Tigers Fall Short To Red Raiders 20-14

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.

Feel free to contact ZMII @zmorganII@gmail.com and twitter @ zmorganII

TIGERS TOP DAWGS

Randleman High school has a very rich tradition when it comes to all sports but when it comes to football, thats where the rubber hits the road. Randleman fans love football and they love their team in the same manner that Green Bay love their Packers. Homecoming is the time when all alumni come back home and renew adolescent friendships and watch the local team go off and dominate an opponent for old times sakes. In front of a standing room only crowd the Tigers came out and put on a show that filled the appetite for all fans. 

As the game began Trinity seemed to have a little trickery up their sleeve as they won the coin toss, and then took the ball for three plays and could make no first down. At that point the Bulldogs sent their punt team on the field and lined up for what seemed like a run of the mill punt. As soon as the ball was hiked the Bulldog offense went to work and faked the punt and picked up the first down. After the brilliant fake punt, Trinity sent it’s offense back out on the field and they promptly turned the ball over and Randleman recovered the ball for their first break of the game at the Trinity 46 yard line. 

Now the Tigers have an offense that sometimes shows signs of perfection and then other times it sputters like the motor of a Model-T. Tonight would not be the night that the Model-T showed up. The Tiger offense ran with the precision of a Ferrari Enzo. The first score of the night came off the arm of QB Kyle Farlow as he connected on a touchdown pass at the 7:26 mark to Jeremy Taylor as he took the screen pass and then dove over the defender into the endzone for a dramatic score of 7-0. 

Now right after that score the Tigers attempted the unexpected onside kick which was recovered by Nick Cooper. As Cooper recovered the ball he lost his sense of direction and replicated the perfect Jim Marshall recovery and touchdown run but in the wrong direction. Unlike Marshall though, Cooper recognized his gaffe and headed back in the correct direction only to have the play blown dead from the spot of the recovery. 

So, no harm no foul, after one of many sidebars on the night, the officials called the two head coaches to the center of the field and explained their decision to give Trinity the ball at midfield. Unable to move the ball again the Bulldogs handed the ball right back to Randleman. Coach Handy  stated that his team “was facing a great team on the other sideline but his team could do some things well also!”

Next drive, the Tigers RB T.J. Simmons took the ball on the sweep to the left side and with his catlike quickness cut it back against the grain and took it all the way down inside the redzone. Tigers are back in business for their second score!! Taylor, showing his hunger for the endzone also tries the left side and ends up inside the five yard as he is pulled down from the back by Nick Stout and the offense is cooking like fish grease. At that point, Farlow noticed something amiss across the line and used his big football IQ to quick snap the ball, hand off to Simmons and watch him try the dive to the right outside, only to have daylight to his left side and cut it back like Barry Sanders, leaving the Trinity defense all with broken ankles en route to his second score of the night and a 14-0 lead for the Tigers with 3:54 remaining in the first quarter.

As the night went on Trinity continued to shoot themselves in the foot with penalty after penalty and it just simply wore the kids eagerness and passion down to the point that you could see their body language change. Not one to be complacent with a two score lead Coach Handy stayed on his team to keep their foot down and keep driving. They did and were able to stop the Bulldogs yet again to get the ball back. After a bad throw by Farlow that missed Simmons on the down and out, Farlow then reloaded on the next play and hit Simmons who once again used his quicks to change direction against the much slower defense of the Bulldogs as he ate up the left side all the way to his second score on the ground to add to the lead and make the score 20-0 with 1:01 left in the first quarter as he scored on pure effort and athleticism.

Trinity put up a gallant effort but they still could not rid themselves of the killer yellow laundry that kept littering the field when they were in possession of the ball. After receiving the ball back with yet another chance to put some points on the board the Bulldogs faltered and punted the ball to Connor Pratt and then tackled the Tiger player out of bounds aggressively. You could tell at that point that they had lost their cool and it spread to Pratt as he jumped up and got into the face of the Bulldog player who found himself on the wrong side of the field where he had no friends. After the fracas ended and both teams were separated, and Coach Handy had a quick “come to Jesus-meeting” with Connor Pratt, 

the referees did the smart thing and called both coaches to midfield and laid down the law that this activity would not be tolerated. Once all heads had cooled, Simmons took the ball downfield and put the Tigers in perfect position to add another score. Coach Handy dialed up a beautiful play action play that allowed Farlow to hook up deep with Justin Knox for the score stretching the lead even further at 34-0 with halftime in view. Trinity, also thinking about halftime early watched as their center snapped the ball over the head of QB Kivett enabling Tyler Ransom to scoop up the ball and score the defensive touchdown showing the discipline of the well coached defense. With homecoming festivities in sight the Tiger defense relaxed their guard just a bit and allowed the one and only score of the night by the Bulldogs as they scored in the waining minutes of a weird first half that ended with no working clock and both teams huddled, one on the field and the other on the visitor sideline in a straight line ready to leave the field.

