Holly Springs got a balanced effort on offense and shut down an in-form offense as the No. 12 Golden Hawks defeated previously undefeated No. 13 Apex 31-19 on Friday to win the Southwest Wake 4A conference.
Holly Springs (8-1, 6-0) got rushing touchdowns from three different rushers, but Holly Springs opened up the scoring with a five-yard passing touchdown by Joel Sheehan to Jayden Johnson.
Balanced and dominant on offense, no. 18 Apex went on the road and defeated rival Apex Friendship, 42-14, behind three touchdown runs by Ian Bright and three touchdown passes by Chase Klingeman. The rivalry win extended the Cougars' unbeaten run to start the season to seven games, as head coach John Mozerka's team has now scored 42-plus points in five contests this year. With the loss, Friendship is now 3-4 and has lost three straight.