Now this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky...and the wolf that shall keep it will prosper, and the wolf that shall break it must die!! Anyone associated with the Randleman Tiger Nation understands how emotional of a mantra this Kipling quote is as well as how true to form the team takes it. When you enter the “Triad Death Valley”, aka Gregory Stadium, regardless of the records both teams bring in you are going to have to bite, claw and scratch your way to a win. The Andrews Red Raiders found that out on Friday night in perfect chilly football weather.
As the Tigers took their first drive of the game, they pinned their ears back and drove the ball right down the field with the passion and brute strength that they display from time to time. RB T.J. Simmons took the ball from QB Kyle Farlow and tried the left side and came up big when he picked up a nice gain and the team was playing together, and in sync. After taking some direction from Head Coach Shane Handy the offense broke huddle, handed the ball to Simmons and he shot thru the open hole produced by his offensive line for an additional 16 yard pick up. Using Simmons in many different forms breeds so much success for the Tigers and also keeps drives going. With that said, Simmons was split out to the left and fed the ball again and the kid didn’t fail to please as he carried the ball down to the 1 yard line on the reception in the flats. Ready to punch the ball in and not waste any time Randleman QB Farlow put his head down and followed his line directly into the end zone for the first score of the night. Although the extra point was missed the drive still electrified the standing room only crowd and had the stands rocking.
Andrews took the field and looked as confident a bunch as you will ever see. Even with that confidence the Red Raiders were held in check by the Tigers defense and wound up facing fourth down. Although it was a long line to gain the Red Raiders attempted the conversion anyway and were able to convert on a very lucky pass to midfield. Perturbed by the conversion but never deterred the Tigers defense still hung on strong enough to force a third down and long. With luck on their side, the Andrews offense stepped to the line and their young QB launched a bomb downfield that was caught to the parse followers delight on the visitor side of the field. With that play it seemed that the Tigers got a little beside themselves and let their guard down and were subsequently called for a huge penalty for Roughing the Passer on a very questionable call. Gaining momentum Andrews then scored from the 20 yard line to answer the Tiger score and take the lead 7-6.
After the kickoff Randleman started a promising drive that covered the remainder of the first quarter and placed the Tigers in a 4th down situation to start the second quarter. Facing 4th and 8 the Tigers took the field and felt confident that they could convert the 4th down but that feeling didn’t equate to the actions on the field as Farlow dropped back, and under pressure from the Red Raider defense, tossed up a prayer that was intercepted on the play.
Even with the turnovers the Randleman defense still kept their wits about them and didn't allow any cheap gains or scores. Andrews was finally able to find some working room when they constructed a productive drive that finished when they scored from the 25 yard line on the WR screen with 1:08 remaining before the half to add to their lead, 14-6
At the half Defensive Coach Marty Collinson reiterated to his players “we are in a free fall fight fellas.....we have got to play hard and finish!” Coach Handy agreed and shouted to his troops “we have to play smart football!” Now the squad that Coach Handy and his staff has are an intelligent group of kids with a very high football IQ and the adjustments that the coaching staff implements at the half usually are such that they are noticed as soon as the second half starts.
On this evening again, the same held true as Andrews stomped out onto the field to start the half and were promptly held to three and out on their first drive as the Tiger D came up big just as they had been coached up at the half. Receiving the ball back, the Tigers took over at the 15 and in a short succinct drive the offense capped it off when FB Justin Freeman scored from 8 yards out followed with a successful 2 point conversion to tie the score at 14-14 at the 7:38 mark of the third quarter. After attempting to put points on the board and go on top of the Red Raiders, the Tigers on 4th down attempt to draw closer with a field goal. But, on a breakdown from the outside Andrews broke thru the line and blocked the field goal try so the score remained tied at 14-14 until late in the quarter when Andrews scored the go-ahead touch down late in the third for the winning score 20-14.
The Tigers played a hard game and didn't give up until the last drive that was stopped just of a conversion that would have kept the drive alive at the fifteen yard line. Still playing hard, just like they are coached, the Tigers were still able to produce turnovers late in the game when Jeremy Taylor and T.J. Simmons did the honors picking off deep passes. When asked about the loss Coach Handy stated “we have to do our job on every play and believe in ourselves! ”
Andrews simply played well enough to sneak out of Charles R. Gregory stadium with a win and thats all. They didn't come in and dominate and surely didn't have a chance to flex and get out into space and show their speed as the Tigers stayed in their pockets all night long. The Tigers (4-5) go next to Wheatmore on Friday while Andrews (6-3) will face Carver. Playing together as a pack...a family...a team will continue to rebuild a great program in Randleman. The kids just simply need to continue to repeat their mantra and remember....for the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.
