ER rights ship at Randleman’s expense, 42-14

RANDLEMAN — It was only the second week of the high school football regular season last week when Eastern Randolph made the short trip to Randleman to battle the Tigers in a non-league battle.

Only the second week, so it was far too early to use phrases like an incredibly important game, an absolutely crucial contest and a must-win situation. 

But talking to ER head coach Burton Cates after the Wildcats’ 42-14 win, he indicated it was indeed an incredibly important game, an absolute critical contest and a must-win situation for his Wildcats.

The still-shorthanded Wildcats, who for the second straight week played without a number of starters, including last year’s Four Rivers Conference player of the year James Combs as well as their starting kicker, were coming off a season-opening 28-7 loss to Southern Alamance and heading into this Friday night’s contest against powerful Union Pines, could ill afford falling to 0-2 for the first time since 2017.

Thanks to four touchdown passes and a rushing score from quarterback Cade McCallum, more than 200 yards rushing from Kobe Walker and a defense that bent a number of times but only allowed 14 points, the Wildcats were feeling much better about themselves than after the opening-game loss to the Patriots.

“This was to check what we were made of, our character because we did not play to our capabilities last week,” Cates said after the Wildcats evened their record at 1-1. “We didn’t play like we were supposed to and we needed to find out how serious this team was about being committed. This was a very big game for us.”

ER scored two touchdowns in a 20-second span late in the first quarter and kept the lead the entire way.

“As far as a non-conference game, I am very proud of how they responded,” Cates said. “We talked about a lot of things this week and did some soul searching and they responded.”

McCallum, who missed most of the summer workouts and didn’t participate in any live play until the Monday before the season opener because of a back injury, looked smoother and confident as he directed the ER offense down the field.

“I feel like this week, we had a lot more confidence and the timing between me as a quarterback and the receivers, we’re getting that timing back,” said McCallum, who was 8 of 15 for 122 yards and the four scores. “Last week was a little rough, but this week we came together as a team. We talked a lot throughout the week about staying together and playing as a team. We worked at practice to get that timing right and we did it tonight.”

Walker was a workhorse for the Wildcats. Not only is he one of the top linebackers in the state, but the senior carried the ball 22 times for 212 yards. With Combs out because of a knee injury, Walker said he’ll do whatever is asked of him to help the Wildcats succeed.

“Me and him have been playing together for years, so we know how to play with each other without having to say anything to each other,” Walker said. “It does feel different, but I still have to get the job done.”

Walker admitted this game was more important than just a non-league affair.

“All week long we’ve been coming to practice focused, looking forward to this game,” Walker said. “That game last week really humbled us and we were coming in to work hard. This game was really important. We needed to get our spirits up after the loss.”

ER’s spirits were certainly lifted late in the first quarter when McCallum threw his first TD pass and Jayden Spinks returned an interception 39 yards for a score. 

A 1-yard TD run by RHS’ Kayden Saunders made it 14-7, but a 1-yard scoring run from McCallum gave ER a 22-7 halftime lead.

A TD strike with 4:40 left in the third quarter made it 28-7 before RHS quarterback Reid Herring scored from 4 yards out, cutting the ER lead to 28-14. But an onside kick was recovered by ER and two 15-yard penalties against the Tigers before ER even snapped the ball gave the Wildcats a short field and ER added two more scoring plays in the final quarter.

RHS slips to 0-2 as the Tigers will host 2-0 Asheboro Friday night.

“That was one of the best teams in 3-A, healthy or not healthy,” RHS coach David Diamont said. “A lot of experience. The amount of varsity games that team has played compared to us. But I’ll tell you, I am very proud of our kids. We got much better than we were last week. I really don’t care what the score was. I think our kids played much, much better this week.”

The Tigers dropped a 27-19 decision to Providence Grove in Week 1.

“Up front, we were more physical at the point of attack, our running back made one cut and he got north, he protected the football the whole game,” Diamont noted. “Our receivers ran crisp routes and blocked well. We made some mistakes in the red zone, but we played far better than we did last week.”

Saunders rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown while hauling in three passes for 81 yards.

“He is moving around and playing with a chip on his shoulder and I think that chip was from last year’s kinda unsuccessful run game we had,” Diamont said. “And maybe the lack of belief in it.”

Herring finished 13 of 23 for 203 yards.