Welcome to the weekly sports roundup in the greater Charlotte area presented by The Sports Chief. Every Sunday, let The Chief be the one to catch you up on all the latest sports happenings in and around the Charlotte, NC area. We take a look at professional sports, as well as semi-professional, college, and high school. If you like what we’re doing, make sure you give us a follow on Twitter at @thesportschief where you’ll be notified of all our latest postings, and visit our website at www.thesportschief.com.

Professional

Carolina Panthers

The Panthers capped off the preseason on Friday with a big win at home against the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers. In a preseason where not much has really been shown by the Panthers’ offense to give the fans hope going into the season, Carolina finally provided a little spark of hope Friday. Sam Darnold finally played more than just a few snaps with his new team, playing the entire first half, and throwing for two touchdowns while also completing 19 of 25 passes. He exited the game at halftime with a total of 162 yards.

Darnold’s first touchdown pass was to rookie Terrace Marshall, and his second was to Robby Anderson. Backup Will Grier also recorded a touchdown as well, except his came on a 24-yard run. While it was nice to see the Panthers offense come to life and Darnold seemingly more comfortable in his new offense, we must remember that all of this came against the Steelers’ back-ups on defense. With that being the fourth pre-season game for Pittsburgh, coach Mike Tomlin rested most of his starters. With that in mind, it is a little alarming that Darnold spent a good portion of his night under pressure.

The Panthers now have two weeks to prepare for their regular season opener against the New York Jets, that will take place September 12th at Bank of America Stadium.

Semi-Professional

Charlotte Knights

The Knights are wrapping up their home series today against the first-place Durham Bulls. After splitting yesterday’s doubleheader with the Bulls, the Knights have the opportunity today to even up this week’s series 3-3. A win will give Charlotte their 39th of the season, while the team currently has 62 losses.

The Chicago White Sox once again have their catcher Yasmani Grandal, who was called up from Charlotte a few days ago after a rehab stint which saw him play seven games with the Knights. Throughout those seven games, he his .273 with one home run and one RBI.

After today’s game, Charlotte will travel to Norfolk to kick off a series on Tuesday.

Charlotte Checkers

Countdown to the first game of the season: 48 days

High School Football

Credit: Jonathan Aguallo/Charlotte Observer

Final scores from week two in the Charlotte-area:

Cuthbertson Cavaliers 28

Ardrey Kell Knights 41

South Mecklenburg Sabres 24

Providence Panthers 7

Richmond Senior Raiders 32

Butler Bulldogs 29

West Charlotte Lions 20

Harding University Rams 8

Hough Huskies 48

Mooresville Blue Devils 9

Hopewell Titans 34

East Mecklenburg Eagles 0

Independence Patriots 6

Marvin Ridge Mavericks 38

Hickory Ridge Ragin’ Bulls 19

Charlotte Catholic Cougars 34

Porter Ridge Pirates 34

West Cabarrus Wolverines 10

Sun Valley Spartans 13

A.L. Brown Wonders 41

Piedmont Panthers 0

Monroe Redhawks 43

Northwest Cabarrus Trojans 9

Cox Mill Chargers 35

Davie War Eagles 56

West Rowan Falcons 30

Robinson Bulldogs 28

Central Cabarrus Vikings 17

South Rowan Raiders 28

North Rowan Cavaliers 36

Salisbury Hornets 44

Polk County Wolverines 0

South Iredell Vikings 14

Statesville Greyhounds 27

North Lincoln Knights 28

Lincolnton Wolves 18

Charlotte Latin Hawks 24

Hickory Red Tornadoes 6

Bunker Hill Bears 42

St. Stephens Indians 0

Bandys Trojans 49

Fred T. Foard Tigers 6

Freedom Patriots 13

East Burke Cavaliers 12

Huss Huskies 7

Hibriten Panthers 35

Shelby Golden Lions 15

A.C. Reynolds Rockets 12

Crest Chargers 20

Burns Bulldogs 21

South Point Red Raiders 35

East Gaston Warriors 7

Kings Mountain Mountaineers 14

Asheville Cougars 0

Alexander Central Cougars 41

North Gaston Wildcats 6

Watauga Pioneers 0

Maiden Blue Devils 47

Garett

Queen City Sports Report