Tigers defeat one team with title history, face another Friday night

RANDLEMAN — David Diamont and the Randleman High School varsity football team realized first-round state playoff opponent Burlington Cummings may have come into Charles R. Gregory with just one win during the regular season, but the Tigers were not going to take the Cavaliers lightly.

And they didn’t.

The Tigers rushed for 281 yards and scored on all but two possessions as RHS advanced to the second round of the state 4-A playoffs with a 48-24 win over 21st-seeded Cummings, which has five state titles and four state runnerup finishes on its resume.

The victory last Friday night moves the 12th–seeded Tigers (5-6) into the next round where it will travel to another perennial power in Reidsville. Reidsville, the No. 5 seed, has won 24 state championships, according to school records.

“It’s a tradition, it’s championships, it’s the best,” Diamont said of Friday’s matchup at Reidsville after defeating Cummings. “That’s what you want as a competitor. Our kids are already looking forward to it. Our kids won’t bow down.”

The Tigers answered every challenge last Friday night as they stretched a 7-6 lead after one quarter to 21-6 at halftime and 41-18 at the end of three quarters.

“They’re in a 4-A, 5-A, 6-A conference (Mid-Carolina), played a whale of a schedule, are very athletic and were not scared,” Diamont said of the Cavaliers. “It was a good win for us.”

The Tigers, who dropped a hard-fought 26-21 decision to High Point Andrews for a share of the Central Carolina Conference championship the week before, have been playing very well of late. After a couple of lopsided losses to Eastern Randolph and Asheboro dropped RHS to 0-3 this season, the only losses have been tight contests that could have gone either way. RHS fell 28-25 to Felton Grove, 42-41 to Central Davidson and the five-point loss to HPA.

“Our kids were hungry this week,” Diamont said. “Our efficiency on offense was very good. Our offensive line set the tone from the start.”

After recovering an onside kick to start the game, the Tigers cashed in on a 1-yard run from sophomore Christian McNair. McNair rushed for 143 yards in the game, while running mate Kaden Saunders added another 130. They were the beneficiary of some incredible work by linemen and blocking backs Skyler Poe, Dylan Gatlin,

CJ Willard, James Harrison, Isaiah Williams, Conner Palmer, Ryan Manness and Kyle Dillow among others.

“If you can’t block, you can’t score, and if you can’t score, you can’t win,”

Diamont said. “Our boys up front did a great job. We were able to run the football and that made a huge difference. Our running backs ran hard, our receivers blocked very well and our quarterback (Reid Herring) made some great decisions. Everyone played well.”

Cummings made it 7-6 in the first quarter after its first score, but the Tigers instantly regained the lead the next time it had the ball on another 1-yard run from McNair. A 22-yard TD strike from Herring to Henry Frye made it 20-6 at the break.

“Every time they scored or had a big play, we responded,” Diamont said. “That was enormous because we kept momentum.”

Just prior to the break, an altercation between players occurred on the field which involved numerous players from both teams.

“It got chippy,” Diamont said of the scuffle between teams. “We got it under control and the officials gave everyone an unsportsmanlike penalty. Any unsportsmanlike penalty from that point would lead to a disqualification. I thought they handled it well. It is something that could have become an issue but I don’t think it became an issue.”

In the second half, Saunders scored on an 8-yard run and then tacked on a scoring run of 4 yards, which made it 34-12. Herring found Lincoln Lawson for a 29-yard pass play and McNair added a 34-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.