West Stanly moves to 2-0 for fifth straight season
Published 7:08 am Saturday, August 26, 2023
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It came down to one final defensive stand after the visiting Cougars sent the game to overtime.
Junior defensive back Jahmere Blyden’s interception in the end zone gave the West Stanly Colts the win over Carson in the first meeting on the varsity gridiron between the two schools.
West Stanly (2-0) had the early lead on a Breyden Lambert nine-yard TD run, the first of two from the junior running back.
Carson (0-2) answered in the second quarter and took a 12-8 lead with a third-quarter touchdown.
The Colts, on Lambert’s second TD, took a 14-12 lead, missing the two-point conversion.
West added a Jett Thomas TD pass to Roman Huneycutt with 3:34 remaining, but it left the door open with an unsuccessful two-point conversion.
A long pass downfield and a pass interference call set up a Carson touchdown with just under a minute to play.
West threw a last second-interception but Carson failed to score, forcing overtime.
The Colts won the toss and scored in three plays when Caleb Bumgarner plowed in from one yard out.
As Bumgarner was being helped off the field, the Cougars were penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. The penalty was enforced on Carson’s possession, meaning the Cougars had to go 25 yards in four plays.
Carson ran on first down, then quarterback Michael Guiton sent a pass into the end zone towards Carson Aman, which Blyden jumped up and knocked away.
The Cougars then ran a fade route towards the same corner Blyden was in.
“I played back; I knew the ball was coming,” Blyden said.
Just before the ball arrived, the junior cornerback moved his arm around the receiver’s arm, tipped the ball up and picked it off.
“I knew what I had to do. We do it so many times in practice,” Blyden added.
Head coach Brett Morton said he told his team before overtime that “it was time to get things done. That was the message…if you want to win, you have to get it done right here.”
West is 2-0 for the fifth straight season and heads to Albemarle (0-2) in Week 3.