Randleman survives wild affair with Asheboro

ASHEBORO — When things aren’t going as planned, when things look bleak, when an abundance of turnovers and penalties frustrate an offense for the majority of the game, it’s not often, no matter how much talent it possesses, that a team can overcome all those obstacles and win a high school football game.

Somehow, someway, the Randleman High School varsity football team cleared or sidestepped hurdle after hurdle in earning a penalty-marred 34-27 overtime victory over Asheboro High School last week at Lee J. Stone Stadium.

The victory was the eighth straight in the series for the Tigers, the longest winning streak for either team in the series, which began in 1983, and keeps RHS undefeated on the season at 5-0. The No. 1 ranked team in the West Region, according to RPI rankings, narrows AHS’ overall series lead to 24-18. But for a long, long time, it looked as if the Blue Comets would snap that drought and earn their first victory in the series since 2016.

“I was getting down, I was getting upset, but all my guys lifted me up,” said RHS junior quarterback John Kirkpatrick, who led the team on an 80-yard drive in the game’s final moments, hooking up with Tyshawn Goldston on both the score and the two-point conversion to send the game into overtime. “I love these guys.”

Never being out of a game is a special trait for a team, no matter how dire it looks throughout. The Blue Comets had the lead for much of the game and led 21-13 with a golden opportunity to extend that lead in the third quarter. But a fumble at the RHS 1-yard line was recovered by the Tigers, who drove 99 yards on five plays for a score to put them within 21-19. 

There were a number of other opportunities for AHS to extend its lead, starting three possessions inside RHS territory, missing an extra point and having what may have been a game-clinching interception for a score nullified by a penalty.

After sidestepping those hurdles, the Tigers cleared the biggest one of the night, getting the game to overtime. Starting at their own 20 with 5:23 to play, an RHS penalty drove them back to the 10. It was then that the pick-six was nullified by a penalty to keep the RHS hopes alive. Triston Chriscoe ran three times for 24 yards, Goldston caught a 10-yard pass and Brayden Gladden, who would eventually score the overtime winning touchdown on a 10-yard sweep, hauled in a 47-yard pass from Kirkpatrick to set up the Tigers inside the 10.

“I knew I was going to have to stick in the pocket and make a play,” said Kirkpatrick, who threw four touchdown passes to increase his season total to 15. “Brayden’s been telling me all night, ‘I’m open, I’m open.’  I’m like ‘I know, dude, I’m trying to get you the ball.’ I finally got it to him, and it worked out perfect.”

On third down from the 6, Kirkpatrick lofted a high-arching pass to the corner where Goldston out-jumped his defender for the score. After both teams took timeouts, Kirkpatrick hit a wide-open Goldston on a slant route for the two-point conversion to tie the game with 1:05 left.

“The mood was we definitely had to win the game,” Goldston said of the game-tying drive. “There was no doubt about that. When Coach called my name, I knew I had to make a play.”

Like so many other times this season, Goldston did exactly that, hauling in the touchdown and adding the two-point conversion catch.

“It proves our whole team is dogs and we love to fight,” Goldston said. “We are going to fight until the game is over.”

Gladden scored on the first play in overtime and the PAT from Christian McLeod gave the Tigers a 34-27 lead. Two runs for AHS netted one total yard and two incompletions, the last knocked away by Chase Farlow, ended the game.

“I think we have a bunch of kids who don’t stop and a bunch of coaches who don’t stop either,” RHS coach Shane Timmons said. “It’s tough when you have touchdowns come off the board. The kids battled it. We had a come to Jesus meeting at halftime. Hey, man, you can believe in each other and keep making plays or throw your head up and blame the universe.”

The Tigers were called for 10 penalties and had three TDs taken away in the first half as AHS led 14-13 at the break.

An 87-yard kickoff return by Elijah Woodle to start the second half gave AHS a 21-13 lead, with that play standing despite a penalty flag that players, coaches and fans thought was going to go against AHS. It didn’t and when AHS fell on the ensuing kickoff when RHS failed to pounce on it, the Blue Comets took over at the 20, moving it to the 1-yard line before fumbling. That drive was helped by a play that appeared as if Farlow picked off a pass, but AHS was given possession at the 1.

“We definitely didn’t play to the best of our ability. We had a lot of mistakes and turned the ball over,” Kirkpatrick said. “I threw a pick, we had a fumble, onside kicks killed us, and we had a lot of mistakes and plays called back. What that says about our team is we don’t give up, we fight and we have great leadership, especially with all our seniors.”

RHS also benefited from the return of senior running back Micah Thurston, who had missed time after he suffered a hamstring injury in the opener.

For the Blue Comets, who slipped to 2-2, it was another tough setback against a premier county rival. AHS also dropped a 33-21 decision to ER after the game was tied with three minutes to play.

 “We’ve been preaching that teams don’t give us respect, nobody in Randolph County gives us respect,” AHS coach Calvin Brown said. “I think tonight we earned some of that, but it doesn’t make you feel any better. 

“The mistakes. The fumble at the 1. Missed extra point, a pick-six called back because of a hands in the face penalty. There are numerous things you can go back and lay a finger on. I told our team we’re not going to blame anybody. We’re all in this together. We’re just going to keep fighting and keep trying to get better. I think we’re getting better each week. 

“This one hurts because when you’re so close to making a statement win, you need to do it. Everyone can say we’re better, but it’s still a loss in the loss column.”

Freshman running back Connor Brinton carried the brunt of the running attack for AHS with Quincey Lee rushing for two scores and hauling in a TD reception from Logan Laughlin.

“They played great, Calvin had his team ready,” Timmons said of the Blue Comets. “Their quarterback, Logan, played great and they ran the ball. They gave us all we wanted. Kudos to them. He has a good program he’s building. They believe, they play hard and they are physical.”

Randleman has a well-deserved bye this week, while the Blue Comets have another county rivalry battle with Southwestern Randolph.