Kanan’s Late Field Goal Lifts Sharon To First D10 Title Since 2019
Tagged under: District 10, Game Photos-Videos, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs
Shane Lux | November 15, 2025
Greenville – Yousef Kanan nailed a 35-yard field goal with 28 seconds to play, lifting Sharon past Hickory 20-17 Friday night at Greenville’s Stewart Field, giving the Tigers their first title since 2019.
The third time’s the charm? Perhaps so, but the Sharon Tigers more than earned their first title of the decade.
“It’s amazing, I couldn’t be more proud of the guys tonight,” said Sharon head coach Jason McElhaney. “Just the resiliency they showed all night. Settling ourselves in, getting turnovers, making some plays.”
For Sharon, Friday night saw an outpouring of emotion and affection as the Tigers finally had reason to celebrate after being on the opposite side of these games the last three years, with gut-wrenching losses to Hickory in back-to-back years and a last-second loss to Grove City in the 2022 semifinal.
Friday night also saw an interesting trend continue. In the last two seasons, Sharon had beaten Hickory in the regular-season game, while the Hornets went on to beat the Tigers for District 10 gold.
Read about the previous two title games here: 2023, 2024.
This season, Hickory squeaked out a 21-19 victory in the regular season, and it was Sharon that got their revenge in the postseason.
As expected, the contest went right down to the wire, with the outcome not being decided until the game’s closing seconds.
Sharon took over at their 37-yard line with 3:26 to play and methodically moved the football downfield, getting a big boost from a 15-yard pass from Gh’afir Lampkins to Bishop Root on a 3rd-and-12.
Soon faced with a 4th-and-4 from the Hornet 18-yard line, the Tigers sent out place kicker Yousef Kanan for a 35-yard field goal.
Despite having a backup holder and the ball not being on his preferred hasmark, Kanan showed ice water in his veins and drilled the kick, all but ending Hickory’s bid for a third straight title.
“We’ve been waiting a whole year for this moment,” Kanan said. “I was really nervous that I was going to miss it, especially since it’s on my bad hashmark. We had a backup holder too, but my teammates trusted me, and I just trusted my mechanics.”
Hickory would get the football at their 46-yard line with 21 seconds to play. Two plays later, they had only eight seconds remaining from the Tigers’ 49-yard line.
Following a 14-yard pass from Christian Dungee to Trevor Borowicz, it was all over as the victory set off a huge Sharon celebration, while leaving the Hornets heartbroken for only the second time this season.
Sharon had rallied from a 17-10 third-quarter deficit, pulling even when Kare’mez Norris intercepted Christian Dungee one play after the Hornets had recovered a fumble.
Norris’s takeaway set up the Tigers at the Hornets’ 45-yard line, where five plays later, Gha’fir Lampkins tossed an 11-yard touchdown to Norris, evening the score at 17-all. Sharon found paydirt despite having two touchdowns called back on the drive.
“The most impressive thing I saw all night was having the two touchdowns called back, and our guys responding,” McElhaney said. “Gha’fir is making a play and finding Kare’mez in the end zone. We scored three times on one drive, and that speaks to the resiliency of our guys.”
“We haven’t won in my previous three seasons, we finally won it, we got it back, and it feels amazing,” Norris said. “That interception flipped the momentum, then I scored the touchdown, and we just kept it going and got that late field goal. It’s just defense, that’s it. Our offense is pretty good. As long as we get our defense down, we’re pretty good.”
Kare’mez Norris caught three passes for 39 yards, a touchdown, while also intercepting a pass on defense. Terrian White led the Tigers with 100 rushing yards on 17 carries.
Quarterbacks Ethan Engelmore and Gh’afir Lampkins combined to complete 8-of-13 passes for 80 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Hickory had taken a 17-10 lead after taking the football to begin the second half and marching 58 yards in seven plays with quarterback Christian Dungee scoring on a 27-yard touchdown run.
It was Dungee’s 3-yard run that opened the scoring in the first quarter, followed by a 12-57 yard drive. Christian Dungee rushed for 98 yards on 16 carries and completed 7-of-12 passes for 107 yards with two interceptions.
In all, Sharon forced three turnovers in the game, including both interceptions coming in the second half.
Sharon also held their own against Hornet standout tailback Kelvin Morrison, who rushed for a game-high 118 yards on 24 carries, limiting him to 46 yards in the second half.
“They’re unbelievably talented, and it’s not just their backs,” said McElhaney. Obviously, Calvin and Christian are excellent. But, you know, the o-line in front of them, the tight ends, the extra alignment they bring in, they’re all outstanding players. They all check all the boxes. So we knew that it was going to be hard to three-and-out them. We were going to need to get some turnovers tonight, and our guys did a great job of that.”
The Tigers quickly responded as Cash Posey returned the ensuing kickoff to the Hornets’ 17-yard line, leading to Bishop Root’s 2-yard touchdown run three plays later.
Yousef Kanan booted his first field goal early in the second quarter, 22 yards, following a 9-play 45-yard drive.
Hickory tied the game at halftime on Callum Darraugh’s 35-yard field goal with 11 seconds to play in the half. Dungee connected with Borowicz for 63 yards to the 9-yard line, but a personal foul penalty pushed the Hornets back, where they had to settle for three.
Sharon now advances into the state quarterfinals, where they’ll meet District 6 champion Penn Cambria. The Panthers spot an 11-2 record, beating District 9 champion Brockway 27-0.
Game Highlights:
Sharon 20 Hickory 17
Score by Quarters
Sharon – 7 3 7 3 – 20
Hickory – 7 3 7 0 – 17
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
H – Christian Dungee 3 yd run, (Callum Darraugh pat), 3:23 – 12-57
S – Bishop Root 2 yd run, (Yousef Kanan pat), 1:56 – 3-17
Second Quarter
S – Kanan 22 yd field goal, 9:24 – 9-45
H – Darraugh 35 yd field goal, 0:11 – 6-50
Third Quarter
H – Dungee 27 yd run, (Darraugh pat), 8:32 – 7-58
S – Kare’mez Norris 11 yd pass from Gha’fir Lampkins, (Kanan pat), 2:18 – 5-45
Fourth Quarter
S – Kanan 35 yd field goal, 0:28 – 7-45
Individual Stats
Rushing: S – Terrian White 17-100, Lampkins 6-11, Ethan Engelmore 4-(-1), Kare’mez Norris 1-21, Root 3-6. Totals: 31-137. H – Kelvin Morrison 24-118, Dungee 16-98. Totals: 40-216.
Receiving: S – White 1-3, Rakeem Hughes 3-23, Norris 3-39, Root 1-15. H – Trevor Borowicz 2-77, Morrison 1-6, Mearlon Peterson 2-11, Dante Evans 2-13.
Passing: S – Engelmore 4-f0r-8, 36 yards, 1 INT, Lampkins 4-of-5, 44 yards, 1 TD. H – Dungee 7-for-12, 107 yards, 2 INT
Interceptions: H – Dungee. S – Cyleim Smith, Norris.
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