BILL KISER

BILL KISER

sports@newstopic.net

If Hibriten wanted to send a message to future opponents during its run through the state high school football playoffs, it did so with its second-half performance against Charlotte's Harding University on Friday night.

That message was this -- look out, we're coming through.

"We had to make a statement in the first round, and it's going to carry on to the other teams," said wide receiver-defensive back Josh Dula. "We're ready to play. We're looking for a state championship here. It's never been done here, and we're looking to get one."

The top-seeded Panthers' 42-6 victory over the No. 16 Rams sends them on to the second round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) 3A West regional playoffs for the sixth time in the last eight seasons.

Hibriten (12-0) will now take on No. 9 seed Concord (6-6) -- a 29-20 winner over eighth-seeded county rival Northwest Cabarrus on Friday -- at Jeff Storie Memorial Stadium next week.

But the Panthers weren't looking that far ahead after Friday night's win, in which four unanswered touchdowns in the second half -- covering 11 plays total -- turned what had been a close ballgame into a 42-0 rout by the early stages of the fourth quarter.

"It takes us a little while defensively to get used to what we're seeing," Hibriten head coach Chuck Cannon said. "We haven't played anyone who could run like (Harding) could in a while ... and they can throw it good, too.

"But we're excited that we've won and can move on. They don't get any easier from here on out."

Harding back Emanuel Robinson ran for 64 yards and quarterback Carlos McCray added 41 passing yards in the first half, as the Rams put together one long drive covering nearly 10 minutes in an attempt to take the lead.

That included converting two key fourth-down plays -- a fake punt that got Harding a first down by inches, and a 13-yard pass on 4th-and-5 that put the ball inside Hibriten's red zone.

But that's also when the Panthers' defense began to step up -- Dula picked off a pass in the end zone to thwart that drive, Azell Harshaw made another end zone pick in the second half to stop another potential scoring drive, and Julius Gaines dove on a botched punt attempt.

All three turnovers set up scoring opportunities for Hibriten, and the Panthers took advantage of them.

While leading rushing and scorer Leo Guevara had his worst game of the season (40 yards, no touchdowns), his teammates more than made up for it. Dula pulled in two TD passes from Michael Isbell, Tyler Harshaw had two third-quarter TD runs, and Tripp Patterson and Kaylen Pearson each had TD runs.

"This is the playoffs, and we have bigger things to worry about now," Isbell said. "This isn't the conference anymore ... and we need to get serious about the playoffs. We want to win that state championship.

"We're not playing games -- we're not going to let anyone get in our path of getting that state championship."