By Sonny Jones
Dear Santa, can North Carolina and Wake Forest play a three-game football series next season? Have each team drop a couple of weak non-conference games and let ’em go at it on a Saturday in September, October and November.
If you can pull that off, Santa, I’ll forgive you for bringing an unwanted wristwatch instead of a much desired basketball nearly 60 years ago. I still don’t believe you ran out of basketballs just before you got to Granny’s house.
• UNC has won three straight against Wake by scores of 59-53, 58-55 and Saturday night’s low-scoring 36-34 triumph.
• The Heels’ Drake Maye threw for 448 yards and three TDs. Wake’s Sam Hartman threw for 320 yards and 4 TDs. The teams exchanged leads four times in the second half.
• Did you see Hartman push Christian Turner across the goal line on fourth down from the one in the second quarter? He did nothing wrong. It’s legal to push the runner and it’s done all the time. It used to be a penalty. It should be again. This ain’t rugby.
• UNC will play Clemson in December for the ACC championship. It’s a rematch of the 2015 game won by Clemson 45-37.
• Devin Leary’s season-ending injury finally caught up with N.C. State in Saturday’s 21-20 loss to Boston College at Carter-Finley Stadium. Freshman quarterback M.J. Morris has played well given the circumstances and he looks to be the future, but the Wolfpack needed Leary and his experience to compete for an ACC title. Seems Leary should return for his senior-redshirt season and Morris should be redshirted in 2023. Make sense? Of course, Leary could transfer and Morris could be the starter next season.
• The Bladen County Parks and Recreation Department will hold a public meeting on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Commissioner’s Room located on the lower level of the Bladen County Courthouse in Elizabethtown. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the department’s Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF) application.
• A two-man classic golf tournament will be held Saturday, Nov. 19 and Sunday, Nov. 20 at Vineyard Golf at White Lake. The cost to play will be $150 per person or $300 per team and deadline to enter is Tuesday. A 12:30 p.m. shotgun start using a best ball format on Saturday and a 12:30 p.m. shotgun start using the Texas scramble format on Sunday. Information: 910-247-6132.
• The Bladen County Recreation Department is conducting registration for its youth basketball programs through Dec. 9. There will be leagues for boys and girls ages 6-12. Players can register online by clicking here or at the Parks and Recreation Department located inside the King Street gym near Leinwand Park in Elizabethtown. For information call the office at 910-862-6770.
• Great to see that Bladen middle school volleyball teams will have a county tournament Tuesday at Elizabethtown Middle School. The first of three matches will begin at 4 p.m. with Clarkton School of Discovery playing Elizabethtown. That will be followed by Bladenboro against Tar Heel. Then, the winners will play for the county championship.
SUNDAY’S PICK TO CLICK
Seattle rookie running back Kenneth Walker rushes for more than 100 yards and scores a touchdown against Tampa Bay in Germany in a game that kicks off at 9:30 a.m. on the East coast.
SATURDAY’S PICK: N.C. State’s defense will hold Boston College to under 250 yards total offense as the Wolfpack notches a 17th-straight home victory. RESULTS: Boston College had 329 total yards, including 69 on the game-winning final drive, in a 21-20 win. The Eagles had 330 yards passing and minus-1 rushing.
TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
• 2015 — Candance Brown makes a layup with 1.2 seconds left and Gardner-Webb rallies to shock No. 22 North Carolina 66-65 in the opener for both teams. Gardner-Webb had trailed by 15 points entering the fourth quarter.
POTATO PICKS TO WATCH TODAY
• NFL: Seattle vs. Tampa Bay, 9:30 a.m., NFLN
• FORMULA 1: Brazilian Grand Prix, 12:55 p.m., ABC
• NFL: Minnesota at Buffalo, 1 p.m., FOX
• NFL: Jacksonville at Kansas City, 1 p.m., CBS
• PGA CHAMPIONS: Charles Schwab Cup Championship: 4 p.m., GOLF
• NFL: Dallas at Green Bay, 4:25 p.m., FOX
• NFL: LA Chargers at San Francisco, 8:15 p.m., NBC
Sonny Jones can be reached at wibbyj@gmail.com.
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