Sports

RED OAK -- Coaches often say that the biggest adjustments teams make over the course of the season come in between the season opener and the second game of the year.
Andrew Farriss' Northern Nash Knights proved that to be true last Friday evening, as just one week removed from a slow first half against Hunt, the Knights wasted no time getting moving against Fike in their first home game of the 2023 campaign.

ROCKY MOUNT -- A whopping 98 total points in just two games.
Needless to say, it's been quite a positive start to the season for the Nash Central High School football squad.
Not that this was unexpected, as the Bulldogs return several key starters -- especially in the backfield -- from last year's club, which reached the third round of the Class 2-A State Playoffs for the second consecutive campaign.

ROCKY MOUNT -- Nash Central and Franklinton tangled last Thursday in an early-season girls tennis matchup loaded with implications for the Big East Conference standings.
Central was able to secure a 7-2 decision over the Lady Rams at the NCHS Courts.
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 1-1 on the campaign, while Franklinton slipped to 0-3.

STANHOPE -- Southern Nash improved to 2-0 while South Granville dropped to 0-2 with the Firebirds winning 42-0 at their home field last Friday in non-conference prep football action.
South Granville had the ball first and had to punt.

ZEBULON -- Blayberg Diaz extended his hitting streak to 10 games and Jahder Areinamo went 2-for-4, but Columbia's Trevor Werner homered twice and drove in five runs while leading the Fireflies to a 9-0 rout of the homestanding Carolina Mudcats in Sunday's series finale at Five County Stadium.
The Fireflies (26-28, 61-58) scored four two-out runs in the first before adding four more runs in the fifth and one in the seventh en route to the 9-0 shutout victory.

RALEIGH -- The Centennial Authority, owners of PNC Arena, and Gale Force Sports and Entertainment, L.L.C. have announced today the signing of a 20-year lease extension with the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes.
The newly signed lease states that the Hurricanes will occupy PNC Arena through the 2043-44 NHL season.

Northern Nash High School running back Dywhaun Mitchell explodes for yardage for the Fighting Knights during last Friday night's home victory against the Wilson Fike Golden Demons at historic Death Valley in Red Oak.