FOOTBALL ROUNDUP

Seaforth, J-M shut out; Central scores first points

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Week 3 was another tough slate for Chatham County high school football teams, as the four area varsity programs went 0-4 and lost their games by a combined score of 188-47.

Through the first three weeks of the season, only Northwood (1-3) has a win to its credit. The Chargers fell to Chapel Hill High, 55-35, in Week 1 despite a spirited second-half comeback attempt.

Here’s a look at how the other three schools fared last week.

Willow Springs 49, Seaforth 0 (Thursday)

The Week 3 schedule started Thursday as Seaforth traveled to Willow Springs. The Hawks ended up losing, 49-0, to fall to 0-3 on the year.

Through three weeks, Seaforth has yet to score any points while allowing their opponents a total of 128. Head coach Terrance Gary has preached patience with his team all season, and he told the News + Record that the team is getting better each week, even if the results don’t necessarily look that way.

“We know what our situation is, and the guys have been stepping up to the plate every week,” Gary said. “We can see the improvement on the field, even though the scoreboard doesn’t necessarily show it. On film, you can see how much we’re improving.”

Seaforth is in its first season as a varsity program. The Hawks have no seniors on the team and the roster is mainly made up of juniors and sophomores who first started playing football last season when the school competed at the JV level.

The Hawks are rather green when it comes to fundamentals, but Gary knows things will get better over time.

“We’ve got to get better at tackling and certain blocking techniques,” Gary said. “These are just things where, if you’ve played football for a while up until this point, you should be a little bit better at. But we’re starting from behind.”

Seaforth will have another tough test this week as it travels to play Northwood. The Chargers are the only team in the county with a victory so far this season, defeating Jordan-Matthews, 52-0, in Week 2.

North Stokes 37, Chatham Central 12 (Thursday)

Also playing Thursday night, the Chatham Central football team lost at home to North Stokes, 37-12. The Bears (0-3) trailed by just two scores at the half, but the Vikings scored all 17 points in the second half to put the game to rest.

Chatham Central gained 234 yards of total offense. Quarterbacks Brandon Toomer, Hasten Paige and River Warren combined to complete 8-of-19 passes for 134 yards and one touchdowns against four interceptions. Toomer threw the lone touchdown to junior Devonte Johnson, who had three catches for 83 yards and also ran for a touchdown in the loss.

The Bears are still winless on the season, but Thursday marked the first time they scored points this fall, so things seem to be moving in the right direction. Chatham Central will look for its first win of the 2022 season Friday night on the road at Wheatmore, who is also 0-3.

Last season, Wheatmore defeated Central, 39-6. That said, the Warriors did graduate their starting quarterback over the offseason in Ben Walker, who was 17-of-27 for 211 yards and two touchdowns and an interception in the win over the Bears in 2021.

Providence Grove 51, Jordan-Matthews 0 (Friday)

The largest margin of defeat in Week 3 belonged to Jordan-Matthews, which fell to Providence Grove, 51-0, at home Friday night.

The Jets (0-3) couldn’t get anything going offensively at any point Friday night, ultimately finishing the game with -21 yards of total offense. Jordan-Matthews failed to complete a pass in the loss and threw four interceptions in six attempts.

Still, there were some encouraging things to take away from Friday, like the performance of the Jets’ defense in the second half. Entering the locker room at halftime trailing 44-0, Jordan-Matthews rallied together and only gave up seven points over the final two quarters.

“I think we were better in the second half, especially defensively,” said J-M head coach Ryan Johnson. “The guys showed some passion. That’s been something we’ve been talking about (since the start of the season), just playing with passion and showing some heart. I thought our guys showed some glimpses that we hadn’t seen in the first couple of weeks.”

Through the first three weeks of the season, Jordan-Matthews has lost its three games by a combined score of 165-6, but Johnson believes his team is steadily improving week after week. The Jets will try to get their first win of the season Friday as they host Trinity (2-1), which defeated Chatham Central, 52-0, in Week 1.

Last season, the Bulldogs defeated J-M, 48-12.

“The guys are showing up every day and they’re resilient,” Johnson said. “We haven’t quit. We’re looking forward to bigger things coming down the road with the work they’re putting in right now.”

Sports Editor Jeremy Vernon can be reached at jeremy@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @jbo_vernon.

football, Seaforth, Jordan-Matthews, Chatham Central, Willow Springs, North Stokes, Providence Grove, high school, NCHSAA,