Eastern Randolph, Southwestern Randolph square off this week in football

RAMSEUR — When the varsity football teams from Eastern Randolph High School and Southwestern Randolph High School meet Friday night at Ivey B. Luck Stadium, there are going to be two teams brimming with confidence.

The visiting Wildcats will be bringing a 25-game conference winning streak into the contest, the 25th straight win being a 42-0 blitzing of Northwood in last week’s Four Rivers Conference opener.

The Cougars, who had a bye last week, enter the game with a high-powered offense that has generated 241 points as SWR has won five of their six games. 

Though ER has dominated the series, winning the past six years by a combined 222-49 scoring margin, the Cougars are entering the Randolph County battle with perhaps as much confidence as they ever had heading into a battle with the Wildcats.

“It’s at an all-time high against any team,” SWR do-it-all junior Nathan Garner said. “We have confidence in our players and our team. We know what we can do, especially when we bring our A game.”

The Cougars have shown they can win in various ways. They have recorded three shutouts this year (East Davidson, Trinity and McMichael), while also showing they are not afraid to get into a shootout, evident by the 57-42 win over Wheatmore on Sept. 21.

Garner traveled to ER and watched ER’s defense hold Northwood to just 59 yards of total offense last Friday, including six on the ground. Garner will enter the game with 461 yards rushing with six touchdowns, while hauling in 345 yards of passing to spearhead the SWR attack, which is averaging nearly 40 points per game.

“I think it will be a great matchup,” Garner said. “I have great confidence in my offensive line. They are big, strong, extremely tough and have a lot of grit. This Monday, it’s go, go, go. It’s Eastern Randolph.”

SWR coach Seth Baxter was at the helm of the Wildcats from 2009-2016 before returning back to his alma mater.

“We feel confident in what we are doing right now,” Baxter said. “I know ER’s history more than anyone does. They lost to three really good football teams. This is the team that in the preseason, they were probably the favorite to win the 3-A title.

“I know they had injuries, but that coaching staff knows injuries are part of the game and Coach Burton Cates is a mastermind in having people ready to play.”

Though the Cougars have won just twice in the long series between the two county rivals, SWR has come close on a number of occasions, most recently in 2022 when SWR held a 13-12 lead late in the game before ER busted a big game-winning play.

“We have to be ready to play and we have to believe in who we are,” Baxter said. “We have to match their physicality and we have to win the big plays. They are so skilled all across the field and we can’t give up big plays. 

“This is one of those old saying games. If you can’t get ready for this game, you shouldn’t put a uniform on.”

The Wildcats have played a very tough non-league schedule, including games against 6-A Southern Alamance, Union Pines and Asheboro as well as Providence Grove, Randleman and West Stanly.

ER has looked like it is finding its footing. After losses to SA, UP and Asheboro, the Wildcats have performed more like a team that some predicted would go all the way this season with dominating wins over West Stanly and Northwood.

“We thought it was there, we just had to work through it,” said Cates, whose team has experienced a plethora of injuries early on. “The competition we had in the non-conference helped us, it made us better. We’re tackling better on defense and we’re blocking better on the perimeter offensively. The kids are stepping up and they are getting better and that’s what we have to do.”

Cates and some of his players said Friday night will be a tough battle.

“It’s going to be a challenge,” Cates said. “It’s at their place and we’ll be going in underdogs. We’ll see what happens.”

It will be the second conference game for the Wildcats and the first for the Cougars.

“Like Coach Cates said, this is when we have to lock in when it really matters,” ER linebacker Nolan Houston said.

Some of the ER players have attended SWR games as well.

“Me and a lot of my friends went and watched them play PG,” ER lineman Jackson Bare said. “They are going to give us a good run for our money, but if we come every day to practice and work our butts off like we’ve been doing and have a good mindset going into the game and keep confident … That is what we kept in mind playing all those teams we did at the beginning of the season to help us get better toward the latter part.”

The Wildcats have sure looked impressive the past two weeks. In Friday’s blowout win over Northwood, Kobe Walker rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns (10 and 7 yards), Cameron Hinton chipped in 41 yards on eight carries and one TD (1 yard) and quarterback Cade McCallum threw for 271 yards and three scores. He connected with Cainin Glover from 16 yards, Jaydon Spruill from 73 yards and Braylon Little from 7 yards.

Backup kicker Gio Perez was a perfect 6-for-6 in PATs. 

ER led 35-0 at halftime and the second half used a running clock.

“We didn’t let up at all,” ER linebacker Garrett Saunders said. “We were firing on all cylinders and everyone was playing as a team.”