Randleman has little trouble with High Point Andrews in 41-20 win

RANDLEMAN — A high school football team can be presented with plenty of opportunities during the course of a game. Fourth-down stops, blocked punts, penalties and turnovers can often lead to short fields, but that team still has to take advantage of those opportunities.

Randleman High School’s defense and special teams provided the opportunities and the RHS offense took advantage of a bevy of short second-half scoring drives, breaking open a tight two-point halftime advantage for a 41-20 win over High Point Andrews last Friday night in the Piedmont Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

The Tigers, who led 14-12 at halftime, used an interception, a fumble recovery, a fourth-down stop and two blocked punts to set up short-scoring drives, starting from HPA’s 16, 9, 15, 25 and 35 yard lines, which led to points on their first five second-half drives.

“Good things happen when we don’t beat ourselves,” RHS coach David Diamont said after the Tigers improved to 3-2. “The defense played lights out. Our defensive staff and players and our game plan was spot on and they executed it to a tee. The defense has been our strong point and they proved it again.”

The Tigers forced plenty of mistakes as the defensive line allowed just one drive of more than four plays before the game was well out of reach in the fourth quarter.

“Defensively, the team was able to come together and work together as a team, a family,” senior defensive tackle Jayden Wright said. “We executed. That’s what we’ve been trying to hit on in practice.”

The RHS defense, which also included Brandon Boone, Matthew Bowman, Cayden Stamey, Kaden Beasley, Ryan McCauley and Pacey Wagner among others, halted the first drive of the second half when Wagner recorded an interception and returned it to the HPA 16. Kayden Saunders eventually scored on a 2-yard run.

A blocked punt led to a 9-yard scoring run from quarterback John Kirkpatrick, another blocked punt led to a 31-yard field goal by Owen Leonard, a turnover on downs resulted in a 24-yard Leonard field goal and a fumble recovery set up Saunders’ second TD run. That made it 41-12 midway through the final quarter. 

“We played fast and physical,” Boone said.

RHS actually trailed 6-0 early on after the first of three turnovers by the Tigers. But a 62-yard pass from Kirkpatrick to Nazir Staton highlighted a scoring drive which was capped by a 1-yard run by Kirkpatrick.

A 3-yard TD pass from Kirkpatrick to Tate Andrews made it 14-6. Earlier in the drive, Andrews took a lateral pass and threw it downfield to Troy Burnett for 37 yards.

HPA scored late in the first half, which set up the RHS dominance in the final 24 minutes.

“Our kids are believing a little more and we’re playing more as a unit and we’re getting kids in the right spots,” Diamont said. “We returned five starters. There were a lot of unknowns. I am so happy with all our guys. They deserve this win.”

RHS will look for another Friday night at Lexington.