Providence Grove opens season with a win over county rival Randleman

CLIMAX — The opening game of any high school football season is worth one win or one loss. That will always be true no matter what the score or no matter who the opponent. 

Entering Week 2 after a victory over a county rival may be good for just one victory in the win column, but it sure can set the tone for a strong start to the season.

Providence Grove High School will enter Week 2 action Friday night at Morehead after recording a season-opening 27-19 victory over Randolph County rival Randleman last Thursday night at PGHS.

The Patriots scored on the very first play of the season as Conor Haithcock returned the opening kickoff 63 yards for a score and PG never trailed, turning back a number of Randleman rallies, including stopping the Tigers from the Patriots’ 26-yard line on three consecutive plays in the final seconds of the contest.

The Patriots are coming off a season which resulted in the school’s first conference championship and second-year head coach Cody Moran and his very young coaching staff wanted to show everyone that PG is going to be tough to deal with once again this season.

“I told them in the locker room we were not going to be one-hit wonders and it’s time for people to know that little ol’ Providence Grove wasn’t going to get beat up on anymore,” Moran said after the Patriots snapped a four-game losing streak against the Tigers, earning their fifth win against 14 losses in the rivalry. “Those guys said we are going to go into a dark alley together and come out on the other side. They didn’t flinch tonight, even when things got rough.”

The season couldn’t have gotten off to a better start as Haithcock took the short kickoff to start the season, squirted through the RHS defense and scored for the early advantage.

“Good way to start the season,” Moran said with a big grin. “We had moved some people around after we watched their scrimmage. They kicked in the scrimmage and I told (our coaches) I wanted to get Chase (Collins) and Conner to where I thought he was going to kick it to and he kicked it to Conner and it worked out. 

“Credit goes to our coaches, Conner making plays and kids making blocks. I don’t think you can ask for a season to start any better than scoring on the first play of the year.”

That play electrified the Patriots’ bench.

“If you saw the sidelines, you’d know what kind of momentum it gave us,” said senior running back Nick Straughn, who played a pivotal role in the win with 164 yards rushing and two touchdowns. “Everyone was hootin’ and hollerin’. It definitely put a fire in us. We weren’t expecting that, but we knew we would give it all we got. 

“That was our game plan, give it all we got and whatever happens. We trust the program and it worked out really well.”

Reid Herring, in his first varsity start at quarterback for the Tigers, kept his team in the contest. He finished with 206 passing yards and three scores — a 58-yarder to Henry Frye which made it 14-7, a 42-yard TD strike to Trey Burnett that made it 14-13 in the first quarter and a 23-yard TD strike to Jamari Rice to make it 21-19 midway through the third quarter.

But the Tigers couldn’t get over the hump.

“I thought I got outcoached,” RHS coach David Diamont said after RHS dropped its season opener for the first time since 2021. “I thought Coach Moran and his staff did a very good job preparing his team and we had some self-inflicted wounds. 

“Everyone hurt the same after this loss. We have a good group of kids. It’s going to hurt and there’s nothing I can say that’s going to help it right now, but we can’t get our heads down because we have a very tough game next week and a very tough game the week after that.”

The Tigers host Eastern Randolph and Asheboro the next two weeks and they are going to have to lessen the amount of infractions if they are to be successful. Against PG in the opener, the Tigers were whistled for 17 penalties for 115 yards.

The win for Moran was also his first against his alma mater. Before the game, Moran downplayed the contest against the team he played for under Shane Handy, who was at the game Thursday night. After the game, it was a bit of a different story.

“We haven’t been very good against Randleman in school history and me coming from over there, graduating from over there, these guys know that,” Moran said. “They asked me how I felt and I said it feels better than I thought, especially with Coach Handy being here.”

One win in the win column. But it sure was a special win.