Eastern Randolph topples Walkertown, faces Shelby

RAMSEUR — There aren’t many football programs across the state of North Carolina that can compare with the achievements, accolades and playoff success Eastern Randolph has earned over its many years of existence. 

But one of the very few that can match that success is heading to Burton Cates Stadium Friday night for a chance to reach the West Regional finals.

Shelby High School, which has earned a combined 19 NCHSAA and WNCHSAA state football championships, will be the opposition as the Wildcats, who earned a 30-14 victory over Walkertown last Friday night in third-round action, look to reach the regional finals for the first time since 2006.

“I love home, I love playing home,” said junior Kobe Walker, who helped spark the Wildcats last Friday night. “We take a lot of pride in playing at home.”

The Wildcats, who are seeded third, captured their seventh straight victory and improved to 10-2 overall, while 10th-seeded Shelby (10-3) captured its sixth straight win with a dominating 41-21 performance at Mount Airy.

“It’s paramount,” ER coach Burton Cates said of getting home field advantage Friday night. “Shelby is a great football team.”

Walkertown was a great football team, a team that featured junior running back Nasir Conrad, who has blistering speed and is dangerous in the passing game as well, and senior linebacker Cameron Cartlidge, one of the top defensive players in the state.

Both had outstanding games with Conrad scoring both Wolfpack touchdowns, one on a 58-yard run on the team’s second play from scrimmage and one on a 70-yard swing pass that pulled Walkertown within 23-14 with 10:01 to play in the game.

Despite numerous tackles for loss and quarterback sacks, the ER offensive line banded together and led a fourth-quarter charge that led to a  6-yard TD run by Walker and a 7-yard scoring run by Walker sandwiched around the big pass play. Those drives gave ER all it would need to earn the win. 

The ER scoring drives in the fourth came after they were turned back twice after having first-and-goal from the 2 in the first half and first-and-goal from the 1 in the second half.

“It was an amazing game, a difficult line, but we pulled through,” said senior offensive lineman Eber Castanon. “We had to communicate on the line. We locked in.”

It started out amazing as the Wildcats recovered the opening kickoff, booting it short with Aidman Goodman recovering at the Wolfpack 28. 

“That was great,” Cates said. “It is something we work on quite a bit and we use it. Joel (Salinas) does a great job of placing it and needless to say, the placement of the ball is big and he did a great job kicking it for us.”

A four-yard run by James Combs was followed by a 24-yard scoring run by Combs and the Wildcats had a stunningly-quick 7-0 lead.

But it didn’t last long as a 20-yard completion, a 58-yard scoring run from Conrad and a two-point conversion run gave Walkertown an 8-7 lead at the 10:13 mark.

But the early scoring burst wasn’t over as ER answered with a 57-yard run by Walker, which set up a 4-yard scoring run from Combs and a two-point conversion run by Walker for a 15-8 lead just half-way through the quarter.

“I knew they were athletic, but I couldn’t tell on film how fast their tailback (Conrad) was because he was always stopping and starting,” Cates said. “He’s a weapon. 

“I thought we played hard and played our responsibilities and some people like Donnell Watson made some great plays,” Cates continued. “Aiden Goodman played good in the secondary and we needed it. Everyone contributed.”

Walkertown quarterback Jerrell Crawford came into the game averaging 239 yards a game through the air, but he was held to 10 of 18 for 157 yards, with 70 of those coming on the one TD reception.

Both teams had opportunities to score, but each was turned back due to solid defensive play.

With ER still holding on to its 15-8 lead early in the fourth quarter, the snap from punt formation sailed well over the punter’s head and ER recovered at the Walkertown 4-yard line. Walker bulled his way in from the 5-yard line and added the two-point conversion run to make it 23-8.

Conrad’s long TD reception was followed by a time-consuming 13-play, 67-yard ER scoring drive that was culminated by a 7-yard scoring run by Walker to put it away with 1:07 to play. The Wildcats ran the ball on all 13 plays.

“They had a tough defense, especially the secondary, so we had to go with our ability to run and that worked out really good tonight,” quarterback Cade McCallum said.

“They knew we were going to run it going into the game,” Walker said. “The OL played big this game. They are the heart and soul of our offense. If our OL isn’t working, we aren’t going to work. It starts with them.”

Junior Eli Cox, junior Maddox Carson, senior Peyton Dewitt and junior Jackson Bare were among those who contributed on the offensive line.

“There’s a lot of chemistry and they like each other,” Cates said of his OL.

That chemistry will be tested again Friday night, as will the defense. Shelby has scored an average of 49.5 points per game and has rebounded after starting the season with losses to Kings Mountain and Crest.