Eastern Randolph survives Providence Grove; Asheboro is next

RAMSEUR — Burton Cates has seen his Eastern Randolph High School varsity football team perform well this season, he’s seen them perform just average and he’s seen them perform not so well.

He saw a little bit of everything last week against Providence Grove and with a road game at undefeated Asheboro High School Friday, he said he knows his team is going to have to perform well for 48 minutes against the Blue Comets. Below par or just average isn’t going to cut it.

The Wildcats set up that Randolph County rivalry with a 43-31 win over the Patriots in a game that saw the Wildcats perform a lot better in the second half as ER erased a 24-22 halftime deficit to even its overall record at 2-2.

Now the Wildcats head to Lee J. Stone Stadium where they will battle the 4-0 Blue Comets, who recorded a 35-7 win over Rockingham County last week.

“We’re all excited and we have to go there and get a win,” said ER senior quarterback Cade McCallum, who threw for 311 yards and three touchdowns against PG.

The Wildcats were at full strength for the first time all season last week as James Combs made his season debut after missing the first three weeks because of an injury. Last year’s Four Rivers Conference defensive player of the year played sparingly.

“I think it will be a great game, it always is,” Combs said of the upcoming battle with AHS, which captured a 20-13 win over the Wildcats last season. “In practice, we will push everyone as hard as we can. We have to.”

Last Friday, the passing attacks were center stage, especially in the first half when McCallum threw for 237 yards on just six completions and PG quarterback Landon Fox was 16-for-23 for 226 yards. Overall, McCallum was 14 of 19 for 311 yards and three scoring tosses while Fox was 21 of 35 for 284 yards and two scores with one rushing touchdown.

“We thought we could throw the ball,” Cates said. “We felt our receivers matched up well against them. The first and third games (a 28-7 loss to Southern Alamance and a 16-6 loss to Union Pines) we didn’t play offensively like we’re capable of playing. Now we’re starting to hit our stride. This was a game we had to win.”

Providence Grove (2-2) made the Wildcats earn it. With Fox exploiting the ER secondary for his big first-half output, the Patriots led 24-22 at the break.

There were plenty of big plays early on as Fox threw a 79-yard TD to Connor Tozer in between a 62-yard scoring strike from McCallum to Cainin Glover, who finished with six catches for 196 yards and two scores, and a 58-yard scoring strike to former Blue Comet Jayden Spruill.

Nick Straughn’s 2-yard scoring run tied the game at 14-14 after one quarter.

Kyler Keller nailed a 31-yard field goal to give PG a 17-14 lead, but a 73-yard scoring pass to Glover and a two-point run by Kobe Walker pushed the Wildcats into a 22-17 lead.

PG took over with 2:35 left in the half and drove 51 yards, getting a 3-yard scoring pass from Fox to Straughn for the 24-22 advantage at the break.

“The first half, we didn’t play well defensively,” Cates said. “We didn’t take care of our assignments. What was frustrating was when we were in there, we just didn’t make the tackle. You can’t play defense that way. We made a few changes. It’s a work in progress.”

The Patriots ran 42 plays from scrimmage in the first half to just 14 for the Wildcats.

In the second half, it began to look like Providence Grove was a team playing two games in four nights. Because of a power outage, the scheduled game with Southwestern Randolph for Sept. 4 wasn’t played until Monday Sept. 7. 

A 4-yard TD run by Walker regained the lead for the Wildcats at 28-24 with 

6:33 left in the third quarter and a 50-yard interception return for a score by ER’s Marcus Bowden pushed the ER advantage to 36-24 after the two-point conversion run by Walker.

Fox, who also gained 64 yards on 13 rushes, scored on a 10-yard run to cut the PG deficit to 36-31, leaving it a one-score game until Walker scored on a 2-yard run with 2:18 to play to seal the win.

“I’m not making any excuses, we had three days after playing a really good team Monday,” PG coach Cody Moran said of his battle with SWR. “ER is a really good team. We have nine guys playing both ways and I think we ran out of gas. 

“That is one of the best 3-A teams in the state and we gave them a run for their money.”

Fox was a big reason they did. He directed long drives, keeping possession for the Patriots. He had 14 carries the first three games of the season, but had 13 against ER for 64 yards.

“Fox has done everything we asked him to do,” Moran said. “He’s managed the game well, thrown it well, he’s run it well. I couldn’t be more proud of him. He made a couple of mistakes, but he does a great job of next-play mentality, and as a quarterback, you have to have that.”

The Patriots are scheduled to play Jordan-Matthews at home Friday.