will stay back in pass coverage.
Erwin scored on its first possession. But Ingle was intercepted on the next Warrior drive. That turnover “got us rolling,” Mann said.