Eastern Randolph comes up a yard short in playoffs

RAMSEUR — High school football can be ironic. Painfully ironic. 

After more than 47 minutes of action that produced 84 points, more than 800 yards of total offense and numerous chunk plays in a battle that most of the time resembled a video game, last Friday night’s West Regional semifinal game between No. 3 Eastern Randolph and No. 10 Shelby came down to a fourth-and-one defensive stop. 

Shelby got that stop and the Golden Lions, one of the premier high school football programs in the country, slipped out of Burton Cates Stadium with a wild 43-41 win over the Wildcats.

The loss ended ER’s season at 10-3, while the 11-3 Golden Lions advanced to meet Southern Piedmont Conference rival Lincolnton with a berth to the state 4-A championship at stake. 

The Wildcats, who turned their defense around and rallied offensively to pull within two at 43-41 with 31 seconds to play, faced a fourth-and-1 from the Shelby 2-yard line. Veteran head coach Burton Cates and his staff elected to bypass the potential go-ahead field goal that could have capped an incredible second-half rally, for an opportunity for a touchdown, which would force Shelby to drive the length of the field in under 30 seconds. 

But James Combs, who rushed for 129 yards on his first 19 carries, couldn’t increase that total as the center of the Golden Lions defense collapsed on him at the line of scrimmage, stuffing him for no gain, ending ER’s hopes of continuing its quest for a state championship. 

“Obviously, we wanted to score, we really didn’t want to put it in the hands of kicking a field goal,” Cates said. “It amounted to an extra point, but the angle was so bad, so bad. We felt we moved the ball and we kinda challenged the offensive line. We felt good about it. They just made a big play. It was talked about, but the offensive line and everybody felt like we could get one yard.” 

The Wildcats, who never led and faced numerous double-digit deficits throughout the contest, had rushed 46 times for 253 yards in the game, including 83 for Combs on his first 12 carries of the second half. 

“I felt the same way,” Combs said of the confidence the coaching staff showed the offense by going for it on fourth-and-1. “Confident, but sometimes things don’t happen.” 

Quarterback Cade McCallum wanted the offense to get the opportunity for the final touchdown, which would have given the Wildcats the lead.

“It’s just a yard, we usually get that every time,” said McCallum, who threw for 180 yards and three touchdowns. “I thought we could get it. But they put everyone right there and stopped it.” 

That Eastern Randolph even had an opportunity to win this game was a bit of a surprise as, even with an offense that produced four first-half touchdowns, the Wildcats fell behind 7-0, 14-7, 21-7, 29-14 and 36-21 before ER made it 36-28 at halftime. 

Shelby, which has won at least one state championship in each of the past seven decades — 19 WNCHSAA and NCHSAA state titles in all — used the play of three-year starting quarterback Lan Farmer to bolt out to its first-half advantages. The senior was 16 of 20 for 310 yards and three touchdowns in the first two quarters before the ER defense responded in the second half, allowing just seven points, those coming on the Golden Lions’ first possession of the second half. 

For the contest, Farmer was 22 of 30 for 362 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. He also rushed for 63 yards and a score. 

“The first half, it was 7-on-7 for him,” Cates said. “The second half, we played well defensively. It took us awhile to get used to their speed and the quarterback was just deadly in the first half, a big kid. I felt like if we ever got a little bit of pressure and got him moving, and in the third quarter we did and had some success.” 

After a first half which featured nine touchdowns, including the teams combining for scores on the final six possessions of the first half, Shelby took that 36-28 lead at the break. The Golden Lions extended that advantage to 43-28 on the very first drive of the second half, their fifth straight scoring drive before the Wildcats rallied. 

Kobe Walker scored on a 3-yard run with 2:43 left in the third quarter and ER recovered a fumble two plays later. However, the Wildcats turned the ball over on the Lions’ 1-yard line on downs with 7:49 left.

After an interception by Aidan Goodman, ER took advantage as McCallum connected with Cainan Glover for a score on a fourth-and-6 from the 7 with 4:47 left to play. The two-point conversion failed, but after a pair of Shelby penalties, ER recovered the onside kick at the Shelby 27 with 4:47 left. That drive came up just short. 

“We gave up too much in the first half,” Cates said. “We kinda got ourselves in a hole and couldn’t quite get out of it. But our kids fought extremely hard. They have gotten better and better each week. 

“They are a great group of kids to be around. They represent the school well. You want the very best for them. We wanted to play one more week, but that goal will not be reached. We tell the senior class to leave it better than you found it and we made the fourth round this year. Last year, we made the third round, so they did it. 

“You know, a lot of these kids will be back. We’ll be back.”