Kirkpatrick throws for 6 TDs in Randleman rout

RANDLEMAN — Tyshaun Goldston was quick to give all the credit to sophomore quarterback John Kirkpatrick. 

Kirkpatrick quickly deferred all credit right back to Goldston.

After Randleman High School’s 42-14 Piedmont Athletic Conference victory over Providence Grove Friday night, there was definitely plenty of credit to go around. 

Kirkpatrick threw six touchdown passes, five to the 6-foot-four, 180-pound Goldston, to help keep the Tigers undefeated on the season at 2-0 in PAC play and 7-0 overall heading into Friday night’s home league battle against Southwestern Randolph.  

RHS jumped out to a 35-0 halftime lead against the Patriots, (1-1, 5-2) and added another early second-half touchdown to make it a running clock. 

“It’s a pretty special connection,” said RHS coach Brian Hughes, who has taken over the head coaching duties while Shane Timmons is dealing with a family situation. “They do it in practice all the time, too. Sometimes I feel they just see how far they can throw it and catch it in practice. It’s fun to watch.”

The duo had plenty of fun as they connected on four scoring plays in the first half. Kirkpatrick lofted a 50-yard scoring pass to Goldston on the game’s third play, threw a 33-yard scoring strike to Goldston on the Tigers’ second series, hit Goldston from 34 yards away early in the second quarter and added a 41-yard score just before halftime. 

Goldston finished with seven receptions for 191 yards and five scores and now has 34 receptions for 739 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season. 

“Without John, I couldn’t do nothing,” Goldston said. “He is our number one quarterback, QB 1. Me and John have been talking all week about this moment. We knew we were going to do this from the beginning. He throws the ball up and lets me go get it. He’s got an arm and I can catch. Two and two go together.” 

Goldston hauled in his passes in a variety of ways. From being left open, to barreling through the PG defense after a reception on a screen pass or out-jumping defenders in the end zone, Goldston was unstoppable.

“Coming into the season, we already knew how we felt about things and knew it was going to be a big part of our offense,” Kirkpatrick said of his connection with Goldston, a junior. “It’s great to have Tyshaun out there when I’m getting pressured, when I don’t see anything. I know Tyshaun is down there somewhere and I just have to get it out there.” 

he two also connected on a 20-yard TD play in the third quarter. 

“We made some mistakes in coverage with him, but there were times we were there and he’s just a good receiver,” PG coach David Hayes said. “He’s going to make a (difficult) catch and coupled with us making some coverage errors, all of a sudden that momentum keeps swinging and they have a lot of confidence and he’s harder to stop.” 

Kirkpatrick, who has just seven games as a starting quarterback, was 13-for-22 for 218 yards, including a 9-yard scoring strike to Jeffrey Guzman in the second quarter. Kirkpatrick has now thrown for 1,298 yards and 19 touchdowns with just three interceptions this season. 

“He’s just an athlete,” Hughes said. “He’s one of the top pitchers in the state for his level. He likes the spot-light. Some kids gravitate toward that spotlight and some shy away from it. He’s one of those kids that like it.” 

And that spotlight was shining brightly last Friday night.