For the second year in a row, the Weddington Warriors have left their first-round playoff opponents scoreless. Friday’s 35-0 win over the South Iredell Vikings should help the Warriors maintain the momentum of their history-making season as they head into second-round play against the No. 8 seed Parkland Mustangs out of Winston-Salem. As the top-ranked team in the 3AA West, Weddington will have the advantage of a second home playoff game on Friday—the Warriors have not lost a home game since September 2017.
Weddington was quick to take the lead against the Vikings on Friday. South Iredell was forced to punt early following a sack by senior Trey Alsbrooks, and with less than five minutes gone from the game clock, Weddington scored their first touchdown of the night. The ice-breaking score was a nineteen-yard run from sophomore Landyn Backey.
Just eleven more seconds ran off the game clock before Weddington lit the scoreboard again. The Vikings’ second drive of the night ended in disaster when junior Will Shipley intercepted a pass from South Iredell senior Cullen Smith and returned it twenty yards to the end zone. Weddington senior Ian Williams cleared his second PAT of the night, making the score 14-0. With less than a minute left in the first, Weddington receiver Jackson McClain crossed the goal line for what would be the final score of the first three quarters.
At 21-0, the rain seemed to have stopped all scoring for the night when Weddington senior Malik Mustapha intercepted a Vikings pass, and ran the ball nearly fifty yards for a touchdown, with just over seven minutes left in the game. Sophomore Kyle Parsons ran 37 yards for the final touchdown of the night, earning the Weddington victory 35-0.
