Against the Northwood Chargers Thursday, the Jets played their second solid match in three days, and came away with an impressive three game sweep, 25-18, 25-13, 25-12.

It was the second win a row for the Jets after they lost their first three games to open the year.

Led by senior Brittany Hurt, J-M strung together long runs on its serve and limited the Chargers to "one and done", as NW struggled to generate offense.

Viki Glover had no problems setting up Hurt for kills on the front line.

"This is just the second year the girls have been with me, and they had never had formal volleyball training," Jets coach Johnny Alvarado said after the game. "We now have an offense where we have a mix of everything. They are coming along really good, and I’m happy for them."

Hurt had an uncanny knack for finding the holes in the Chargers defense, usually tapping the ball just over the net for points.

"She’s has really come a long way," said Alvarado. "We have some other strong girls, but Brittany is irreplaceable."

Gridiron action promises to be hot and heavy this Friday night when Jordan-Matthews and Northwood renew their age old rivalry in Pittsboro, and Chatham Central travels to Bishop-McGuiness of Kernersville.

All eyes in Chatham County will be on Pittsboro as the Chargers and Jets prepare for what should be a classic.

The 1A Jets enter the contest with an 0-2 mark while the 2A Chargers stand at 1-1.

Looks can be deceiving, however, as J-M has lost to a strong 3A club in Southwest Randolph and to perennial 3A power Eastern Randolph.

Northwood, meanwhile, has beaten 3A Union Pines before falling last week to a talented 3A bunch in Anson County.

"I certainly don’t think you can accuse either program of ducking anyone," said J-M coach Marty Scotten on the early season schedules of the Jets and Chargers. "But it certainly will help us in the future."

I’ll be the first to admit it, I’m superstitious.

And when it comes to sports, I’m really superstitious.

My friends here at The Chatham News got a first glimpse of my "problem" when they asked me to make my Pigskin Picks for this week.

Among the games we are picking is the Miami/Florida State game on Monday night in the Orange Bowl.

I told them that I wanted to forfeit my pick, thus taking a loss for that game.

For some odd reason, they didn’t understand why and kept insisting that I make a selection.

I refused.

So, photographer Jeff Davis said he was writing down Miami as my pick.

I told him I didn’t care if he did, but that was not my pick.

It’s pretty obvious by now what team I want to win, but I won’t say they are going to win, or that I expect them to win.

Why?

SILER CITY – What was supposed to be a challenge turned out not to be one at all here on Monday afternoon as the young Jordan-Matthews tennis team shook over the damp affects of Hurricane Gaston and routed East Montgomery 9-0 in a Yadkin Valley tilt.

Kynlon Snipes downed Ashton Horner 8-2 in No. 1 singles to get the Jets rolling and the locals never looked back in improving to a perfect 7-0 on the season.

At No. 2, Holly Thomas downed Lashaunda Ryan 8-4 before Sarah Johnson routed Lauren Horner 8-1 at No. 3.

Jennifer Dameron added an 8-4 win at No. 4 for the Jets, while Brittany Woolard (No. 5) and Arielle Stout (No. 6) rounded out the J-M single’s sweep with respective 8-1 and 8-3 wins.

In double’s action, Johnson and Snipes teamed up for an 8-2 triumph in the top-seeded affair before Woolard and Dameron added an 8-2 win at No. 2, and Stout and Thomas an 8-3 victory at No. 3.

In earlier play last week, Jordan-Matthews took a 9-0 win over South Stanly and an 8-1 victory over North Moore in Yadkin Valley 1A play.

Against the Rebels on Wednesday afternoon in Norwood, the Lady Jets were simply dominating, not surrendering a single game to host club.

Kynlon Snipes (No. 1), Holly Thomas (No. 2), Sarah Johnson (No. 3), Jennifer Dameron (No. 4), Arielle Stout (No. 5), and Brittany Woolard (No. 6) all took 8-0 singles wins for J-M.

more- See Thursday, September 2 paper: Vol 84, No. 40

ROANOKE RAPIDS – Taylor Adams took home first place at the Roanoke Rapids Invitational Cross Country Meet on Thursday, helping the Northwood Charger boys claim the overall title.

NW totaled 42 points, six more than Northern Nash. Southern Nash finished third with 63 points. Roanoke Rapids (89), Southeast Halifax (152), and Southern Vance (153) rounded out the order.

Adams time of 16:57.0 was the only one under 17 minutes.

Ryan Brumfield just missed finishing in the top five with a time of 18:07.0. Jacobi Eaves and Nathan Hilton came in tenth and 11th, respectively, with times of 18:20.0 and 18:21.0.

On the girls side, the Chargers finished fourth overall.

Claire Fairbach came in one second ahead of teammate Julia Wood for a ninth place finish, ending with a time of 24:16.0.

Ashley Cooper cracked the top 20 by coming in 13th with a time of 24:56.0.