Blue Comets roll again, face Randleman on Friday

PITTSBORO — When discussing the first two games of the Asheboro High School varsity football season, a season that has seen them jump out to a 2-0 start with easy victories over High Point Central and Northwood, one can look at the offense.

The Blue Comets have generated 15 touchdowns in those two contests, recording 59 points against HPC and nearly that again in a 49-7 win over Northwood last Thursday night.

One can look at the defense, which has allowed just seven points in two games, stuffed the opposition on the ground and gave up just one scoring play, that coming when the Chargers connected on a 45-yard TD pass last week.

One can look at the kicking game, which between three different kickers is a perfect 15 of 15 on PAT attempts and 1-for-2 on field goal attempts with that miss being a 53-yard attempt against Northwood.

But the key number is 2-0, the first time AHS has won its first two games of the season since 2016 when it opened with wins over Randleman and Wheatmore.

“I’m so proud of our guys, how hard they are playing,” third-year head coach Calvin Brown said. “I felt (Northwood) came out and gave us their best shot early on and we made some mistakes, but we were able to withstand that and came out and played faster, more physical. Our guys played hard and when you do that, good things happen.”

Against Northwood, a sluggish start and a 45-yard passing play for a score by the Chargers early in the second quarter tied the game at 7-7. But the remaining 35 minutes of the game was all Blue Comets as they grabbed a 35-7 lead at the break.

“The first quarter, we came out a little slow and after they scored their touchdown, it was, ‘alright guys, we can do so much better than this,’” senior guard Boone Hinesley said. “Every one of these coaches have been putting in the work and we’ve been putting in the work. It’s about being meaner, more physical and really wanting to win football games.”

That OL, which also includes Zak Blackwell, JJ Balfour, Kaleb Rosenblatt and Jonah Lester, began opening huge holes in the Northwood defense. In the final 11 minutes of the first half, quarterback Dallas Brinton broke free for scores of 27 and 61 yards, Connor Brinton scored on a 45-yard run and DJ Scott added a 6-yard scoring run with under a minute left.

“At halftime we were over 300 yards rushing and that’s because of the offensive line,” Brown said. “They are good. They are physical. They want to get our guys going. Anytime you rush for more than 300 yards in the first half, you will have a successful night.”

As did freshman kicker Jefferson Aguilar, who was perfect on all seven PATs in the contest.

While the offense found its groove in the second quarter, the AHS defense thoroughly shut down the Chargers’ offense. After the Northwood score, the Chargers did not record a first down until late in the fourth quarter.

“Working hard, it’s been battles and battles, players trying to get on the field,” senior defensive end Jewel Barrett-Riggins said. “Everybody is doing their part in practice, getting looks, that’s where it all starts. You come on the field and execute and make sure we do our job. No selfish plays. Every day in practice, it’s 11 hats to the ball. If one person misses, the whole team will be there.”

Brown said he’s seen the work the defense has put in.

“It starts up front with our DL, Jewel, Boone and Zac, with two of those guys playing both ways, and big Jaavan (Andrews) in the middle. They are getting after the quarterbacks and stopping the run and when they do that, it allows our linebackers to make plays and we have very fast linebackers (Shane Immel, Luke Brumley, Ayden Letterlough and Cole Trogdon). Our secondary is breaking up passes and you need all three levels to be successful.”

The defense allowed just over 100 yards of total offense after holding HPC to negative yardage last week.

Connor Brinton and Cheek added second-half scoring runs with the clock running continuously from the 8:51 mark of the third quarter.

Asheboro rushed for 408 yards in the contest, with QB Dallas Brinton rushing for 189 and younger brother Connor Brinton adding 79. 

“It’s been amazing,” Hinesley said of the 2-0 start. “Seeing the turnaround and progress and work everyone has put in has been amazing. We’ve had a few rough seasons, but we’re different this year.”

It will be different this Friday night as the Blue Comets host Randleman, a team a number of steps ahead of AHS’ first two opponents.

“Randleman, everyone knows how good Randleman is,” Brown said. “They have one of the best quarterbacks (John Kirkpatrick) around. He can sling it. They will be good on defense. They will be really good on offense. It will be a challenge.”