 Coach Handy told his team at the half “We have to do things better than perfect in order to finish this team off. Defensively I want you guys to shut them down! DO NOT EXHALE! When we go out there after the half I want you guys to see that scoreboard as reading 0-0, same as when we started.” Being the studious team that they are the Tiger squad responded in the second half as they took their first drive and stuffed it down the throat of the Bulldogs behind second string RB Knox. Knox carried the brunt of the load for the second half and at the 31.5 mark of the third quarter jumped out of the muck and headed downfield doing his best T.J. Simmons impression and was finally pulled down at the 1 inch line. Capping the drive, Knox added the final Tiger score to end the scoring at 48-7 as he finished the drive with the short run to paydirt.

The Tigers showed Friday night what a dominate team that they can be when they execute in five major areas. No penalties, play execution, running the ball effectively, listening to their coaching staff and smelling blood in the water on offense and defense. Putting a team away is a skill in the same manner that catching the ball and blocking is and Randleman showed that when they follow that recipe they cook success on the field. On a night that saw T.J. Simmons score easily and often Tiger fans also saw him named Homecoming King 2010. Congratulations to a great kid and team!!! The Tigers improve their record to 4-3 and will travel next week to Carver (5-2).

SOUTHERN GUILFORD v. RANDLEMAN

The first day of October brings with it leaves falling from the trees, cooler temperatures and in this neck of the woods storms from the coast. In Randleman on Friday night, the Tigers ran into a different type of storm as they encountered the Storm of Southern Guilford High School and found out early in the game that this storm was just as potent.

Tigers taking the field against the Storm

The Tigers came into the game with emotions high and their mental focus locked after a rousing pre-gam speech from Head Coach Shane Handy. As they received the ball and set up the offense they were ready to play their style of smash mouth football. They showed THAT on the second play of the game as RB T.J. Simmons ripped off a long gainer to the 12 yard line and the Tigers looked to be in business. The drive stalled in the red zone but the offense was still able to produce a field goal and take an early 3-0 lead. 

Tiger RB T.J. Simmons breaks downfield

As the Storm took the field after the kickoff they went to work only to have their first air package picked off by the Tiger defense at the 15 yard line. Tigers back in business!! But with what has been the issue with the Tiger offense, when they struggle it’s because they turn the ball over and the turnover bug came back to visit again as QB Kyle Farlow turned the ball over with an interception on the very next play. Drive over and the defense came back out to take the field as the Storm took over at the 47 yard line. The Storm offense came back on the field and this drive showed why they are such a strong team. Junior QB Jamie Cunningham took his offense right down the field and capped the drive off with a touch down pass to Austen Thompson to take an early 7-3 lead over the Tigers. After a quick three and out the Tigers kicked the ball off and Southern Guilford sent its offense back onto the field. The Tiger defense stood tall and busted thru the line for a sack of the statuesque Cunningham for an 11 yard loss to bring up second and twenty-one. Second down and the Storm collected themselves and connected on a deep pass to midfield. Not resting on the last few good gains the Storm notices a chink in the Tiger defense and start to toss the ball around as Cunningham carves up the defense en route to a touch down pass to Matt Colvin to stretch the lead to 14-3 late in the first quarter.

T.J. Simmons gets loose again for a score

As the second quarter begins the Tiger offense has a soul searching meeting before they take the field and come out with passion again and begin their drive with very good results. As soon as the offense looks to have a very nice rhythm going they take to the air and are subsequently picked off as Austen Thompson garners a pick six of Farlow and takes it to the house for a 21-3 lead. Coach Handy collected his entire team together and told them “We are not out of this game! Now lets go out there and make some plays, daggummit!” Heeding the advice of their fiery head coach the Tiger offense took the field and, made the blocks that they needed to for their young RB Simmons as he took the handoff and chugged down the field like a dump truck with concrete in the back. Simmons touchdown run closed the Storm lead to 21-10 with 2:29 remaining in the first half as Randleman showed the partisan crown that they have heart and a heck of a lot of talent to go with it. 

Both teams came out and started the third quarter in the same fashion as they did in the first half. Cunningham finally guided his troops to the endzone as he threw a second touchdown pass to Colvin to make the score 28-10 with 5:00 to go in the third quarter. The Tigers seemed not to be able to catch any further rhythm until the fourth quarter when Simmons threw a touchdown pass himself to the back of the end zone to Jeremy Taylor to make the score a little more respectable at 35-17. 

T.J. Simmons looks to throw

Jeremy Taylor catches the TD pass from T.J. Simmons

The Tigers fought a valiant battle but in the end they faced a team that used the screen pass just as often and as good as the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Storm ran up alot of offense en route to a final score of 42-17 as they raised their record to 4-2. The Tigers evened their record at 3-3 with the loss and will take their show on the road next week as they face the Trinity Bulldogs (0-6). It should be a game for the Tigers to try and get their offense back on track and maybe catch a rhythm again as the last couple of weeks the offense has really struggled to put points on the board and allow their defense to rest off the field.

Feel free to contact Z. Morgan at zmorganII@gmail.com or Twitter @zmorganII