Charlotte pulls away in second half against Three Rivers

CHARLOTTE — It was an eventful first game for Chris Gilliam as head coach of Three Rivers.
After all, it’s not every day a coach’s first game gets postponed due to lightning and storms midway through the second quarter.
However, when the game resumed Friday night in Charlotte, it was all Orioles, as the home team pulled away in the second quarter and the second half to give the Wildcats a 52-22 loss in their opening-week matchup.
The game was 8-0 Charlotte in the second quarter on Thursday, Aug. 24 after a first-quarter 73-yard rushing touchdown by the Orioles’ Carson Berkompas, before heavy storms and lightning in the area forced a postponement of the game to Friday.
Charlotte’s Cutler Brandt took an errant pass by Wildcat quarterback Caleb Quake 65 yards to the house to put the home team up 14-0 after a failed two-point conversion when the game resumed. Three Rivers would get on the board a couple of drives later, when Quake split the defense for a 66-yard rushing touchdown. The two-point conversion was good to put the ‘Cats deficit to 14-8.
On the third play of the ensuing drive, Charlotte’s Tyler Bidelman had a 66-yard rushing touchdown of his own, with a two-point conversion pass upping Charlotte’s lead to 22-8. That would be the score heading into the half.
In the third quarter, TR only needed five plays on its next possession, with Quake finding wideout Luis Warmack for a 20-yard touchdown to make it 22-16 after a two-point conversion pass. But Charlotte would pull away, with Tyler Bidelman adding two more rushing touchdowns of four and three yards to extend Charlotte’s lead to 36-16. Tre Rohrer would end the scoring in the third with a two-yard rushing touchdown to make it 36-22.
Charlotte would score two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, thanks to a 62-yard run by Brandt and a 43-yard rush by Bidelman to finish out the game with the final score 52-22.
For the Wildcats, Quake went 21-of-35 passing for 212 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions. He would also be the team’s leading rusher with 14 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown. Jace Gray would add 11 carries for 51 yards, while Rohrer had just the one two-yard carry for a touchdown.
Warmack led all receivers with 12 catches for 146 yards and a touchdown. Heston Saunders added four catches for 23 yards, while Lamonta Stone had two catches for 20 yards.
Defensively, Gray led the team in tackles with 5.5, while Carson Beuter had five. Rohrer had the lone sack of the game.
Charlotte QB Christian Powers was 5-for-8 with 75 yards passing, but Charlotte’s ground game ruled the day, with Bidelman carrying the ball 16 times for 151 yards and four touchdowns. Berkompas had two carries for 83 yards and a touchdown, while Brandt had three carries for 66 yards and a touchdown.
Brandt and Berkompas were the only two Orioles to catch passes, with Brandt going for 44 yards on two catches and Berkompas going for 31 yards on three receptions.
Defensively, Brandt, Berkompas, Aidan Johnson and Aiden Laverty each had interceptions. Timmy Bensinger led the team in tackles with seven, with Laverty adding six.
Centreville loses second-half lead, game against Union City
UNION CITY — The second half was not kind to Centreville in their matchup Saturday with Union City, losing its grip on a 16-0 halftime lead to lose 18-16 to the Chargers.
The game was originally scheduled for Thursday, but rescheduled to Saturday due to the heat index and weather considerations.
Centreville scored its lone two touchdowns of the game in the second quarter, with a 60-yard interception return by Carter Cartier plus a two-point conversion and a 77-yard rushing touchdown by Kam Wells plus another two-point play to make it 16-0.
Union City would score two touchdowns in the third quarter to make it 16-12 after three, and then added a 68-yard passing touchdown in the fourth to seal the deal, 18-12.
Wells had 95 yards rushing and a touchdown to lead the Bulldogs on 12 carries.
Constantine bests Detroit Southeastern
DETROIT — Constantine traveled to the east side of the state for its first game of the year, and came home victorious over Detroit Southeastern, 35-22.
Both teams were tied at 14 at the half, before Constantine outscored the Jungaleers 21-8 in the second half.
Isaac Moore, Bennett VandenBerg, Brody Jones and Rushawn James each had rushing touchdowns for the Falcons, while Brody Jones completed his lone pass of the game to James for 12 yards. Defensively, the Falcons had 10 tackles from VandenBerg and Caleb Bontrager to lead the way.
White Pigeon cruises in second half against Reading
READING — White Pigeon took care of business in its first game of the season, upending Reading on the road 36-14.
Caleb Lane started the scoring for White Pigeon with a 24-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, with a failed two-point play putting the Chiefs up 6-0. A touchdown run by Reading plus a two-point play gave them their lone lead of the game, 8-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Taylor Stewart would find the end zone for the Chiefs in the second with a five-yard scamper. A two-point conversion put them up 14-8. The Rangers would tie the game with another touchdown run, but a failed two-point conversion kept the game tied at 14 going into halftime.
The second half was all Chiefs. Evan Rudolff scored a safety to put White Pigeon up 16-14, and then Stewart notched his second rushing TD of the day on a 14-yard run. A failed two-point play put the Chiefs up 22-14 after the third quarter. Lane would add touchdown runs of four and 17 yards in the fourth quarter to ice the game, 36-14.
Lane had 12 carries for 99 yards and three touchdowns on the day, with Stewart adding 17 carries for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Lane and Josh Davidson each threw an interception in the passing game and did not complete any of the duo’s three passes.
Defensively, James Chaney had eight tackles for the Chiefs, while Seth Miller had six, including two tackles for loss. Jordan Pisco and Mekhi Singleton each had interceptions.
Mendon runs over Bangor
BANGOR — Mendon had no trouble at all with Bangor in its opening game of the year, defeating the Vikings 66-20 on the road Friday.
The Hornets were up 14-6 after the first quarter after touchdown runs by Jack McCaw and Owen Gorham, before exploding for four touchdowns in the second quarter on three TD runs by McCaw and a two-yard run from Gavin Lux to make it 44-12 at the half. McCaw, Gorham and Dylan Cupp would score on touchdown runs of 25, 10 and 66 yards respectively to seal the deal in the second half, 66-20.
Mendon outgained Bangor on the day 416-281, including 393 yards on the ground. McCaw led the way with 13 carries for 202 yards.
Marcellus blows out Tri Unity
WYOMING — Marcellus’ football team got off to a fast start, with a big 58-8 win over Wyoming Tri Unity Christian Thursday night.
Dawsen Lehew scored three touchdowns on the day for the Wildcats, carrying the rock 27 times for 278 yards overall. Parker Adams went 3-for-4 passing on the day for two touchdowns, while Jackson Krzycki had a receiving touchdown. Cole Thornburgh also added a rushing touchdown.
Defensively, Krzycki had two interceptions, including one for a touchdown, Chase Karn had a pick-six, Brock McWilliams had 10 tackles, Yona Goodlow added eight tackles, and Nathan Mihills had two sacks plus a receiving touchdown.